Aluminium Bifold Doors

Aluminium Bifold doors or Sliding Folding Doors are among the most popular home improvement products. Also referred to as concertina doors, accordion doors, folding doors, or multi-folding doors, they allow the creation of glass walls and open up to create a seamless transition between inside and outside spaces.

The continued popularity of bifolding doors may be attributed to lifestyle and home design programmes such as Grand Designs.

Homeowners have adopted the trend of open-plan living, more family rooms and combined spaces in the home.   Another reason is the recent changes in property trends, with homeowners choosing to improve and renovate their homes instead of moving houses. As a result, aluminium bifolding doors are better than ever, with significant options for styling, sightlines, sizes, and colour.

Other pages In this section

• What To Consider When Thinking About Bifolding Door Sizes
• How to design open corner bifold doors
• What bifolding door styles are available?
• Who makes the slimmest bifolding doors?
• How to get a low bifolding door threshold

Why choose a Bifold door for your Patio

Advantages of a Bifolding Door

With a bifolding door, the main advantage is the ability to open up an entire space.  When closed, bifolding doors can enable similar views outdoors associated with patio doors.  In addition, there’s the capacity to create flush floor levels and a seamless transition from inside to out. Then you have the choice of new extensions, such as creating open corner bifolding doors, which is an excellent way to create a dramatic home extension.

Another great feature of these functional patio doors is how they work in large openings. Many bifolds go up to 1.2m wide per panel, the high end even wider at 1.5m wide. For the height, the upper-level brands achieve heights of 3.2m, creating impressive floor-to-ceiling glazing.

With the broad range of products in the marketplace, the consumer has a huge choice when it comes to bifolding doors with several benefits over French doors or patio doors:

• Some doors will create a 90% clear opening.
• They are a fantastic alternative to French doors or patio doors which only offer a 40% opening.
• They enable open-plan living areas and can convert two rooms into one.
• Improved light thanks to large glass panels.
• High security, energy efficiency and weather sealing
• Available in a wide variety of colours and finishes.
• Now available slimmer and even in a steel-look style
• Wide variety of opening combinations

Who are the main providers of aluminium bifolding doors?

Bifolding doors today are available with many different aesthetics, colours, hardware choices and specifications.   Most window and door systems companies now have bifolding doors to their product range.  There are over 50 different bifolding door brands in the UK.  Some of the best bifolding doors in the UK include:

To choose the best type of bifolding door, consumers now have access to more information and dedicated bifolding door showrooms.  This very website is unique, providing independent and impartial information about bifolding doors.  Finding the best bi folding doors can be challenging when faced with so much information.   The Aluminium Trade Supply Website can advise on all aspects of bifolding doors. Contact us for further information.

Bifolding doors are complicated to engineer, design and fabricate.  A good installation means bifolding doors operate reliably.  Many of the perceived problems associated with folding doors are usually down to installation.

Deciding between PVCu and Aluminium Bifold Doors

The significant benefits of aluminium bifolding doors are slimmer lines, less visual bulk, larger panel sizes, and a more reliable long-term product. For these reasons, many PVCu double-glazing companies choose not to supply PVCu bifolds alongside their window ranges. 

A PVCu folding sliding door is vastly improved on early-generation products and provides a low-cost option. However, thick profile dimensions, bulkier hardware and greater thermal expansion are characteristic of the product. Aluminium bifolds are significantly more reliable.

Aluminium bi-folding doors can be larger and taller than their PVCu counterparts and have far less intrusive and more attractive hardware. They can also last much longer.  Furthermore, their slimmer sightlines, especially since the doors are closed most of the year, enable larger glass areas than pvcu. Check out who makes the slimmest bifolding doors.

Aluminium bifolding doors provide long service life with little maintenance when correctly made and installed.  The non-welded construction of aluminium (compared to pvcu) means that individual sections can easily be replaced should any damage occur.

You can also find information about bifolds and other patio doors in other materials.

Bifolding doors in a range of styles

While white remains a popular colour, other colours are dominant for patio doors, such as bifolds, creating a visual contrast. Woodgrain colours, plain and wood-effect foils, metallic, anodised or a different colour inside and out are all available, and the option for hybrid bifolds with wood inside and aluminium outside.

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