to bi-fold or not?!

rachelstephens

am interested in any views people have on bi-fold doors! we are doing up a wreck, work just started and i need to tell the builder tomorrow if we rgewant bi-fold doors across the back (we are knocking the kitchen and dining into one, so will be across the back of that one big room). the garden is a nice feature of this house, although the view onto next doors isn't great but we could put up some screening to make that nicer.

at the moment there is a 2.4 metre patio door which we could replace for about £500, then put in a large window of 1.5 metres width which would look onto the garden. or we get bi-folds which would cost loads more, ie a few grand more by the time we pay for the steel etc. i would love them but not sure i can justify the price!

do you think they are worth the hype? i hve heard mixed things regarding their reliability and that the wooden ones warp.

any views would be welcome,my builder is understandably getting pretty annoyed with me!

manythanks

kmmr

I don't have these doors, but I am renovating and recently went through the same dilemma!

In the end I have decided to go with nice French doors instead for the following reasons:

- French doors are MUCH cheaper
- I can get good quality glass walls and nice French doors, rather than the cheapest fold back doors
- In all honesty they will probably be used twice a year at most.

In my research I did find out that if you do go ahead you should go for Alumnimum ones. Wood and PVCu are more unreliable, and you don't want to find in the two days you use them that you have to pay to have the repaired as they have tightened up/warped/whatever'ed in the 11 months since you last used them.

For consistency you should have the rest of whatever is around (windows, conservatory etc) also in Aluminium which makes them more expensive.

On the plus side, they do look spectacular! And are probably a good selling point for a property. Despite definately making the decision not to get them, I do look enviously at pictures of other houses with them.

wallbash

Can you justify the extra cost . Yes the do look wonderful , but I can easily find other ways to spend that sort of money.

sunshinetours

I love them so if cost is not an issue, then I would definitely especially if you have a nice patio/deck just outside as it makes the room blend into the garden

Also depends on where you live I guess as too far north you may not get enough nice warm dry days to fully use them

Well made hardwood proper joinered doors should last OK but any wooden door could warp. Aluminium is the choice apprently in other countries where they are popular (OZ/NZ etc). PVCu is not well enough tested over time IMO as they are relatively new inventions in this country

rachelstephens

thanks everyone for your replies.

we decided against getting them. decided that we would only go for aluminium doors and couldn't afford them. i still think it would have looked nicer with the bifolds but until i win the lottery i am sure we can cope with upvc ones!

cheers, rachel

Doozergirl

We put upvc folding sliding doors into our barn. We had two huge openings and had glass windows and french doors put into one opening, thinking it would be cheaper. We had to get the folding sliding doors from a different supplier as our window guy's suppliers were having to buy them in themselves. The upshot was that we bought the folding sliding doors for almost exactly the same price and our fitter fitted them.

We used these people: http://slideandfold.co.uk/ Visited the showroom first and they could not have been more helpful. We ended up buying the front door from them as well at a fantastic price and without doubt we will be using them again this year but properly planning them to have a level threshold with outside.

If the price is the same then it's a no brainer for me. They are fabulous and were a major selling point. If you do like to entertain friends regularly then they're great.

Here's the ones we did.
http://www.photobox.co.uk/my/photo?album_id=239017432&photo_id=1973719391
And from outside. Folding Sliding on the left, patio doors on the right. You tell me which looks better!
http://www.photobox.co.uk/my/photo?album_id=239017432&photo_id=1864306535

m_penn76

Doozergirl,

Are the UPVC folding sliding doors good? My BiL can get us a very good deal on these, but I was not too sure about going with upvc rather than timber (I think the timber ones are going to be too expensive though)

Doozergirl

We didn't have them for long but they were fine for the time we had them! Considering how heavy they were with them being huge and almost full height to the ceiling, I was impressed. They advised us on whether to have top running or bottom running (I can't remember which we had) but they did say that problems came from running them one particular way over the other.

sunshinetours

Nice pics Doozergirl - those doors look great

Have also bookmarked that link - I've seen those guys recommeneded before as being very good on price. Just wish I knew how long UPVC ones would last

Maybe the OP will reconsider having seen those and the price comparison!

ukmaggie45

Wow Doozergirl, just looked at the whole slide show! Incredible place! Wish you'd come and sort out our house for us!

Been wondering about getting the bifold doors myself, but we don't even have plans for the house yet. Will definitely bookmark slideandfold in the hopes we can manage something like this.

Best wishes from sunny Liverpool

Doozergirl

ukmaggie45 wrote: »

Wow Doozergirl, just looked at the whole slide show! Incredible place! Wish you'd come and sort out our house for us!

Thanks I laid all that turf at the front with my own bare hands! Not doing that again in a hurry...