Does anyone regret bifolds?

[NameyMcNameName]

I’m looking at my extension plan and wondering if anyone has ever regretted their bifolds? I will have a patio and hopefully veranda so bifolds will be lovely in the summer, but what about winter? What if you just want to open them a little?

Also prefer sliding doors. You can get much larger panes with sliding doors.

Love ours. Love being able to see the whole garden, and just watch the birds and all our various garden visitors, especially in the gloomier months.
Ours are left open for about 5 months and the kitchen is too hot in the summer if we don’t open them. I don’t find it cold in the winter- ours are thermally efficient and cut out noise as well.

Moved into a south facing house in December with two sets of bifolds. Last week when it was really hot - both rooms with bifolds were too hot. Once the sun goes from the windows it's good but with the sun hitting the windows all afternoon it was like a greenhouse. Used the blinds but they are pale and the light comes through. If you open the bifolds in the afternoon the sun streams in.

The most annoying aspect is there are no other windows in either room. So ventilation is difficult in winter or if you have pets.

Thinking about getting black out curtains or possibly an awning. Not cheap though because the windows are so wide.

We have them and I don't regret them but if I was getting them today I'd get sliding doors - would still have them open lots. We also have heat pumps so can cool the room down (or heat it up) to counteract the greenhouse effect.

Have them and absolutely love them. Had them in our old house, then moved and got them into our new house. Love having them open which we do frequently.

I'm in Australia and have noted that bi-fold doors are unusual here - the insects I'd imagine. Every exterior door and opening window has a fly screen in my house.

When you're looking for door flyscreens, go for security-strength mesh and not the nylon mesh which is cheap and tears. Don't be put off, they do not look like Fort Knox and you can see through easily while having the lock flipped so you get the view and your house is more secure. I have it for my front door and it's excellent.

I've looked online for UK sources but the most secure are very ugly indeed.

Personally check the mesh of anything you'd like to buy.

My parents had them but have replaced with sliding doors. Currently house hunting and they don’t want bifolds again so have discounted a lot of houses for that reason as they don’t want the faff of changing again.

Don’t really follow your logic of not wanting to look at “that much UPVC framing” but then showing a photo with dozens of tiny frames which completely obscure the view. I prefer my three large frames (and they’re not UPVC anyway).

I’m very happy with mine. Only downside is if it’s hot, the temperature inside is not much cooler than outside. Not cold in winter. No problem with birds and although I get a few insects, they tend to just find their own way out because they have a bigger space to aim for.

Adore mine. Loads of light, loads of view and loads of air. Connects patio with the kitchen/diner. If insects fly in, they fly out of the open windows at the other end of the room. Its really not an issue. Not cold in winter (good quality and well fitted), warm up the house in spring and autumn, and being open keeps the house cool in summer. We do have curtains (not blinds) for night or on rare really hot days (open doors and other windows for ventilation but shut curtains). Sliding doors don't have the same ability to connect in and out (assuming you live in a part of the UK where doing this is desirable!).

Same here. We moved last year and I stopped viewing anything with bifold doors, especially with the madness of interior bifolds!

Commenting as me and DH are having this debate - will show him this!

Had them in our in our old house which had a North facing garden and we rarely had them fully open. New house we have 2 sets of French doors on a South facing garden. I can see how we would use bi-folds more in a South facing garden, but I don’t regret my decision to not have them.

Blinds - I have Blinds2Go vertical blinds, they’re not quite the style I’d have chosen if money were no object, but they do a great job and are £ very reasonable.

@everymeeveryyou - ours just came with the sliding doors from window Manafacture. We chose roller type but the doors also have external slot for sliding nets as standard. We aren’t in uk, but i imagine most large window companies will have

Otherwise to self fit I think they are just called door roller blinds or ‘pilesse’ online. We saw lots at a building renovation type exhibition also, so maybe see when your next local one is on

The house we bought has them & a huge lantern in the SW facing extension. I bloody hate them, my husband loves them. The honeycomb blinds currently in situ do definitely help to keep it cooler but having them down kind of defeats the object of having the doors IMO. We are getting a blind for the lantern which is costing £2.5k 😩 due to the size of it.
The plan currently is in the next 2-3 yrs replace the glass panels with ones that have blinds between the two panes - we have dogs so try as we might the bottoms of the current blinds end up filthy.
Eventually when we do renovations (5-10yrs) I want to brick it up and have windows and doors instead. Apparently there is a really good market for 2nd hand bifold doors so fingers crossed we will be able to sell them

I don’t have them but never got them, I have French windows, which suit my house but note when they have been open the dining room floor is quite gritty. I cannot imagine opening up a huge side to your house for long periods of time and the elements staying outside.

Grit, dust, insects, blossom, leaves.

I like ours but we need to get blinds or solar film to reduce the heat in our kitchen. I think I regret our roof lantern more, it’s a pain in the arse to clean and insects get trapped up there in the warmer weather.

I love mine. South facing garden on the south coast so they are open April- September. Big sofa next to them so morning coffee sat watching the birds.
No insect issues either.
We have blinds inside the glass but rarely use them.
They are my favourite thing about the house.

I like ours but:

Our garden is north facing so we don't have the greenhouse issue

We do have the service door thing and I think it's absolutely essential

Our doors don't take up inside space - they concertina outside

We don't actually open them up very often but it is really helpful when we do - use it for when we are entertaining mostly, so we can have the kids eating at the table on the patio and the adults on the dining table a few feet away

We had them in a rented property, I think they must have been one of the first models when they became a thing, the new models are probably much more streamlined. They had thick black frames and several panels too many, which I guess was to limit how much they jutted out onto the patio. I found it really oppressive and it really put me off, so we did huge sliding doors in our own house.

Our architect warned against them, for a lot of the reasons already explained above. We have a glass wall instead, with very minimal sliding doors. When closed, it looks like a floor to ceiling glass wall, but the doors can slide back to give a 3m wide aperture when the weather is nice. Or just slide a bit to go out. Best of all worlds! We have a chaise in one corner, where on a cold day you can sit and watch the garden and the birds in central heated comfort! Yet the view is spectacular. It feels like being outside.

A 1970s property would look better with Crittal (which was actually original to many 70s, estates including the one I live on). Midcentury properties have plenty of heritage details, it’s just your average person doesn’t consider them. Bifolds belong on naff Barrett’s home newbuild estates. Sadly even when they are aluminium they still look like plastic. Bleurgh.

You’re entitled to make your home as ugly and charmless as you wish. Bifolds are the laminate flooring of modern homes. Fair enough if you live on a newbuild estate, I guess you could say they are in the vernacular of that type of building, but they are a scourge of any period home, they simply do not belong.

I love them. They open the whole living room up to a deck with a roof over it, so often have them fully open even if its raining if it’s warm. They are not new thought, I would probably go stacker if doing these days as more modern.

Ours are huge and make a dark kitchen light .I had them open last week. I do like sliding doors better as you don't get the frames breaking up the glass but they didn't work in our room/ garden. I think window seats look really nice too but we needed the light.