Bifolds or sliding doors?

[Moonrise1362]

This has probably already been done to death, but we're in the middle of a big renovation and the time has come to choose - sliding doors, or bifold doors?

The width of the opening is 4800mm, and it opens onto big wide steps that lead down to the patio (we're on a slope). We've got a view onto a woodland valley. The doors will be aluminium.

The options the contractor has put forward are:
• 6-panel bifolds (can open up fully, but of course the concertina-d doors will take up space, and when closed there will be more mullions breaking up the view)
• 4-panel sliding doors (two tracks, the middle two doors slide open but you cannot open it up fully, and when closed the glass sections will be wider due to fewer mullions)

What would you go for and why? And can anyone share any photos of what you have? I'd love to see!

BIFOLDS

dliders can't compare with the fully open area of big olds. But 4, not 6.

Hi, we are currently renovating and are looking at bifold doors. We are undecided as to whether to get the integrated blinds, or to go with perfect fit? Has anyone got any advice?

Bifolds are fine to begin with but then after 10 or so years they start to go wrong and it's a sodding nightmare to fix. We had to pay 350 quid for a bloke to come from Manchester (3.5 hours drive from us) because nobody does bifold repairs locally. That was last year and the problem is recurring now. I wish I could rip the things out but they cost 3.5k 15 years ago, so god knows what replacing them would set us back.

We used bifold to give a better view when the doors are opened - it is a huge stretch and they fold back into the house behind the existing pillars so cannot be seen when you are inside the house. It was originally just a covered terrace, but sliding doors would not have given the full outdoor experience that we get with these.

@Hashbrown7 we have the integrated blinds. Absolutely love them because they never get dusty!
I love our bifolds and we often have them fully open in the summer and it's gorgeous. However, the one thing i don't like is that you have to have the full door open if you want a bit of breeze which is sometimes too much. With sliders obviously you can just partially open them.
Also when ours get a lot of sun they can be difficult to close as they swell.

I have a 4.5m opening and have 3 panel bifolds. Why are they suggesting you need 6??

We have three sets of triple bifold across the back of our house.
I love them as when the weather is really good we can literally open up the back of our house.

Do you find the integrated blinds keep the heat in at all @hby9628

@Hashbrown7

Go integrated if you can afford it. They really help keeping the house cooler in the summer. Not sure about keeping the house warmer - they aren't particularly insulating. Maybe triple glazed would be but not sure you can have blinds in them.

Same here. Bifolds ruin a house if they are added to an existing property.

French doors are so much nicer.

You don't like bifolds so don't have them.
But to decree that they "ruin" any property is just silly.
The utter joy my bifolds bring when my small home is completely open onto the garden is far greater than anything the fanciest french windows could bring.
Each to their own.

@Hashbrown7 I haven't noticed it in particular to be honest but I haven't really paid much attention.
Our kitchen has always been quite a cool room, I think because it has high ceilings and a large granite worktop but we had a small snug area added last year and in that bit we got underfloor heating which has randomly made a massive difference to how warm the main kitchen is as the snug opens on to the kitchen.

We have 4300mm wide sliding doors in 3 panels, with all panels movable.

I find bifolds clumsy and then you have to leave space free to store them outside when open.

Thanks to everyone for advice! FWIW we went for sliders in the end, we decided we'd prefer to keep the view uninterrupted when they're closed (which realistically they are most of the time with the UK weather), which means a compromise on not being able to fling them completely open in the summer. But they still open enough for us!