In the process of new windows and door ordering and choice of replacing French doors with equivalent UPVC or going for a bit of brick removal and fitting bi folds.

Now the brochures make them look stunning but our ‘opening’ would support only a three door option. Anyone with anything good or bad to say about actually living with them? Security issues, practicality?

And yes, I would rather have a new bike…

I have fitted plenty of them . In plastic there not very pretty imo but in ali they do look fantastic even a 3 pane 1 would look great and when they fold back they really do open the room up. Security wise there fine same looking system as normal double glazing on main door then shoot bolts on the slave doors so no less secure than anything else on the market 9/10 is easier to smash the glass …

We have them, 4 section in ali. They are fantastic and create a massive single opening. They replaced a pair of double doors with a column between them. They are a “feature of the property” as they overlook a view for distant hills/countryside. If it were only for access to the garden I would query the cost.

The doors are heavy and I do wonder whether they might suffer from “dropping”, currently after 3 years they have been trouble free as you’d hope for the price. Double glazed (so warm) at least as secure as softwood doors they replaced.

We have a three section one. They look great, when they are open they really open up the room, they open onto our conervatory from the dining room. They only negative is for us that the surround around the glass, so the solid door bit, is more than we would have liked. It blocks out more light. If you do your research you can probably find some less bulky than the ones we got. They are wood rather than PVC, which might have some impact but visually when closed the varnished wood looks great.

For reference, the french doors in the background are the ones in question. Tony, given that everything else will be white I think the ali ones might look odd. I agree they look great in the brochures though!
DSC02604 by craigbart, on Flickr

The palm tree is alas, no more…

Got a 4 section one and its great, it seals really tight so no drafts at all, on the flip site its a bit tight to close. But in summer, there is no doubt at all its better than french doors.

Bring the outside inside or vice verca, blah blah etc

Have a wood one, and it looks so much better than the UPVC one I had at my old place..

given that everything else will be white I think the ali ones might look odd.

Why? You can get ali frames in white. We’ve got a large 3-pane ali bi-fold and it blends in fine with the rest of the white UPVC doors/window.

Go for it – tranforms the room.

Not sure what they would add to opening like that. I’d just take out the side lights and fit a pair of wider ‘normal’ doors

But in summer, there is no doubt at all its better than french doors.

How? If you open both french doors, the entire aperture is open.

OK legoman, any idea of cost? So far we have been quoted 1150 to replace existing layout with the same in UVPC and 1900 to replace it with UVPC bi folds. If the ali is white, what does it give that the UVPC doesn’t? Is it a thinner frame or something?

How? If you open both french doors, the entire aperture is open.

I would have thought a 3 section is wider than french doors, so assume that he’s taking out whatever is next to the door aperture?

I would have thought a 3 section is wider than french doors, so assume that he’s taking out whatever is next to the door aperture?

No reason why you couldn’t remove the brickwork under the windows and fit wider doors.

We used http://www.i-d-systems.co.uk/folding-doors/ who are the UK agent for Sunflex of Germany.

Cant recommend them enough, we’ve had them on the back of our house for 6 years and they look as good as new. Properly Germanic quality, they are big heavy things but the sliding/folding action is great. They even come round every couple of years and service the seals, I dont think they’ve ever charged for that.

If you do it make sure you have them flush with the floor so you walk straight in and out without stepping over a ledge, you get that full inside/out effect especially if its from your kitchen.

So my research so far –

Just to confuse things you can also get composite with Alu outside/wood inside (or just an alu cladding). In theory external aluminium/cladding will be hardest wearing.

Alu gives thinner profiles than wood which are thinner than uPVC. Prices for wood/alu head north from about £1000 a pane

How wide is that gap? I’m not sure there’s going to be a big benefit over for that width as the 3 stacked panes aren’t going to be a lot smaller than a third of the space. You’ll probably get a bigger opening, and more glass area, at a lower price with a pair of doors at the full width.

OPening is 2.12m wide by 2.05m high (roughly). I see your point about the stacked doors taking up space…this has been useful!

Our ali ones are white, ie they are painted. BTW our doors stack fine, all off to one side next to the wall as it were.

had ours 3 years cost roughly 1700 to replace patio doors. they look great but i do wish the scottish weather was better!!

Try Vu-fold doors. I had them in my old place – great value for oak doors!

We had our sliding patio doors replaced with bifold (3 pane) doors a couple of weeks ago. They lead into the conservatory, its really opened up the place and the wife’s really pleased with them (so they’re worth every penny). They cost around 4 grand (white alloy) and the quality is excellent. Everest BTW.
They do take up a bit more room than I expected when fully open though.

Thats a very small openeing for bi-folds tbh… i would go with a nice set of full size patio’s and get rid of the sidelights thats just my opinion though.

make sure you look at upvc bi-folds in person before going ahead imo they are ugly i dont mind UPVC plastic frames but UPVC bi-folds look too bulbous