The Slider Problem
Ask about window treatments in Raynham, MA and the conversation nearly always turns to the sliding patio door. The ranches and split-levels off Route 44 and South Main Street were built with a slider from the kitchen or the family room onto the back yard, and it is usually the widest, most used and hardest to dress piece of glass in the house.
A slider is a door first and a window second. Whatever covers it has to clear the handle, move out of the way every time someone steps outside, and still close fully at night when the room is lit and the yard is dark. A ready-made treatment sized to a standard width tends to leave a gap at one side or block part of the opening when drawn back. The newer colonials near Johnson’s Pond and around Raynham Center bring their own wide glass, with French doors and big family room windows facing the water or the yard.
- Every door and window measured where it is, by our own specialist
- Treatments that stack clear of the handle and the walkway
- Installed by our team, from the Swansea showroom
Services for Raynham Homes
Vertical blinds and panel tracks
The classic slider answer. Vanes or wide fabric panels run on one track and draw to the side, clear of the door.
Drapes on a traverse rod
Our specialty, and a soft alternative at a patio door: full panels that slide back past the frame.
Cellular shades
Honeycomb shades that stack small and keep a split-level’s bedrooms warmer in winter.
Wood, faux wood and aluminium blinds
Slats that tilt for light and privacy, with faux wood for the kitchen beside the slider.
Plantation shutters
Interior shutters, full height or cafe style, for the front windows of a ranch or a colonial’s kitchen.
Roller and solar shades
A clean roll of fabric or screen, with openness chosen for how much of the view you want through it.
Roman shades
Fabric folds, flat, hobbled or relaxed, for a dining room or a bedroom in a newer colonial.
Woven wood shades
Natural weaves that warm up a split-level’s living room and filter afternoon light.
Motorized shades and blinds
Raised and lowered by remote or wall switch, for a colonial’s two-storey family room.
Norman blinds, shades and shutters
A range we carry and can show you in the showroom, side by side with everything else.
Fabric decor
Pillows, duvet covers and some upholstery, matched to the drapes you choose.
Four Ways to Dress a Sliding Door
There is no single right treatment for a slider, but there are four that work well, and the right one depends on how the door is used, how much sun it takes and how the room around it is furnished. Most of the window treatments in Raynham, MA that we plan for ranches and split-levels start with this choice.
Vertical blinds
Vertical blinds are the familiar choice, and for good reason. The vanes hang from a single track measured across the whole opening, draw to one side or split in the centre, and turn to angle the light. By day you can turn them almost edge on so the yard stays in view while the glare is softened. At night they close completely. Stacking them on the side away from the handle keeps the door free to open. Fabric and solid vanes are both available, and the colour can match the walls so the blinds recede when open.
Panel tracks
A panel track uses wide flat panels of fabric, screen or woven material that slide past each other on a track. When open, they stack neatly at one side; when closed, they cover the door in a few clean sections. Panel tracks have a more modern look than verticals and suit a split-level’s open living area, where the slider is seen from the stairs as well as from the room.
Drapes
Drapes are the softest answer, and drapes and curtains are the store’s genuine specialty. A pair of lined panels on a rod or traverse track, wide enough to clear the frame when drawn back, frames the door by day and closes over it at night. A heavier lining helps a room hold its heat in winter, when a large sheet of glass can make the kitchen table feel cold. Sheers behind the main panels give privacy with light during the day.
Cellular or roller shades on a vertical track
Some households want a shade rather than a blind or drape at the door. Cellular shades and roller shades can be made to move side to side on a track instead of up and down, and they give the slider the same look as the shades on the rest of the windows. A cellular shade’s cells trap air against the glass, which is a real help on a large door that faces north.
Questions we ask about each slider
Before suggesting anything, we look at the door itself. Which side opens, and where does the handle sit? Is there a wall, a cabinet or a radiator beside it that limits how far a stack can go? Does the door face the afternoon sun? Do children or pets go in and out all day? Is there a deck or patio outside that is overlooked by the neighbours? The answers usually make the choice for you, and the measurements make sure it fits.
Split-Levels off Route 44
Planning window treatments in Raynham, MA for a split-level means thinking in half floors. These houses arrange their rooms on half floors, with short flights of stairs between them. That gives a split-level a mix of window heights and sizes that a single storey house does not have. The upper level often has bedrooms with standard windows, the main level a wide picture window and the slider, and the lower level a family room with shorter windows set higher in the wall.
The picture window on the main level is often wide and not very tall. A single shade across it can be heavy to lift, so we often split it into two or three shades lined up to look like one. The lower level windows, being close to the ground and short, suit treatments that stack small, such as cellular shades or a slim aluminium blind, so as much light as possible gets into a room that is partly below grade.
The window by the stairs or the front door is another common question. It is seen from two levels, so its colour and style should sit well with both.
Ranches off South Main Street
The ranches along and off South Main Street are simpler to plan, because every room is on one floor and the windows tend to repeat. A typical ranch has a broad front window in the living room, two or three bedrooms with matching windows, a kitchen window over the sink and the slider at the back.
Because the front windows read as a set from the street, most ranch owners keep one colour and style across them. Plantation shutters give a ranch’s front windows a crisp, finished look from outside, and blinds or cellular shades are popular in the bedrooms. The kitchen window above the sink is a good place for faux wood blinds or cafe style shutters that cover the lower half only, leaving the top open for daylight. Once the slider is settled, the rest of the house usually falls into place around it.
Ready to Get Started? Book Your Free Quote
Call the Swansea store for a free quote, or come and see the samples in person.
Colonials near Johnson’s Pond and Raynham Center
The newer colonials near Johnson’s Pond and around Raynham Center are larger houses with more varied windows. Family rooms open to the kitchen, two-storey entries with a high window above the door, and French doors or wide windows looking out over the yard or the water are all common. These houses are often treated a few rooms at a time.
