If you didn't choose bifold doors...

[geojojo]

In a kitchen extension, what did you go for? Just planning our kitchen extension on a end of terrace Edwardian house and everyone seems to choose bifolds. Just not a huge fan of the look of them really but wondered what to choose instead. Would prefer a classic look which won't date.

He thought his were faulty as the glass had some movement

Your neighbour has shoddy bifolds! There shouldn’t be any movement in the glass at all. Ours are heavy (but easy to push) and feel solid.

As a PP has mentioned the final panel is hinged to open as a single door with a multi-point lock. Ours is our back door. You don’t have to open the whole run to take the bins out!

old kitchen had sliding doors which I found irritating as you could never get it more than half open. I was going to get bifold but we had to budget a bit so just got standard french window two doors opening outwards (it's not a big gap) my sister who is richer got some stunning doors that aren't bifold - not sure what they are called but there are 4 independent panels each of which can be either opened as a door or they slide from side to side if there's an opening next to them or all four can be stowed away on one side if a full opening is wanted. they are absolutely lovely and I would definitely go for those over bifolds if I could afford it.

We’ve got 2 sliders in our extension - love them!

French doors that open 180 degrees with fan lights so they can be opened during winter to get rid of cooking smells/let some air in. Personally I think they are far more versatile than bifolds but it really is all down to personal preference.

We had custom made French windows opening outwards which are wider than normal and on either side, standard window panels top and bottom - we can open the top ones - so most of the back wall is glass. It lets lots of light in and I prefer the look to bifolds plus it was a lot cheaper!

Sliders, without a fixed panel so you can open either end. Odd numbers look better than even

We also had custom made french door, outward opening to 180 degrees, flat against the wall, with matching casement windows on either side. We were in a conservation area and bifolds not allowed

@missfliss
Are they bifolds?

We were advised not to go for bifolds when less than 5m.
Context : back of the house and we wanted as much light as possible.

The glass/frame ratio with bifolds can reduce amount of light.
Though that was 5 years ago and technology has moved on.

We have crittall style and love them but went to a brilliant company called Fabco which was miles cheaper.

Yes they are bifolds.

I'm not a particular exponent of them for other people by the way - but these are 8 years old, aluminium frames and let in lots of light and still work perfectly.

We have large sliding doors too on our loft conversion and they are also awesome !

We have sliders on our kitchen extension. It has two panels of 2m each. We had originally planned to have bifolds but I am delighted we didn’t. Most of the year they are just big windows and I love the look of huge panes of interrupted glass.

I would go with crittall

Large french windows with full height windows on each side. Could have fitted bifolds but didn't like the look on an older property, and heard numerous negative stories about them going wrong. Very happy with them.

Good grief, those bifolds are shockers. French doors all the way, why muck about with something that’s worked for years?

dietcoker wow those are stunning

Good grief, those bifolds are shockers. French doors all the way, why muck about with something that’s worked for years?

wow, i never knew my back doors were 'shockers' !! That's me told

We had bifolds in our old house. They were good quality and had no issues. Pro was that you could open all the way across so lovely when open but view was less good when they were closed. I do know people who've had major problems with their mechanisms though.

We are in the middle of an extension and are going for sliding doors this time but with Crittal style bars across them. So they look like Crittall but you get the benefit of more space when they're open. Crittall wouldn't have worked as well for us as we've got bigger space so we didn't want a small opening. Took me ages to find a company that does this though!

missfliss

I don’t like them at all but don’t take any notice of me!

How rude.

Sliders for me. I’ve had bifold and sliders and yes it’s lovely on those odd few weeks of summer we get to have them fully stacked. However the sightlines on sliders are just so much slimmer, so it’s worth having the extra glass you get when they spend most of the year shut.

We've got sliders, 3 panes of glass with the one in the middle fixed. Didn't want bi-folds as friends who've got them have had lots of problems with the mechanism and hardly ever have them fully open as we're in the UK not Australia.

Dietcoker
Love your windows!

Would you mind sharing the manufacturer you used? Would you recommend?

We have sliders. I like that the back of the house can be completely opened up or them opened just a tiny amount to let a little air in.

@areallthenamesusedup dm me if you want.......x