We are completing a renovation for which we had originally planned a 5M bi-fold between the extended kitchen and the patio. But living in the west of Ireland, where it rains a lot more than the sun shines, we decided that a bi-fold, while fabulous when fully opened out, would create too many lines when closed, which would be a lot more of the time. So we opted for a 2 leaf 2.5 wide (each) sliding door. We felt it would bring the outdoors in more when closed, and allowed us to put some nice furniture on the floor in front of the static leaf.

(we then decided to reduce the door width down to 4M to facilitate a 1M wide window beside it to allow us to get ventilation in without having to open the door and to create a window seat - but that's neither here nor there!)

With a 5 pane bifold the first thing you will notice will be so many frames. I don't actually like bifolds. A 2 pane slider looks stunning to me. And definitely 2 pane rather than 3. My opinion though....

You mention possibly 5 m opening for the doors- how wide is the room? Have you decided on layout? If your room is 7m wide then a 5m opening would be fine but if its not as wide as 7m then perhaps decide where furniture is going to be. Worst thing is having a sofa along infront of a slider/bifold.... (again, just my opinion!)

@Ellie its a 7.3 m extension with 6.7m available internally. I was thinking a 3 door slider is better as it gives me a open space of 3.2m rather than 2.5m in a 2 door opening.

I am in Scotland and would actually only have them opened fully on a handful of days per year. To me they are really just big windows so it's all about the look and one line is better than seeing 2.

Thats exactly my thinking too Ellie. When the sliding door is open the full 2M, the garden comes into the room plenty. When its closed, theres only 1 line breaking up the view of the garden. Plus, when the sun is shining and the door is open and Im on the patio, there is no door encroaching on the patio space.

My sister decided on sliders for her new kitchen. She has two sliders with one static one in the middle and it works really well. Although she has two lines it really isn’t intrusive at all and the windows are massive. This is a picture, not her actual home but very similar, and it gives you the gist of it. Im not keen on bifolds. We don’t really get the weather for them and I wonder how soon the mechanism starts to go wrong!

@Sonia we are thinking something similar, the sliders in the pic looks fabulous

So the 2 on the outside open onto the one in the middle? That looks really sleek, I like it!

Is the patio built already, can't you make it deeper? We went for bifolds but it was a 3.6m so 3x1.2 panels. Might not use them much but i'm really looking forward to the summer days and being able to fully open them up. I'm fussy but never really notice the frames and we went for the standard ones as well rather than the slimline. Also people seem to love Crittal which has frames everywhere?

@Chandan, that's a huge extension :-). With a 5m opening, I would not have bifolds, as you have mentioned, going for 4 pane 1.2m doors, this would take up a lot of room on the patio once the doors are fully open. As Sonia says the mechanism might not work very well after some time, especially if you have a huge opening and big doors. These are the 2 main reasons why I didn't go for bifolds.

I have sliding doors, 4m opening, 3 x 1.2m wide panes with 35mm frames. You can also get frames that are 20mm if you want less frame lines. All 3 panes slide so it's very flexible as to which side I want to have the opening.

One thing you should consider is -

Heating - are you having underfloor heating? If not where will your radiators go? If you plan to have tall radiators either side of the doors you need to make sure you can get a radiator that will produce enough BTU for the room otherwise it won't be warm enough. This was something we didn't think about/ consider and our options were very limited when trying to find radiators that we liked, produced enough BTU and that would fit into a narrow space.

I think a 3 pane slider would be better than 2 pane because you'll have more 'open' space once the doors are open.

thanks @kwgkwg for your inputs. more or less helped me put a final stamp on my decision to go with sliding doors 😉.

I am going with underfloor heating so radiators should not be an issue (I hope) . I am also thinking of a 3 panel slider as u can open more with config than a 2 panel one.

I definitely think sliders were the best choice (and it feels like more people are opting for them than bifolds these days, or maybe that’s just my perception?).

Berrecka, do you have a photo of your 4m sliders with the 1m window and window seat? We’re looking at doing something similar but I haven’t seen a visual with something like this so it would be really useful!

Though Sonia, the door configuration your sister opted for is lovely too! Decisions, decisions...

Blade40, we're not back in yet, but I'll take a photo for you then next time I'm there

From a 20 year experience in domestic construction industry I would definitely advise 2 panel sliding. The view to the garden will be amazing and easy to operate. From technical point sliding doors have very low maintenance if not at all. On the other hand the bifold doors have higher maintenance due to wear and tear of the byfold-sliding gear. Should you decide to go for bifold then consider to go for high end german brands like Schuco.

Thanks berrecka!

we're a big fan of minimalistic design.. we would suggest least panels as possible :)

Blade40, it's still a building site, obviously, but this is the 4m door, 1.1m window

@berrecka which sliders are these ? may I know where did you get it from ?

They were made by a company in the west of Ireland, where we live

Berrecka this looks great! Would be lovely to see another pic when it’s all finished and the window seat is in situ too.

You have no idea how much I want to share an all-finished pic... We've been living with my parents since June!

@blade40 I'm sure you've been hanging on tenterhooks since my last update back in March, but here's how it ended up with the slider door and window beside it.

I'm joining this conversation a bit late (!) but am interested to hear where you are buying your sliding doors which open both sides (not opening at the same time), as I can only find sliding doors online which open one side with the other side fixed. We have a 5m opening and would like exactly what @Cherub Pebble has above, but cannot find this online at all! Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Ultraline offer that option.

We have Express Bifolds sliding doors, the opening is 7m and we have 3 panels of 2.3m, with underfloor heating. The panel’s can be pushed along with literally 2 fingers! The company were incredibly professional and the fitting is faultless, we got them back to replace our front door too as we liked them so much. Not cheap but extremely well made product, expertly fitted.

I recommend three sliders that all move to give you the most options. We have three and the opening space has been plenty big enough even for a party and you can choose left or right to have closed as you need. Our neighbours went for two sliders and closed it does look good but I don’t think the extra line is that noticeable especially if you go for thin lines. But the opening space on ours and the flexibility is much better.

Brilliant advice and suggestions, thank you so much

Hi all,

We're also looking for a set of 3 sliding doors (approx 4450 wide).

Obviously we want the thinnest sightline/frames we can afford but the quotes i'm getting are HIGH.

10k+ (+vat)

I know there's a supply shortage/pandemic/brexit etc, but if anyone has any recommendations for reasonably priced doors that would be really helpful.

(so many companies out there)

If you're happy to share prices, that would be great too.

Many thanks,

a frazzled refurber.

@Sonia - where were the doors from in your pic?

@kwg kwg - where did you get your doors with the 35mm frames please? - can i ask the cost?

Difficult without knowing who you’ve already tried (and what you deem reasonably priced!) but we got ours from ultraline and highly recommend them.

ah, yes, sorry - have looked at Everglade, Maxlight, Origin OS-20 so far

yes, deffo want a 3 panel, all sliding setup

would you like to quote for us?

have requested a quote online, thanks

It appears I am in the minority. For some reason, I like seeing the lines in the doors!😁. Also read somewhere that it is better to look at different ‘frames’ of a view instead of having one large glass wall. But I see architects and designers alike recommending large panes of glass and minimal lines. Hmmm I need to have a rethink...🤔