Can pvc sliding doors ever look good?
I have a 2.5m wide opening with a very narrow patio leading on to a rockery with retaining wall. I do not have the budget for bi folds (and think they wouldn's suit the narrow space) The kitchen which they lead from is a little dark thanks to the steep incline of the garden so I am considering sliding doors over french doors to increase light. I think I am only able to fit a double pane sliding door and it will be in a wood grain effect.
The windows company said that pvc sliding doors would be £1500 less than aluminium with very similar looks and frame margins and so it is hard for me to justify paying the extra. Have the pvc ones improved looks-wise over the years? I keep worrying they may look naff/very 1970s. Any thoughts v welcome as I have to place the order tomorrow and am having last minute jitters!!!
Attached photos shows what I am replacing....
Comments (19)
PROUser
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Should I replace the doors of the wardrobe by mirror sliding doors?
Comments (4)Hello. Congratulations on buying your apartment. You should think very carefully about what you do to your studio, since it is the space where you will live, breath and sleep. Before you make any specific decisions, put together a mood board so you can focus on the complete look. . Look at the colour and texture of the things you aren't going to change, like the sofa and, I guess, the floor? Then gather images of the things you want to change, and play around with colour, taking inspiration from your moodboard. This is fun, and will give you a good idea of how your room with feel and look. Good luck. Oh, and please be very wary of a bank of mirrored wardrobes - you will catch your reflection every time you make the slightest move in your space. Cathy, Cathy Phillips & Co....See Morepatio doors -I really want sliding doors but I'm told it's not an opti
Comments (7)The reason that you're dad is telling you this is because of the sizes of the doors. Each door will be less than 3ft wide, and ordinary sliding doors do not slide back completely behind the other, therefore, the gap that you walk through to get outside will be impeeded, probably by around 10-12 inches. When you take into consideration the width of the frame on both sides, your gap will be tiny, i'm hazzarding a guess at somewhere in the realm of 20-24 inches. Of course it is possible, you can have them whatever size you like. Just ask the window company what gap you'll be left with to walk through ! Other sliding doors ( the expensive ones ) - push out then slide over, making your gap larger. If you can afford it, then bi-folds will work, other than that two lovely large patio doors that open out mounted toward the outer edge of the building so that they fold as flat a possible agains the outside walls. We put these on one of our builds, and it's fabulously light and airy inside and the doors open a long way out and back These are the sort that you mean, and we have put them on builds, but you end up having to turn slightly sideways to go through them because of the diminished gap!...See MoreSlide and Turn Doors or Sliding Unit
Comments (5)Hi Adam, we also looked at both sliding doors and slide and turn for our opening and were shocked at the price of the slide and turns. One thing that a few designers and window providers said to us was that essentially slide and turn doors (or bifold doors) look better when they are open, and sliding doors look better when they are closed (as they tend to have fewer panels and so less view is blocked by pane). As we are based in London, where for most of the year the doors will be closed, we were advised by everyone to go with sliding doors. (NB our opening is wider, so it was a difference between 3 sliding door panels or 6/7 slide and turn panels)....See MoreLast min dilemma...Sliding door or Slide & Fold Door?!
Comments (14)Hi! A belated thank you to everyone who helped me finally make a decision! I went with a 3 pane sliding door (on a 3.7m opening) allowing me to open over half the width. I figured that with bifolds you would still have the frames stacked to one side which takes up a chunk of the opening as well. I chose the XP Glide from Express Bi-folds. Have found them professional and easy to deal with, we are just awaiting delivery now! The only bug I had is that their choice of handles were pretty basic, either a chunky (in my view an eye sore!) steel bar or a regular lever handle. They only come in black, grey or white! I was initially going with a very sleek 2 pane sliding door from Ultraline that had an integrated handle within the frame but the cost was too high for me to change it to a 3 pane. If I had the budget though I would have gone with them instead. Express Bi-folds do a slimmer framed option than XP Glide, I think it is called XP Panoramic. The 3 pane was more than Ultraline I think though. The consultant at Express-Bi-folds also advised against slimmer framed bonded glass options as if for any reason you damage the glass you have to replace the whole frame as well which is a major structural headache. Most slim framed options use this method though (as opposed to beaded - correct me if I am wrong!) so I would have chosen to ignore his advice if my budget allowed :-)...See More
PROCaldicot Kitchen & Bathroom Centre
6 years agodesign novice thanked Caldicot Kitchen & Bathroom Centre
PROIDSystems
6 years agoWhilst not wanting to cast doubt on expertise of the person you talked to design novice, I cannot say that what you were informed about uPVC sliding doors having 'very similar looks and frame margins' as aluminium is correct.
Aluminium by nature has significant integral strength and does not warp, twist, expand or contract in the same way that uPVC does. This enables the frame of the sliding doors (plus bifold doors and windows for that matter as well) to be made significantly narrower.
For the size of doors you are looking at the uPVC frames are likely to come in at around 130mm, in comparison aluminium sliding doors can have frames that are around 20-24mm for the ultra-slim systems (including theEDGE our award winning doors), and around 80mm for more standard systems (including Grand Slider II our best selling sliding doors).
Also just to clarify in terms of pricing, aluminium sliding doors tend to be around the same price as the equivalent aluminium bifold doors.
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