Bifold or Sliding doors dilemma?
Holly Prewett
6 years ago
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PROAnonymous
6 years agoHolly Prewett
6 years agoRelated Discussions
Bi-Fold or Sliding Doors on our extension - advice please??
Comments (15)There is no right or wrong answer - and as suppliers and installers of award winning versions of both bifold AND sliding door systems we have no bias towards one or the other. Our teams install nationally, from Shetland to the Channel Islands...and everywhere in between. When we get asked this question by customers there are a number of initial things we would ask to try and make some recommendations - and we have written a blog all about these. Probably the most valuable question is realistically how often are you likely to have the doors fully open. Our SF55 aluminium bifold doors can be manufactured up to 1.1m wide and have an industry leading narrow sightline of 115mm (the amount of frame visible when closed) and over a 29' 6" run of 9x1m panels you will have 8 intermediate frames totalling 920mm of aluminium. We do two aluminium sliding door systems the Grand Slider (83mm sightlines) or our award winning theEDGE (narrow 24mm sightline) - both can take glass sizes of up to 3m wide so over a 9m run of 3x3m panels you will have 166mm of intermediate aluminium visible with the Grand Slider and just 48mm visible with theEDGE. So if your doors are closed more often than open there is significantly less frame than glass in sliding doors - maximising your views - however the trade off is that unless you opt for a pocket slider you are not able to open a sliding door completely to create a total 9m opening like you are with bifold doors - you would only open 6m of the 7m (or 6.75m if you went for four sliding door panels). In terms of thermal performance both SF55 and the sliding door systems can be double or triple glazed and achieve pretty similar U-Values and in terms of price the SF55 and Grand Slider systems work out to be almost identical - although theEDGE is a bit more because of the advanced engineering required to create such a narrow profile. There is also the option of the SF75 bifold door which has a U-Value of 0.9W/m2K which is the lowest of any aluminium system on the market. Given your location and your views, my personal recommendation would be sliding doors, because you maximise your views even when closed - but it is whatever is best for you and it may well be a combination of sliding doors and fixed frames provide the perfect and cost effective solution. If you have any questions do not hesitate to ask and good luck with your project!...See MoreSliding doors or bifolds or other option?
Comments (13)There is no right or wrong answer - and as suppliers and installers of award winning bifold AND sliding door systems we have no bias towards one or the other. When we get asked this question by customers there are a number of initial things we would ask to try and make some recommendations - and we have written a blog all about these. Probably the most valuable question is how often are you likely to have the doors fully open. Our SF55 aluminium bifold doors can be manufactured up to 1.1m wide and have an industry leading narrow sightline of 115mm (the amount of frame visible when closed) and over a 7m run of 7x1m panels you will have 6 intermediate frames totalling 690mm of aluminium. We do two aluminium sliding door systems the Grand Slider (83mm sightlines) or our award winning theEDGE (narrow 24mm sightline) - both can take glass sizes of up to 3m wide so over a 7m run of 3x2.33m panels you will have 166mm of intemediate aluminium visible with the Grand Slider and just 48mm visible with theEDGE. So if your doors are closed more often than open there is significantly less frame than glass in sliding doors, however the trade off is that unless you opt for a pocket slider you are not able to open a sliding door completely to create a total 7m opening like you are with bifold doors - you would only open 4.66m of the 7m (or 5.25m if you went for four sliding door panels). In terms of thermal performance both SF55 and the sliding door systems can be double or triple glazed and achieve pretty similar U-Values and in terms of price the SF55 and Grand Slider systems work out to be almost identical - although theEDGE is a bit more because of the advanced engineering required to create such a narrow profile. If you have any questions do not hesitate to ask and good luck with your project!...See MoreBifold vs sliding doors
Comments (12)We had the very same dilemma. I wanted the option of being able to open the door slightly, rather than having to open up a whole panel. In the end I factored in that our house has a lot of glass in it, it’s south facing on the living areas all day long and therefore one of our problems was the house being too warm. It only takes the sun to be out and the sky bright to warm up the house, doesn’t have to be even warm outside - we still have sun in winter! We went for bi fold in the end and it was the best decision, there may be a week give or take when we haven’t had them open but just a week or so in 6 months. Have them opened up all the time, and a previous poster mentioned about flies, it’s true, no flies stuck in the house ( incidentally a bonus). My neighbour went for sliding and regrets not having bi folds...See MoreKitchen Layout Inputs
Comments (2)Can you upload just a floorplan as some of the measurements are not clear. Just regarding layout. To get to kitchen from front door is a bit of a trek.....into hallway, into another room (dining?) into the open space past sofas then into kitchen? I would change that so that the front door opens into hallway and then you can then walk into the new open space. Ideally you can see right out the back garden from your front door...See MoreSarah W
6 years ago
charlie_bill
6 years agoHi holly. Similar aperture for us. Same dilemma when making decision. We are on the coast too. Went for sliding. Love them. Have had them closed more than open. Even had a tiny slide slide space open on Xmas Day when it got to hot with all the cooking. I also open them slightly if the cooking smells get too much for the extractor or if I burn something
Holly Prewett
6 years agocharlie_bill
6 years agoHolly Prewett
6 years agocharlie_bill
6 years agoHolly Prewett
6 years agoThis is the existing window and the attached conservatory.
The conservatory is basically being replaced by a brick built extention. where the window is the wall will just carry straight along.
whilst it looks like it's more than big enough to carry a bigger set of doors it's hard as we would like this area to become a seating area and I guess don't want such a big area we have to extend the decking etc.
Our Garden almost wraps around. We will be having another set of doors.
I'm really not explaining myself well. I have just done a rough outline to show you
ightenhill
6 years agowe went with Bifolds in the end but that was more because we needed a more traditional look.. I would say one issue with Bifolds is you do end up with a lot of wood (re light issues in and also blocking your view) - in the end it does come a lot down to taste and what fits the building
LTS
6 years ago
acew1234
6 years agoHolly Prewett
6 years agoacew1234
6 years agoJustine Clarke
6 years ago
James Smith
6 years agoacew1234
6 years agoHolly Prewett
6 years ago
PROCroydon Window Company Ltd
6 years ago
chief_brody