Pacific
3500 Luxury Entrance Door
We created the
Pacific door as a superior alternative to commercial storefront doors which are
poorly suited for use in luxury homes.
Pacific Vs Storefront – Part II:
The Pacific frame corners look residential unlike the non-linear joinery of
storefront doors. In contrast, our mitered corners create perfect symmetry.
Pacific Vs Storefront – Part IV:
Typical storefront doors come with commercial hardware which is cumbersome
to operate. The thumb turn spins more than 720 degrees making it hard to tell
if the door is locked or unlocked. In contrast, the Pacific is operated with
one handle that actuates three locks. Our fourth lock is an attractive thumb
turn that only spins 180 degrees. To add even more value, the Pacific hardware
is made of corrosion resistant materials.
Pacific Vs Storefront – Part VI: Although the Pacific does not require
routine adjusting it does offer easy adjustability, if ever needed. Our hinges
were designed for luxury homes and come equipped with three adjustment points
that any “do it yourselfer” can do (instructions available online). Storefront
doors offer crude methods of adjusting e.g. “jack screw” and typically require
a technician to come to your home.
Pacific Vs Storefront – Part VII:
Take note of the hinges on storefront doors because there are several
types. One thing is constant though; these hinges do not match the door frame
unless it is either black or silver. Regardless of the frame color, we finish
the hinges to match perfectly.
Pacific Vs Storefront – Part VIII:
The strength of each vent corner is unrivaled, especially when compared to
storefront doors. Each Pacific vent corner is keyed and welded for strength and
long life. The feature allows Fleetwood to provide exceptional sizes well
beyond typical storefront doors.
Pacific Vs Storefront – Part I:
Commercial storefront doors are not intended to resist weather. Water and
air infiltration are normal symptoms. The Pacific was designed to resist
weather. Our weather-stripping and extrusion designs make the Pacific an
exceptional performer.
Pacific Vs Storefront – Part III:
Because the Pacific was engineered for luxury homes it has the advantage of
effective waterproof installations. The integral nail fin of the Pacific is
unique to hinged doors on the market. You certainly will not get nail fins on
storefront doors. Ask your contractor/installer which door is better equipped
for weather.
Pacific Vs Storefront – Part V:
Storefront doors have deep hollow rails. This is a hidden disadvantage that
rears its head when it rains. This huge cavity fills with water and some of
this water will end up in your home. The Pacific rails are closed and sealed
and the tandem weather-stripping points make the system even tighter.
Keeping
your home safe should be the most important design consideration.
Hurricane Glazing:
The Pacific 3500 is offered with factory glazed hurricane resistant glass. This
specialty glazing is made with a thicker interlayer than standard laminated
glass. This interlayer was designed to resist a wood missile impacting at 50’
per second.
Noise Control: Some homes are
located in areas where the ambient sounds are wanted. In some cases however,
exterior noises such as traffic are best if kept out. To accommodate these
situations, we offer all of our products with sound abatement glazing.
Security Advantages:
Because Fleetwood endeavors to make its products better instead of cheaper, we
can provide specialty products that others should not. The best glass for
high-security is laminated glass. It is two sheets of glass sandwiched to a
polyvinyl interlayer, just like your car windshield that must withstand severe
impact for your safety. Unless our competitors have a hinge system equal to
Fleetwood, they should not attempt this heavier glass.
Fire Heat Resistance:
Window and door products designed and rated to resist the impingement of flames
are often constructed of steel frames, which are limited in function and design. Aluminum doors and windows offer
great performance and style and actually help maintain wall integrity during a
fire. The real enemy which often incinerates houses is heat or flying embers.
Typical residential windows (wood or vinyl) are quickly damaged by heat and
embers whereas our extruded aluminum retains its form at over 1000 degrees
Fahrenheit helping to protect your home.
The Pacific offers a variety of options to make your door
unique.
Choosing Your Swing:
Fleetwood will make your Pacific doors to swing left or right and in or
out.
Glass Stop Design Choices:
Before you order your Pacific 3500, you get to choose (at no additional
cost) your style of glass stop. We offer a beveled shape for that “old
world” look and a square design for the more contemporary look.
Coastal Finish Option:
If your home is within 5 miles of salt water we strongly recommend Edge
Armor. It is a finish procedure option that involves total fabrication
of your Pacific doors BEFORE painting so all edges are armored
with the same protective finish as the rest of the door. This option
costs more upfront but the value is well worth it! As well as the aesthetic benefit,
Edge Armor comes with a 10-year warranty. It is only available in painted applications
(no anodizing).