Pond-facing rooms bring reflected light as well as direct sun, so a room can stay bright into the evening. Solar screen roller shades and sheer shades take the edge off the glare without hiding the water. For a two-storey family room, motorized shades are the practical answer: the top windows are out of reach, and a remote or a wall switch moves them all at once. In the primary bedroom, room darkening cellular shades with drapes over them give full control from morning to night. To see the whole range in one place, visit the window treatments page.
Keeping an open plan consistent
When a kitchen, breakfast area and family room run together, the treatments are seen at the same time. Keeping them in the same colour family, and lining up the heights of headrails and rods, keeps the space calm even if each window uses a different product. Faux wood over the sink, a panel track at the slider and Roman shades in the family room can all sit together comfortably if they are chosen at the same time.
Living with a Slider Day to Day
A patio door gets more use than any window in the house, so the treatment on it has to stand up to that. Vertical vanes are easy to replace one at a time if a pet or a child bends one, and they can be dusted in place. Panel tracks and drapes slide on a track with no cords to tangle. Whatever you choose, the wand or pull should sit where it is easy to reach from the side you walk through, and we set that up at installation.
Sun is the other daily factor. A slider facing south or west lets a great deal of heat and glare into a kitchen through the summer afternoons, and fabrics can fade over time in strong light. A light filtering vane, a solar screen panel or a lined drape takes the heat off the room while still letting you see the yard. A slider facing north is more about holding warmth on winter evenings, where a cellular shade on a side track or a heavier lined drape is the better fit.
Finally, think about the view. Many slider doors in town look onto a deck, a pool or a yard that backs onto woods. When the view is the point, a treatment that stacks narrow and leaves the most glass clear when open is worth choosing, so the door still feels like a window when it is drawn back.
Small Windows Worth a Second Look
Some of the hardest windows to dress in a ranch or a split-level are the small ones: the narrow window beside the front door, the high window in a lower level family room and the little window over a bathroom tub. They are often left bare because nothing off the shelf fits them. Each can take a treatment made to its size, from a slim cellular shade that stacks almost to nothing to a short faux wood blind that copes with steam. Including them when the house is measured costs little extra time and finishes the job properly.
How We Take an Order from Start to Finish
The process is the same for a single slider or a whole house.
- Reach the Swansea store through the call button or the form to request a free quote, and mention the slider if it is the main concern.
- One of our specialists visits to measure each window and door, checks the handle side and the space beside the frame, and notes which way each room faces.
- You compare fabrics, vanes, slats and louvres with samples in the house or at the showroom, and settle on the controls.
- Your quote sets out each opening and what is being made for it.
- The order is made to the sizes taken on the visit.
- Our installers fit everything, test each treatment and show you how it works.
- We stay in contact all the way through, so you always know where the order stands.
Choosing the Right Treatment for the Rest of the House
Once the patio door is decided, the other windows follow. Here is a short guide to window treatments in Raynham, MA beyond the slider, product by product.
Blinds in wood, faux wood or aluminium give the most precise control of light. More on the custom blinds page.
Cellular shades are the warm, quiet choice, with single and double cell fabrics in light filtering and room darkening. See the cellular shades page.
Plantation shutters are interior shutters fitted to the frame, chosen by louvre size and frame style.
Roman shades bring fabric to a window in neat folds, and woven wood shades bring natural texture, with a liner if more privacy is needed.
Drapes finish a room and pair with almost anything. The custom drapes page shows the headings and fabrics.
Pillows, duvet covers and some upholstery can be made in the same fabrics, which is an easy way to pull a bedroom or a family room together.
What Sets Window Works Apart
Window Works opened in Swansea in 1988 and has stayed in the same family, now its second generation. Over 37 years the store has dressed windows in houses all over the SouthCoast and the Rhode Island East Bay, and Raynham is part of that area.
- Window treatment specialists, with experience across every kind of house
- A home visit to measure, and installation by the same team
- Solutions tailored to each opening, sliders included
- Regular contact from us until the work is complete
- Warranties offered on what we sell
- A 5.0 Google rating
Compare Samples in Swansea
The showroom in Swansea lets you see what a treatment looks like before you order it for your Raynham house. Draw a vertical blind across a track, slide a panel, compare drapery linings in daylight and try a motorized shade with its remote. Norman blinds, shades and shutters are on display too.
A measurement of the slider’s width, a photo of the room and a paint or fabric sample will help our specialists point you to the right few choices quickly.
Questions from Raynham
What is the best treatment for a sliding patio door?
It depends on the door. Vertical blinds and panel tracks are the most practical, drapes are the softest, and shades on a side track match the rest of the windows. We look at the handle side, the space beside the frame and the sun before suggesting one.
Will the treatment block the door when it is open?
No. We measure the opening and the wall beside it so the blind, panels or drapes stack clear of the handle and the walkway.
My split-level has windows on three levels. Do they all need to match?
They do not have to match, but the ones seen together should work together. The window by the stairs, which is seen from two levels, matters most.
Can the high windows in a two-storey family room be covered?
Yes. Motorized shades and blinds work from a remote or a wall switch, so windows you cannot reach can still be opened and closed easily.
How much does a quote cost?
Nothing. The quote is free. Use the call button or the form and we will arrange to measure.
Book a Free Quote for Your Slider
Good window treatments in Raynham, MA start with a free quote. The call button puts you through to the Swansea store, where you can book a specialist to measure, ask about installation or describe the door that is giving you trouble. Or fill in the form and we will get back to you. If you would like to see the options first, the contact page shows how to find the showroom.
Window Works serves 25 towns across the SouthCoast and the Rhode Island East Bay; you can see them all on our service areas page.