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've just convinced DH to not go for bifolds and have showed him this picture! I have no idea where I would get something like this from!

I wanted bifolds but my builder talked me out of them and into big old-fashioned sliding patio doors. Reason being more glass less frames and (given that we live in the northwest!) they will spend much more time shut than open. I think it was the right choice.

I have large sliders too purely to give us less frame. For our 3.8m opening it cost £3600 for aluminium. Nicole's would have been cheaper at £3300.

We had bifolds and took them out for patio sliders. Much more practical in the wind, easier to open and take up less space, more glass less frame and warmer as the wind used to whistle thro the bifolds somehow. Yes, only half the space opens but at least we do open it - never opened the bifolds as too much hassle to fight with four doors / locks, them catching on the curtains etc

I love Crittal but the cost .

OP We have a semi-detached 1950s house too and I think that the windows in your picture would work really well.

You could recreate that Crittal look in aluminium - the profiles with aluminium are very thin.

Also see:

www.youchoosewindows.co.uk/products-services/doors/aluminium-crittall-replacement-doors-1

www.metthermwindows.co.uk/page/door-screens

Those links are great origami! Thank you. I think I'm going to go for something like this!

Could someone please link to some sliders they recommend? Or even some spiders, as autocorrect suggests.

I have bifolds. They look stunning but are a pain to clean (especially with kids handprints, faces, tongues etc) and I couldn't afford integrated blinds so not pleasant in the winter and I always feel I'm being watched!

These are mine

I suspect bifold have had their day. They are this decade's wooden decking. I'm not sure I'd want that much glass, especially on a dark evening, and you do have to have space for the folded bit once their open.

It seems that crittall is the new fashionable way to go now.

We have old fashioned French windows which suit our house's architecture.

I have large sliders.
South facing.
You'll need window openings too. I should have got two more small top windows as it can get very hot when I don't want to open the doors. I only have two small top opening windows and seven large panels of glass- 2 sliders.
Beware of foxes too getting in if you keep them open.

I have wooden decking and bifolds - but I don't care if they have had there day! They are really fab and the deck and floor have a flush threshold waning that it really is like another room/extension of the dining are . We have integral blinds in ours, so no problems on a dark evening.

*their

Winnie
I have roller blinds. They work brilliantly with my sliders. However with small children this might not be an option because of the side winding cords.

Oh and sorry re rest of typos too.

We have aluminium bifolds, love them.

Your bifolds fold outwards so no space needed. They just fold over our patio.

We have wooden bifolds that look like French doors but actually fold back. They were made by a local joiner.
I'm very happy with them.