Transoms: The standard transom
is our Narrow Style but you can choose our Wide Style for greater flexibility
in lining up sightlines with the operable vents below. Another transom choice
is to field stack our Kona 3800. This would be considered if you desire less
metal and more glass than the Narrow Style. Because the Kona has a 4-½” frame
depth, the transition is very clean.
IG Spacer: All aluminum windows
and doors are provided with a dark bronze anodized air spacer. Other options are available upon request.
Side Lites: The
standard Pacific side lite matches the vent sightlines. For those wanting more
glass and less frame, we offer the Pacific narrow style side lite. For even
more glass you can mull our Kona 3800 to the Pacific.
You Design It:
We want to make the Pacific to your size requirements so think BIG. Its
versatility allows you to arrange the vents to meet your design, either
symmetrical or asymmetrical. We even offer true divided lites for even greater
design flexibility.
Consider a few
features of the Pacific that merge power with splendor.
French Door Design:
Because the Pacific 3500 is available with true divided glass lites, you may
choose to design your own grid layout. You can choose to locate these bars
vertically and horizontally to create the look you want.
One Brand: The Pacific
is most likely one of many window and door products for your home. We offer
many other products to compliment the Pacific so you have one brand only. This
has many benefits of course, one of which is that it simplifies warranty
issues. Make sure our dealer is not only providing a complete Fleetwood package
but that your products are factory glazed.
Energy Savings
True energy savings should be computed over the life of your door, not the
short term “test results”. The Pacific was created to last a lifetime and to
perform exceptionally during that long life.
Passive Solar Energy:
Because we have engineered our products for strength, larger sizes are
possible. Huge glass expanses not only accentuate your view but also welcome
more natural light into the room. The presence of more natural light is an
immediate saving on your energy bill.
Glare: Another added benefit
to selecting high performing glass is that glare is radically reduced, allowing
you to enjoy your view all the more. Our spectrally selective low e glass is a
great start and by adding tinted glass even more glare is repelled.
Glass: The Pacific
3500 gives you hundreds of glass options. In fact, we challenge you to
find a glass that will not easily be glazed into this exceptional door. We have designed extrusions to accommodate
glazing from 3/16'' to 1''.
Single Vs Double: The Pacific has
two lines of weather defense whereas most other doors offer one. The seals we offer
are compression bulb seals. Other products typically offer only one strip that
looks like a brush. This brush material cannot keep water out like a
compression bulb seal.
Conduction: Heat/Cold I:
Aluminum transfers energy very easily. This has wrongly been considered a
negative trait but the fact is that very little energy is lost through the
frame material. Other window materials absorb heat and cold into the frame,
causing that material to fail prematurely. One might say that aluminum is a
more intelligent window material in that it deals with such stress in a
positive way by releasing the energy that would normally cause material failure
as it does in vinyl and wood.
Conduction: Heat/Cold II: Aluminum is thermally stable in that it does not swell and shrink when the temperature or humidity levels change. The fact is that very little actual energy is lost through the frame material but in the case of wood and vinyl (expand and contract at high levels) MUCH energy is lost through the frame and vent seams.
Preserving Art:
Larger doors mean more natural light, saving you money. If you choose one
of our higher performing glass systems the light is conditioned for greater
comfort. Destructive elements such as UV Rays are filtered out, which improves
your comfort and protects your flooring, furnishings and art.
Energy Ratings: In
the Products section of our website we list several test results with varying
types of glass, from standard insulated glass to high performance glass.
The quality of any door is compromised if
not installed correctly. The Pacific has been designed with features that help
make installation easier and more effective.
Welded Frame Corners:
Each Pacific frame is hydraulically staked using an extruded corner key. This
alone provides all the strength necessary but the Pacific is also “hot welded”
to make sure these corners keep the frame perfectly square. This allows the
installers to move the frame without racking it or damaging the corners.
Nail Fin: The Pacific comes with an integral nail fin
to allow the best waterproofing possible. If the builder prefers a flush back,
we offer our block frame as an option.
Ease Of Installation: Because the Pacific was designed for openings that
are often very large, we designed several features to make your installation
easier. For example, the hinge allows
the frame to be installed first and then the vent to be inserted after most of
the construction is completed. This protects your beautiful door until you are
ready to use it.
One
of the nice things about being earth sensitive is that you benefit too!
Sustainable Design:
Aluminum is a fantastic building product for those concerned about sustainability.
It is naturally plentiful and perpetually surviving (recyclability). Moreover,
aluminum rates very high in Life Cycle Assessment and leaves a small ecological
footprint.
