Sliders or bifolds?

[mekitgubakuds]

Extension happening this summer was initially thinking bifolds, but now I'm thinking sliders - 3 panels that slide to open 2/3 of the space. The space is 5 meters wide.

Whichever option I go for I definitely want the ones with blinds built in between the glass panes.

I've had a quote for about £8k for bifolds with blinds, and £13k for sliders with blinds.
It's expensive and believe me I'm not rich! But I figure if I'm having it done then it's going to be there a long time so get what I want.

What are peoples thoughts, sliders or bifolds? And is the quote I've had expensive or reasonable?

Small garden - bifolds
Big garden - sliders
Really big garden - french doors

That’s interesting @GrumpyHoonMain, why do you say French doors for a really big garden?

We have sliders with a 5m opening and I prefer them, I like the larger panes, less obstructed view and that they don’t eat into the patio space for folding. Who is your slider quite with? I found a lot of variety in pricing when I got quotes. We have reynaurs and I would recommend, looked at smarts, origin, schuco.

My 5m sliders are arriving in a couple of weeks. We chose them because we didn't have space for the stacking doors but also I think they are more modern than bi folds now. I like the vast expanse of glass

Sorry don't mean to drip feed , the quote we've had included fitting, the big price difference is because the bifold the blinds are manual operating, the sliders blinds are electric operating (they do t do the manual in sliders)

Thanks @Whattodowithaminute I'll have a look at those companies

I have five sets of French doors. Two of them are going. They really depend on the style of house and not the size of the garden.

It comes down to how much space you want in the wall (5m or less) to actually be open. Do you want to park bifolds and make room for that?

We are thinking about what do with a set of French doors with exactly your problem. I think sliding might be for us. Our other French doors are being converted to a stable door. Each door at the moment is too small! They are annoying! Not a 5m space though.

Sliders - but were warned off the electric blinds as its just something else to go wrong/get stuck etc. But we were also warned off any blinds within the pains so not much help I'm afraid!

@MeanMrMustardSeed

That’s interesting *@GrumpyHoonMain*, why do you say French doors for a really big garden?

Just in terms of balance really. The bigger the garden the less of a need for an outside meets inside space - you can have indoor or sheltered spaces outside.

Have you seen the indoor blinds in person - we thought we wanted them until we saw them. We are getting Schuco bifold doors and the indoor blinds make the sight lines too big and obtrusive.
We are having electric roller blinds instead.

Sliders every time for me. You look at / out of them everyday, but only want to fully open them a few days a year, so the larger glass / less visible frame trumps full opening.

It depends too on how you need the doors to function. If they are also the back door that you use to take out the bin then bifolds with a traffic door are practical.

I had sliders (the central pane opened) and replaced with bifolds. Big mistake! If I only want one pane open now, it is the left hand one and if there is any wind at all, the curtain and blind billow out. Wish I had replaced like for like (also, the bifolds were double the price of sliders).

Sliders, we have them and I really like them, when we do our extension next year we will definitely be getting them again.

I much prefer the look of sliders, but I’m worried about putting them in a south facing extension. At least with bifolds, the whole thing opens - do sliders make the room roasting in summer because of the static panel?

I think you need to consider how you're going to use the space - is the opening more important, or the view - and that depends on how you live / what your priority is.

We have 4m opening and went with bifolds (with thinner frames) - we wanted as big an opening as possible with the doors open - we use the room they're in pretty much constantly and are out in the garden every day and cheesy as it sounds, wanted that while "bringing the outide in" etc. We had them open every day from April to October last year, without fail (and thats in the NW, but we are SW facing so when the sun's out, we get it!). For me, if you have 3 panels and its a 5m opening, you'll have about 1.7m of glass still there won't you when you open them? That would be a real compromise for me. I was also put off by the tracks you have in the floor for sliders - you'd have 3 as oppose for 1 with bifolds.

If you don't live like that, think you'll only open them rarely and maximising the view / minimising the frame is more important, I do agree that sliders are better for that.

I think it all comes down to personal preference! Decisions, decisions!

@SheWouldNever the good news is our garden is north east facing (although it is rubbish having no sun in the late afternoon on the garden!) but it means the sun warms the room in the morning but doesn't turn it the room into a greenhouse!

Does anyone know which are best for insulation? We have the same question but also facing west in Scotland so need them to be wind proof and seal well.

Is there a door panel in sliders? We use the door opening of our bifolds throughout the year to let the dog in / out of the garden.

The ones I'm looking at are lift and glide so they're very easy to open, and you can lock them into position at any point.. so no separate door but can easily open a small gap and lock into position

We are having sliding doors.
I like the smaller sight lines for the majority of days when doors not left open. I've also heard bifold more likely to break?

We are west facing; do we need solar control glass?! Anyone any thoughts or experience?
Not planning on blinds but may change mind next winter when lights on and trees bare.

We've got 4.5m of sliders in three panels. I absolutely love how they are great big picture windows. It's never been a bother having one panel always closed as there's still tons of open space and ours is across a kitchen-dining room so we can open which ever side we want. If we're having a party (those were the days!) I actually kept the kitchen side closed and could be a bit territorial keeping people the other side of the island and out of my way. If it's a family day, we leave the closed bit in the middle.

The only downside is as pp said not having a normal opening door, but it's so easy to slide them open to pop in or out it's not a bother.

Conversely, I know so many people who have had issues with bifolds, it would really put me off, but that's very anecdotal.

@SheWouldNever

I much prefer the look of sliders, but I’m worried about putting them in a south facing extension. At least with bifolds, the whole thing opens - do sliders make the room roasting in summer because of the static panel?

Two thirds of mine open, it's more than enough to let air circulate on a hot day. We're west facing.

Those that have had sliders, do you have any sort of curtains or blinds? I feel like I need something as although we're not massively overlooked, in winter with the lights on, the neighbours would be able to see in. This is why I was thinking of having the inbuilt blinds.. but they do add a lot to the cost.

I went for sliders as less framework. Also couldn't imagine having bifolds fully open a lot.

1 have 3m span, 3 panels, was £4k Aluminium, but not the lift and glide thing. I love them, money well spent.

We are going with bifolds with the blinds in the panes. We need a door that we can open for everyday use as it will be our only means of entering the garden. And we need the blinds because we are south facing. We didn't want to have to put up blinds or curtains and it becomes like an oven that side of the house during warm weather, not to mention having the sun fade furnishings