What Is The Difference Between Bifold Doors and Sliding Doors?
If you are a homeowner looking for doors that allow sunlight to flood your space, you may come across bifold doors and sliding doors. It is common for homeowners to be torn between the two as they both provide copious amounts of sunlight, high performance, security and improved appearance of your home. Bifold doors and sliding doors have many similarities and differences; this article is here to help you understand the pros and cons of both doors so you can make an accurate decision.
How Do Bifold Doors Work?
Bifold doors are a stylish addition to any home. In recent years, they have become extremely popular due to their easy to use opening mechanism and elegant design. Bifold doors feature tracks at the top and bottom of the door in which a roller allows the doors to fold back into a compact space, allowing for a seamless transition from the interior to the exterior of your home. The bifolding doors feature hinged frames that allow for the doors to fold all the way back to allow for easy access to your garden area, ideal in the summer months. Bifold doors feature slimline aluminium frames that will enable undisturbed views whether your doors are open or closed.
How Do Sliding Doors Work?
Both of these wide pane glass doors work differently, which is why we have created this guide to help you understand the similarities and differences between both doors as well as the advantages and disadvantages that they provide to your home. Sliding doors feature two or more glass panels which slide in front of one another, leaving half the space open, compared to bifold doors that open up the whole way. However, due to the slimline style of sliding doors, they are ideal for tight spaces as they don't take up any space.
Pros and Cons of Bifold Doors
Bifold doors can be opened fully to open up your space and allow for added ventilation and uninterrupted views. These doors act as a focal point to your home that adds a wow factor to your space. Bifold doors work for a wide variety of home sizes, as you can choose from a wide range of door configurations and panel numbers. You have the option to open your doors inwards or outwards, depending on where you have the most space available.
A drawback of bifold doors is when folded back, they do take up space; if you have spare space, then this would be fine, but from tight spaces, this can cause a slight issue.
Pros and Cons of Sliding Doors
Sliding doors take up minimal space as they don't fold back; instead, they slide in front of each other neatly and efficiently. However, as only one of the panels slides back, it leaves half of the space still blocked, which can block your views and is less of a smooth transition. However, we offer numerous configurations to allow for a number of panels. The sleek and slimline profile of aluminium allows for minimal obstructions; even when your doors are closed, you can make the most of your garden views.
Finding The Right Door For You
Every home is unique, and the kind of door you choose will depend on your requirements; the decision is totally up to you. Aluminium is an excellent material for your bi-folding doors and sliding doors as aluminium is lightweight and slimline, allowing for easy and smooth manoeuvring. It is a highly durable material which can withstand strong forces and harsh weather conditions whilst remaining in top condition. You don't have to worry about rotting, leaks, warping or cracking, as aluminium is resistant to corrosion. Your home can remain dry and cosy no matter the weather.
Both kinds of doors offer high levels of aesthetics and style. At Arkay Windows, we provide high quality bifold doors and sliding doors from market leading manufacturers including bifold doors from UniFOLD, Schuco and Aluk and sliding doors from EdgeGLIDE, InfiniGLIDE, Aluk and Schuco. Both of these door styles will improve the energy efficiency, security and noise pollution of your home, as well as improve aesthetics.
How Much Do Bifold and Sliding Doors Cost?
Bifold doors and sliding doors are similar in terms of cost. If you have a wide/ larger home, you will need larger sized glass panels. Larger glass panes are more challenging to find; therefore, they can be more expensive. As sliding doors commonly feature two glass panes, the wider the home, the larger the glass panel needs to be, compared to bifold doors that can feature many smaller glass panels to accommodate larger-sized homes, which ends up being cheaper. If you need more clarification, use our online quoting engine and input your home's measurements to receive an estimated price to help you make a more informed decision.
We hope that this guide can provide you with more information to help you make a more informed decision. For more information, contact us, and we can discuss your project in more detail to help you make the right decision. With many years of experience, we can guide you in making your decision.