Environmentally Preferred:
Because aluminum is a relatively lightweight building product, we can ship our
windows and doors all over the world with little logistical waste. Even better,
our windows and doors are created in such a way that far reaching markets can
purchase glass locally and avoid the glass transit costs.
Lasts Longer: All windows and
doors eventually must be replaced BUT aluminum windows and doors last
decades longer than wood and vinyl. Consider the impact on the world's
landfills with all the wood and vinyl waste. As well, imagine the wasted
energy on redundant manufacturing of short-lived wood and vinyl windows and
doors.
Inert Coatings & Finishes:
We offer two types of finishes on our aluminum windows and doors: paint and
anodizing. Both processes result in environmentally safe products that do
not require refinishing. Because Fleetwood products are factory
finished for life, you need only keep them clean. Can you imagine the
reduction of VOCs if everyone chose aluminum over products requiring
refinishing? See the inside cover of our
brochure for more information regarding painting and anodizing.
Avoid VOCs: Volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) are chemical compounds that outgass from many materials and
can pollute the air in your home. Since Fleetwood’s painted finishes are factory
cured at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, these compounds are safely removed. Neither
wood nor vinyl can provide factory baked coatings.
Fire Induced Toxic Fumes:
If a fire were to occur in your home your aluminum would not emit toxic
fumes. Other window products incinerate quickly and add to the flames by
only windows and doors made from metal will not burn. Also, vinyl
products are petroleum based and therefore pose a great fire hazard and emit
toxic fumes. In fact, some rural communities prohibit vinyl door
products for this very reason. This product is not fire rated.
Remnants Recycled:
Manufacturing produces waste destined for the world’s landfills. 100% of our
aluminum remnants are collected and melted down to make new windows and doors.
This severely reduces energy input because aluminum production from scrap uses
95% less energy and limits the waste stream.
Made of Recycled Metal:
Every aluminum window and door is made up of components (rollers, latches,
weather-stripping...) as well as extrusions. These extrusions are
comprised of virgin aluminum an, on average, 40% - 50% of 'post consumer'
aluminum to provide the world with products whose supply almost never depletes.
Recycled Glass:
In addition to the high percentage of recycled aluminum used on all
Fleetwood products, the glass we use is made of bountiful ingredients such as
silica sand. Our suppliers also melt down remnants and glass scrap for future
use.
Naturally Plentiful:
Aluminum is an abundant resource. In fact, about 8% of the earth's crust
consists of aluminum bauxite. This bountiful supply exceeds global
demands and because of its recyclable nature, aluminum is the material for the
next century. Additionally, 94% of the world’s supply of bauxite is mined
in non-forested regions minimizing global environmental impact.
Fleetwood designs detail into each of our
products because we firmly believe that discriminating customers appreciate
these “little things”.
Vermin Resistant: When
consideration is being made for the type of doors you want for your home,
rodents, termites and vermin (especially the
human variety) are often not factored into the decision. Invaders can easily
destroy wood or vinyl but our 6063-T6 extrusions are vermin and termite
resistant. The 6063-T6 designates the aluminum alloy used in our extrusions and
the tempering level.
Symmetry: Because the Pacific
vent parts are of the same material and dimensions, the symmetry of each door
provides a nice “picture frame”.
Weather Seals:
The Pacific sounds and feels of extreme quality for many reasons. One of those
is the sealing strategy. By reviewing the details online, you will see two
places where the Pacific is sealed with ideal pressure. We use only neoprene
gaskets and our engineers have created the ideal range of compression to
maximize the life of those seals. Too tight = premature failure of the seal.
Steel Window Look:
The Pacific is offered with two types of true divided lite (TDL) bars. The
standard TDL is a 2-5/16” square shape that allows for single and double-glazing.
We offer an optional 15/16” TDL for single glaze only. We call it our Pacific
3500-SL and it is ideal for those applications wanting the steel window
look with the advantages of aluminum.
Your Pacific door can be built with your
choice of thousands of colors and sizes.
Radius Shapes: The Pacific is
offered with an arched header. This can be provided in single vents or in
pairs.
Custom Colors: Every Pacific is
available in two stock finishes. Our Clear Anodized finish reveals the natural
character of extruded aluminum and our Dark Bronze Anodize is similar to a
matte black finish. We encourage custom colors and offer thousands of paint
colors and a handful of earth tone custom anodized choices. Our website offers
more information on colors and the difference in paint and anodizing.
Special Sizes: Every Pacific
is made to order and custom sizes are encouraged.