Is there a prefered manufacturer of Bifold doors?

[britishboy7]

Am looking to fit either bifold doors, or wider french doors with side panels into a 2.3m wide opening at rear of the house. Is there a preferred manufacturer of doors?

Am assuming aluminium doors will be better than uPVC?

Struggling to decide between bifold and french doors as its not an overly wide gap for bifolds, and dont want half the view obstructed by the centrelines of the doors

 

[God]

All down to what you want to spend

 

[Gazman16]

As above
French doors with sidelights approx £800, bifolds double that plus the fitting on both.
Smart (and probably other makes) do 1200mm door sashs so could be done with a 2 pane bifold

 

[britishboy7]

As above
French doors with sidelights approx £800, bifolds double that plus the fitting on both.
Smart (and probably other makes) do 1200mm door sashs so could be done with a 2 pane bifold

Thanks guys, and sorry I should of said. Happy to go up to maybe £1800-£2000 for the doors if need be..

 

[britishboy7]

As above
French doors with sidelights approx £800, bifolds double that plus the fitting on both.
Smart (and probably other makes) do 1200mm door sashs so could be done with a 2 pane bifold

Thanks Gazman, are Smart a good brand to go for please? 2 pane bifold would be perfect

 

[Gazman16]

£2000 may be doable for bifolds possibly a bit tight. Depends what area you are in and how much work is involved.
Tell us what town your in and someone here maybe in range.
Try some local double glazing company's. Stay away from the big national company's.

 

[britishboy7]

Thanks Gaz
I'm in between Harlow and Hertford, on the Herts/Essex border, and looking to get them fitted asap if anyone is reading (and interested). The opening is being done in the next couple of weeks, so will be ready just to fit the bifolds straight into - all I need is them supplying and fitting in the ready made gap

 

[^woody^]

There is no "better" only different.

Sightlines are completely different too whether it's different material or French or bi-folds.

 

[garyo]

Thanks Gazman, are Smart a good brand to go for please? 2 pane bifold would be perfect

What it is it your trying to achieve? A 2 pane bifold isnt much diferent to a pair of French doors with low threshold?

 

[britishboy7]

What it is it your trying to achieve? A 2 pane bifold isnt much diferent to a pair of French doors with low threshold?

Hi Gary
We want to widen the view of the rear garden as much as we can, and its also in preperation for possibly an orangery/conservatory going on the back later on this year, we thought bifolds into the orangery would give us maximum opening and free space in the area once opened up.... Open to suggestions or ideas though as this is our first project)

 

[garyo]

Well, the reason I ask is that bi-fold doors seem to be becoming the conservatory/hot-tub of the 1990s. Everyone has bought in to the dream that you see on the brochure/tv-show, and forgotten that they live in the UK climate! If you just want to re-sell the house/project then having a bi-fold and marketing it in spring may be worth doing, if not I'd think about how you want it to work for you. If you just want an amazing glass-wall style view of the garden then a huge double/triple glazed panel will be better and way more thermally efficient (a lot of the bi-folds at the cheaper/uPVC end of the spectrum seem to be leaky and go out of adjustment with the weather so don't work well)

As I say you can get large French doors with no/low threshold, but probably not 2.3M wide, so perhaps the BF is best if you need to push all three leaves to one side to maximise the feel of openness.

 

[God]

I'll give you an idea of cost for a 2/3 pane bi fold in aluk profile (just having a dump first)
2300 will be on the border of a 2/3 pane. Either way if you go French doors, bi fold doors or patio you will have a mullion up the middle, patio will be the thinnest

 

[God]

Okay aluk has a maximum sash width of 1000mm so at 2300mm it would be a 3 pane. We would a 3 pane white bi fold into new work at around £2600+ vat. You could probably use a different profile supplier as some can do sashes at 1200mm so you would only need a 2 pane so would be cheaper. I'm going to look into this

Looked into it. Smarts do a 1200 sash so a 2 pane would work, we also do smarts but don't have a list for it so I will post tomorrow

 

[^woody^]

On eBay, aluminium bifolds are going for less than £600 a door.

 

[DHFrames]

ALuk doors go up to 1200m per leaf
Approx £1600-£1800+vat fitted