Aluminium Bifold vs 2 sliding vs 3 sliding

DRP

I'm having an extension built which has 3m wide doors into the garden. Been costed by my builder for supply and fitting of aluminium doors, the options being:

Bifold (3 panels) - 2200+VAT
Sliding (3 door) - 2870+VAT
Sliding (2 door) - 2710+VAT

Does that sound about right? For some reason I thought sliding doors would be cheaper...

System

All the same manufacturer and uvalues etc?
Does the three slider all go into one side? You need to be careful with those as sometimes the frames are huge to take all the runners!

DRP

the_r_sole wrote: »

All the same manufacturer and uvalues etc?
Does the three slider all go into one side? You need to be careful with those as sometimes the frames are huge to take all the runners!

yes same manufacturer and same glass.

3 slider all to same side.

System

what system is it?
price is comparable with recent jobs I have done - using the schueco system (for sliders not bi-fold as i never specify them)
With a 3m opening I would be tempted to go for two panels just to have as little frame as possible...

DRP

the_r_sole wrote: »

what system is it?
price is comparable with recent jobs I have done - using the schueco system (for sliders not bi-fold as i never specify them)
With a 3m opening I would be tempted to go for two panels just to have as little frame as possible...

Thanks r_sole - yes we were thinking 2 panels, but were surprised it was more expensive than 3, given that it seesm the opposite with bifolds - the more leafs you have the more expensive it is (for the same width). Unless i'm mistaken there too.

They are Visoglide doors, if that makes any sense to you!?

Also can i ask why you never specify bifolds?

System

yeah, not sure why, it's not a huge price difference so potentially just the glass area will be greater?
With the Bi-folds there is a significant amount of extra hardware with each panel so it makes sense that the price escalates quickly with more panels...

I don't like bi-folds because they actually take up a fair amount of floor area when they are open unless you work really hard to try and hide them, or if you have them so they are outside when open they get dirty and the mechanisms pick up dirt etc and they need adjustments etc (and you really need a good contractor installing them otherwise they won't run smoothly etc.
Sliding doors are fairly robust and don't need any floor area to operate, and you can have much bigger areas of glass compared to bifolds. My thinking is that I would much prefer to have a couple of large panes, which open to one side than having a load of aluminium frames which disappear a couple of times a year when the weather is good enough to open them fully!

Akk223

Hi

Been looking at bi folds for the past 6 months. The prices quoted seem to be very expensive. I am getting a 7 panel - 7m x 2.4m for £4.5k plus vat which includes supply and fitting. This was with a company called vilofolio. It is a smart system.

There are other models such ALUK, Origin, Schoo (hope I have spelt it correctly) but they seem to be expensive.

The other place I looked was on eBay as there are companies who sell per panel at an average cost of £550 per panel.

Hope this helps

Regards

DRP

Akk223 wrote: »

Hi

Been looking at bi folds for the past 6 months. The prices quoted seem to be very expensive. I am getting a 7 panel - 7m x 2.4m for £4.5k plus vat which includes supply and fitting. This was with a company called vilofolio. It is a smart system.

There are other models such ALUK, Origin, Schoo (hope I have spelt it correctly) but they seem to be expensive.

The other place I looked was on eBay as there are companies who sell per panel at an average cost of £550 per panel.

Hope this helps

Regards

Thanks -I will look them up.

Are you comparing prices for aluminium or upvc?