Bifold doors dont!

[Daytona365]

Just a warning to people.

We have had 5.8m aluminium Origin bifolds professionally fitted about 3 years ago at a cost of nearly 10K.
Untold issues; weather getting in, condensation on threshold, expansion issues, cells failing, blinds in the cell problems. Weather seals shrinking. Sales guys didn’t tell us it takes 3 months to get replacement blinds.

We have had 3 different issues with replacement blinds so that’s 3 x 3 months and the issue is still not fixed. Just utterly totally completely regret going with our fitter ( think Adam and Eve) and with our choice of bifold manufacturer. Terrible customer service and mediocre product.

You can have problems with anything though! To say 'don't' to all bi-fold doors based on your experience is a sweeping generalisation.
It sounds like either shoddy manufacturing, or fitting, or both.

On the flip side - 4.5, bifolds fitted 11+ years ago, no problems and they're as good as new.

Love ours and they have been fine!

I think if you google internal blinds on bi-folds, they're notoriously problematic. Realised that as soon as I started doing some research before we had our door fitted - about 4 years ago.

Ours are also as good as new, never had a problem with them, no leaks, condensation or similar. Love ours.

Sorry you're having problems but its not a reason to dismiss a product in its entirety!

I don't get the whole bi-fold craze. All it does is warms your house up like hell in the summer and lets in all the bugs (and chickens if you have any).
I'd go for frameless sliding doors instead to get a view of the garden.

How does sliding doors differ regarding heat or letting chickens in?

We have two sets of bifolds and no problems so far (been installed 3 years).

@Notonthestairs

How does sliding doors differ regarding heat or letting chickens in?

We have two sets of bifolds and no problems so far (been installed 3 years).

It doesn't probably but gives a better view. What I meant was 'if I wanted lots of glass I'd prefer sliding'.

I had 2 sets of Sunflex bifold doors in my previous house and after 10 years they were absolutely perfect.
In our new place we’re currently building an extension and are going to have Schuco bifold doors - also German engineering but cheaper than Sunflex.
I love bifolds - I don’t have chickens and I’ve never noticed an influx of bugs 😉!!

I’ll stick with my French windows. Bifold look great but not sure I would use them much.

@Daytona365 that's a bit harsh, people are only giving you their experiences of the product! 😕

I’d have to say that perhaps it’s dodgy fitting because I have a huge expanse of origin bifolds and have none of these problems. No problems at all. We’re coming up to three years with them too. We don’t have blinds in them though.

Sorry you’re having these problems but really it’s not all bifolds and certainly not all origin bifolds.

Hope it gets sorted for you.

I have had origin fitted on three property’s over the last 10 years the ones now are a corner set i thought they were good quality and they have finger safe gaskets for our son , we choose a company in the East Midlands on all three occasions Basfords they are origins largest dealer , the guys who fitted told us they had been on training course before they could install,

I would say you need to choose your company who provides and fits the bifolds and windows as most of the time its the fitting which lets the product down not the manufacturer ( origin)

Agree. We went with a reputable company and they were a disaster start to finish. In fact most people I know have issues with them. Never again.

@Notonthestairs

How does sliding doors differ regarding heat or letting chickens in?

We have two sets of bifolds and no problems so far (been installed 3 years).

Not too sure about the heat, but with sliding doors you can have a flyscreen.

Another with bifold 6 years without any issues and still love them!

@ Daytona365 would you mind PM'ing me the company you purchased from, so I know who to avoid? I'm sorry that you are in such a bad position, and don't mean to come across as being insensitive by asking this question. But I know there are really bad products out there, and its alot of money for us to lose. Dont feel that you need to if you dont feel comfortable

Sounds like a ball ache !
We have just moved and our dining room has 8 year old bifold doors and no issues thankfully .

I think they’re a craze whose time is passing. I think houses with bifolds across the back look less attractive than other options. Just my opinion.

We've just had slide & pivot doors fitted. Too early to know if there might be problems down the line but I absolutely love them. Unlike bifolds, you have the option opening one, some or all of the panels or rearranging where you want the opening to be. We can be covid secure by having an opening at either end with glass in the middle...doesn't matter that we all live in the same house i can insist the children follow a strict one way route . We went with aluminium frames and so they are super thin at 19mm

We've had Origin bifolds for 3 years and they've been absolutely fine. Sorry to hear yours have been faulty - perhaps just a dodgy set?

No issues with our interior bifold doors the are a great space saver in the room we used them. for.

We had bifolds in our last house, I think it was a craze and people are starting to question whether they really fit their needs. It was nice when they were all pulled back but pulled back they used up a lot of space on the v small deck we had, meaning we couldn't have table and chairs out there. We're renovating our present house and I think I'd rather go for metal sliding doors. Our oak framed ones started going black too, it never seemed the right weather to revarnish and the rain just got into the wood in the end.

Having the same problem with condensation with ours … fitted last year …. Terrible condensation on threshold