Sliding wood doors – or patio doors – are fantastic for letting in natural light and giving views of the outside world. However, they are not the only choice. Bifold doors have increased in popularity in recent years and offer homeowners an alternative to French doors or sliding wood doors for opening the inside to the outside. However, sliding wood doors and bifold doors are suitable for different situations, and there are scenarios where sliding wood doors might be the best choice over a bifold mechanism. Here we’ll look at when you’ll want to opt for sliding wood doors.
Advantages of sliding wood doors
Uninterrupted views
Sliding wood doors are mostly large glass panes with a slim frame. Nothing comes close in terms of uninterrupted views of the outside when the doors are closed. If you want to maximise light into your home and enjoy your garden all the year round from the comfort of inside your home, then sliding doors are the best.
Efficient use of space
Probably one of the main advantages of sliding wood doors is their efficient use of space. As the ‘opening’ pane of glass simply moves in front of the other, fixed, pane of glass, you don’t need to consider allowing space for the opening. Bifold doors need a space against a wall for the concertina of doors when open. If you have a small room or an awkward interior door configuration, then sliding doors literally take up no space. Another consideration if you do have a small room, is that maximising natural light and opening the views to the outside as much as possible, even when the doors are closed, is another advantage of sliding doors.
One of the most obvious benefits of sliding wood doors is that you can use them when you can’t use the whole wall as a door. Bifold doors use an entire exterior wall of your room. If you have radiators, other doors, or a corner cupboard you can’t live without, sliding wood doors will open up a lot of the exterior wall, but not ALL of the exterior wall.
Thermal efficiency
Is it a close call when comparing sliding doors to bifolds, but due to the large amount of glass, compared with frame material, it’s easier to produce sliding doors that are very good at keeping warm air inside your home. Both bifold doors and sliding doors with modern double glazing will provide good thermal efficiency, and if other considerations are important to you, such as opening up the whole wall as much as possible, then go for bifolds. But on thermal efficiency alone, sliding wood doors come in at slightly better.
When NOT to choose sliding wood doors
However, there are also scenarios where sliding wood doors are not the best choice. If you are looking for a seamless inside to outside feel with the level of the floor continuous from inside to out, and use your outside space a lot, then a bifold solution is worth investigating.
If you need wheelchair access, then the ultra-low threshold of bifolds will be important as sliding doors need a threshold for the lower runner. In some cases, you can install a runner into the floor, but usually there’s a threshold between the inside and outside.
Sliding wood doors and bifold timber doors from Woodcraft
At Woodcraft Windows we specialise in traditional timber windows and doors and can supply and fit both sliding wood doors and bifolds in your home. If you’re torn between which to choose, we can advise accordingly.
