Sliding or Bi-Folding?
When you’re planning an extension, there’s a decent chance that one of the main features that you’re focusing on during the design process is the doors.
Modern door products allow you to incorporate huge areas of glazing so you can ‘bring the garden in’, and in turn allow you to combine the internal space, almost seamlessly, with the outside.
These doors can vary from a couple of metres wide, up to around 8-10 metres, and whereas for years bi-folding doors were the go-to choice, nowadays we probably install just as many, or more, sliding doors.
But which option is best for you, and what things should you be considering when making your decision? Let’s touch on a few points that you should be thinking about…
1, Glass Area
You might just start remembering the feelings you had last February. Your windows are draughty, they might be single glazed, and you’re shivering under the duvet on a dark Winters morning. A month later, it’s brighter, it’s warmer, and the problem has gone away, it’s easy to forget and leave it for another day. But now it’s getting colder again…
With most larger door spaces, one of the things you’re probably looking to do is to maximise the glass area, to get lots of light coming in and to give you a good view out into your garden.
Bi-folding doors can typically be made up to 1200mm wide for each section, so if you have a 6-metre span, for example, you would be looking at either 5, 6 or 7 sections. Each split between sections creates a vertical section of frame.
With sliding doors, 6 metres would typically be made up of three sliding sections, so this approach would give you far more glass than the alternatives on the bi-fold option.
2, Opening
How do you want the doors to open? Bi-folding doors will have at least one ‘traffic’ door, which will allow you to go in and out easily by just opening one section. The obvious attraction of bi-folding doors is that when you want to open them fully you can do exactly that and open all sections completely to give you an (almost) full width clear opening.
With sliding doors this isn’t the case. Using the example above, of a 6-metre, 3-section, 3-track sliding door, you could open all sections, but they will always have to ‘be’ somewhere , so your overall total opening would be almost two-thirds of the overall width.
One potential benefit of the sliding option, however, is that you’re not taking up and space on your patio when they open, which can be handy as it gives you more freedom to position any patio furniture
3, Looks
Both types of doors will typically be aluminium, usually ‘powder coated’. We can powder coat our aluminium doors to any RAL colour, which gives you a choice of hundreds of different colours and finishes.
Grey, black, and of course white, are popular colours these days, but you could also be bold and go for something a bit more adventurous. We have full colour charts to allow you to choose, and we can also get samples prepared to help you make your decision.
The door furniture can be an important consideration, too. There are lots of styles and finishes available, with popular finishes being stainless steel. We can also powder handles to match the door colour if preferred.
4, Alternatives
Not sure that either of these options are right for you? Why not consider the industrial steel look that is becoming more en vogue. Our Aluco Elegance system is our newest offering and can capture a certain look and feel which can work well with lots of styles of properties.
Typically, in black, or grey, these doors and windows can incorporate glazing bars and traditional art deco accessories to complete the look.
Ready to find out more?
If you are planning a new extension, Barnet Window Company is here to help.
Your journey towards the perfect doors for your home can start with a simple telephone chat or, if you’re ready, why not book a sales visit with either Paul or Tommy , our experts.
Whatever you decide, you can be assured of a first-class service, without any stress or hassle, from the minute you get in touch, right up to final sign-off of your project.
If you’d like to chat to us, simply call our friendly team on 020 8449 4747 and we’ll be happy to help.
Alternatively, send us an email and we’ll get back to you.
