To bifold or not to bifold?

[NakedMum33and3rd]

That is the question.
DH and I are in the process of buying a fixer upper and extending it. We are planning our borrowing so working at our budget. DH is desperate for bifold doors and I on the other hand am not too fussed.
I would love to hear your options/experiences of them as they don't come cheap!

I love ours

Definitely bifold. We love ours and would put then in any future house.

We decided not to, as our garden isn't that big, we can't be arsed to do the garden much of the time so didn't want a massive reminder of that. It also means you can't have furniture etc on that entire wall as it would block the view. I have French doors, and it often feels a bit chilly with just them open, so don't think we'd ever open the bifolds fully. They do look very nice though.

Thank you. I guess my main concern Is that they are a little bit of a fad and that in 10 years time they will look outdated where as something like French doors will always look great. My parents have had their doors for 20 years and they haven't aged. I do like them and it is a big garden but am scared of them a little. Our builder has recommended origin doors.
Also what do you all do when it comes to blinds on bifolds?

Big sliders! Less frame, more window, and seriously, how often are you going to fold and slide all those doors. I was reading another forum where someone asked the same question. In a reply someone who had hers in 6 months said they were amazing and really recommended them, but admitted she hadn't actually had an occasion where she had opened them all up.

Bi fold, my parents have them they are amazing

Sliders all the way. You can get some that slide into each other (say 4 panels instead of 2) so your doorway can be wider.

I've had bifolds, they were stiff, the wood swelled in summer, the tracks got filthy all the time and when they were open they took up too much of the available outdoor space.

We've got bifolds. Well worth it for the amount of light you get.

We've got these from creative doors, they were such good value, 5 doors, 4m wide for just over £2k. The only drawback was having to varnish them at home. We love them and pulled them back yesterday. We do need to fix the garden now we can see it so much though!

Ours are Origin aluminium ones. No problems with swelling etc (think that's a problem with wood and upvc). We have integral blinds (fitted between the layers of glass) - they are fab. We have ours fully open a lot in the summer and our garden is NE facing

Thanks for all you responses!

Jamin those are gorgeous and such good value!!
Have you used the integral blinds much marmite? I really like the origin ones and they have been recommended by my builder as they don't warp. I am tempted by sliding doors too.

Yes we use the integral blinds every day as I don't like seeing black windows in the dark!

MrsJamin thank you so much for sharing!!

We have an awful set of bifold doors, can't really open them as we get gale force wind blowing through the house slamming all the doors. Ours are wooden and need a lot of maintenance! we want to replace ours with a solid window with maybe one door to allow access to the garden.

Id get them as I'm from the land of the indoor / outdoor flow. Do they suit your house, do you have a very large garden and will have a deck or patio they will open onto for the flow to outdoors? Do any of the neighbours have them? Can you ask around and chat about how often they get used etc ...

Compare that against the cost of the bifolds vs sliders or French.

I much prefer double doors with sidepanels with fanlights. A lot more versatile if you only want a bit of airflow as you can open the fanlights instead of whole door.

Have been in admin for double glazing firm for 20 + years - we also get a lot less service calls with double doors so that influences my decision too :)

We have a 100ft garden and will have patio and lawn. Our builder recommended not having our patio raised to be level with them because of the damp course of the house and that it's not ideal. I guess we could have decking but I'm really not a fan of decking.
I do like double doors a lot and I think in some ways they are more practical.
The garden is south facing and we live near London and currently use our garden a lot. It is essentially an extra room in the summer.
I really want to keep my life a low maintenance as possible so if bifolds are going to give me a head ache I'm not sure if they are worth it.

Another vote for bifold doors. Ours are wonderful and open right back and are fabulous in the summer for entertaining.

Slide and pivot. All the convenience of bifolds in that you can open them all the way if desired. But also the good aspects of sliders - thin frames, more glass.
With slide and pivot you can also open up just a few inches for ventilation. They're fab

Slide and pivot are very expensive and I didn't like the frames. We have a 5m gap and to have 3 doors needed a steel above the doors to stop the weight causing them to fall out. I don't like them as too much frame and not enough window. Have 2 2.5m sliding doors and love them.

Slide and pivot Price was comparable with trad bifolds. Much more user friendly ime.

OP - what would be the size of the opening? What's the style of your house?

I want 4m opening and our house is a 1950's semi detached.
I've never heard of slide and pivot. Will have a look.

PM if you have any questions

DH is trying to persuade me that bi-folds are the way to go but there's just something about them that that puts me off, probably the thick frames. I'm trying to persuade him to go for something like this (god knows what it'll cost!).

Another consideration is that bi-folds WILL age and date your house. They were great when they first came out in grand design type homes but they are now ubiquitous. Yes, undoubtedly they are useful, but so were serving hatches to the kitchen...

French doors, or something similar to the photo Sorrel found would be much more charming. In fact the ones in the photo would be great for a 1950's house - they look like Crittel windows.