Do you have a back door as well as sliding doors.

[MaryIsA]

We are getting an extension built - there'll be two big sliding doors. The plans are also for a new back door into the utility which is currently the kitchen with just a window.

We were planning to have a pet door put in that door.

How inconvenient is it to just have the sliding doors as the only way in and out of the garden. Wondering if we are going to the expense of putting a new back door in when we could just use the sliding doors.

We have sliding doors in our kitchen/diner out into the garden and a stable door in our utility which also leads into the garden, with a cat flap in it. We never use the stable door, always go into the garden via the sliding doors.

If you have muddy boots on do you want to go straight into the room with the sliding doors or straight into the utility? I have both as dog and children are a lot of mess!

Also sliding doors are more difficult to open one handed if you are carrying shopping/washing/ small children.

You need to think about how easy it is to close the sliding doors behind you if you need to.

e.g. if you are going outside to hang the washing/water the plants are you OK with the doors being open the whole time? Will your cat just run out?

We have sliding doors from the kitchen which have a very tricky opening mechanism (inherited with the house) and it is a pain inthe arse to shut them behind you - definitely not a one-handed job.

We also have a more traditional back door, but for some bizarre reason it doesn't have a handle on the outside therefore can't be shut behind you. Irritating when it is windy!

We just have bi-folds - similar set up here that we just had a window put in the utility room (which is at the side of the house). Not an issue at all - if we have shopping we come in the front door, if we have muddy shoes etc, we just take them off before we come in.

Our reasoning was security - we were burgled when the "back" door on the side of the house was kicked in. We're in a road of standard 30s semis where back doors are on the sides of houses, usually behind a gate etc, not well lit / not visible from either the front or back of the house particularly in winter - when the police were here taking finger prints etc, they said for our type of road, they don't recommend doors on the side of the house - so when we extended we just went with a window on the side of the house.

We have bifolds in open plan kitchen/diner/family room and then a backdoor in our utility room. Utility room is off the open plan room. We use the back door all the time to let the dog into the garden but also for taking washing in and out to the line

No security issues , very low crime area.

I just think that opening and closing the sliding doors every 5 minutes for the cat or dog will get tedious. And a pet door In The utility room, a metrre away will be easier.

Then we can also use that for going in and out of the garden.

It’ll make the layout of the utility awkward..but not impossible.

We had french doors and a separate back door in the utility. We only used the french doors in summer. We used the back door all year round for general access and bins etc.

@Springchickpea

We had french doors and a separate back door in the utility. We only used the french doors in summer. We used the back door all year round for general access and bins etc.

This ^

We have a step down into the garden through the french doors so for us the back door is used considerably more even though its a further walk.

We have bio-folds at the Kitchen, Diner
Side door at the utility room.

We have bifold doors on the back of the house, one section opens like a normal door and then the other 2 sections slide open when you want to open the entire thing up in nice weather. We also have a stable door type upvc door on the utility at the side of the house (which used to be part of the old kitchen). This combination works really well for us & I love being able to open half of the door in the utility in nice weather to get more airflow!

It's a pain in the arse. Definitely put in a back door. Otherwise you will be a slave to your pet whether you like it or not. They are not stupid and they will do anything for attention and that includes getting you to pop up and down every 10 minutes to let them in/out. And even some of those times they don't' really want to go out....

@Springchickpea

We had french doors and a separate back door in the utility. We only used the french doors in summer. We used the back door all year round for general access and bins etc.

Same. We actually have 2 sets of French doors, one on the kitchen and one in the dining room and neither had been opened in months! The back door is actually a side door and faces the garage side door so you can easily get in and out of the garage that way.

Slave to the pets. Yes we are already. I like the idea of a stable door in the utility, hadn’t thought of that, The door is going to be the only source of outdoor light in there and ventilation so being able to open the top half would be great.

We don’t have a back door at the moment, just french doors into the soon to be demolished conservatory. We come in the back because the front isn’t very dog secure.

We just converted our kitchen diner and it has big sliding doors which we inherited with the house. Previously we had french doors from the then separate kitchen which we used all the time but now turned into a window. So we had similar concerns.
As it turns out it has not been a problem so far. The sliding doors open and close quite easily once unlocked, so that the kids can easily go in and out.

I'd definitely want the back door for all the reasons given (tricky opening, forever letting in/out pets) but the main reason would definitely be the muddy shoes and boots confined to utility area - goes for muddy paws too.

We had an extension done and had bifolds. We added a door into our utility so we'd come in that way with muddy boots and that'd be for the dog etc
Absolute waste of space, we never used it!