Why choose Bifold Doors For Your Patio?
Using bifold doors instead of a window at the rear of a property is quite a popular home improvement. Many houses already have a patio door of some kind so why change?
Bifold doors used leading out onto a patio have several distinct advantages over other types of patio doors, let’s have a look at them.
Opening & Closing.
Bifolds are not the only doors that use tracks to slide side to side in order to open, but their unique folding function adds an extra dimension.
Regular sliding doors only move within the outer main frame. This means that you won’t be able to make full use of the width as one or more door panel will always be in the way.
As an example, a 2 panel inline sliding patio door will only allow about 50% access because one door overlaps the other and both sit in the frame at one side or the other. With a 3 panel set of doors you could get about 65% access as the 3 doors can overlap and so on.
With bifold doors, they slide & fold completely to the side, so they just don’t get in the way at all.
Ease of movement
Regular patio doors either swing on hinges like a French door or slide in tracks.
Whilst French doors are quite easy to open and close, they are only usable up to a certain width. If you have a wide opening (3.0m or more) then you will need to fit side panels – or if you have more width to fill, even a second set of French Doors.
With Bifold doors there is no width restriction, just add another panel.
With regular sliding patio doors, the door weight is always taken by the bottom track, which can make the doors more prone to sticking on dirt or debris.
Bifold doors can have the weight taken by the overhead track, making them very easy to move.
View
As we said, inline sliding doors stay inside the frame and they will impair the view. French doors can also impair the view for larger openings due to the side panels needed (whilst they do open wide and suit smaller openings well).
With bifold doors there is nothing to spoil the view once opened. Stacked neatly to the sides, each door panel remains out of the sight lines and allows for truly panoramic views.
Learn more here: Bifold doors cost 2020 | Fully Fitted Bifold Doors Price Guide