5 points to keep in mind when choosing bifold or sliding doors
Springtime is routinely a season when homeowners look towards enhancements like bifold or sliding doors to capture the extra natural light and milder weather internally.
Householders also see sliding doors or bifolds as a resourceful, stylish escape to a garden or patio on a pleasant day or evening, recognising the usefulness of the very wide opening they offer.
The dilemma though is choosing between the two as each door system is built with advanced materials for superior energy efficiency, exhibits a modern look, incorporates thermally efficient glazing, and offers slim sightlines, so there’s lots to like about both.
1. External view when closed
Bifolding doors: 4/5 Sliding doors: 5/5
By and large, the sliding door system has marginally more expansive glass panels and less frame obstruction, maximising whatever view you have to look out at.
A two-pane sliding door is the conventional choice, however we can extend this to up to four clear glass panes if you have the wall area to accommodate something broader.
That’s not to say though that bifold doors infringe your vista excessively when in a closed position as they don’t, not with such a narrow aluminium profile and when sold by us in anything from 2-7 pane configurations.
2. External view when open
Bifolding doors: 5/5 Sliding doors: 4/5
Bifolds slightly come out on top in this category because once unfastened and pushed, the concertina-like folding mechanism allows you to completely remove a wall, so all you’re left with is nothing but a huge unrestricted gap to take in the atmosphere of the outdoors.
You certainly couldn’t call the view provided by an opened sliding door limiting, despite its lack of any folding sashes, as the panels neatly slide behind each other. It’s just that it’s less interrupted with a bifold.
3. Accessibility
Bifolding doors: 5/5 Sliding doors: 4/5
A bifolding door leaves nothing in your way when you want to break free from your house, the panelled sections stacking away on the outside, rather than on the inside.
There’s a fixed frame with a sliding door, which may be off-putting if you’d prefer frame-free accessibility, but the opening remains sufficiently generous to roam easily between locations.
4. Configuration
Bifolding doors: 4/5 Sliding doors: 3/5
Homes are all arranged differently, meaning that a one-size-fits-all bifold or sliding door solution doesn’t work and these products need tailoring to integrate accordingly.
You’ve added scope for customisation with bifolds, going from a minimum of two panels to the maximum of seven, and can request inclusion of a passenger door (also called a traffic door) that will open and close independently from the rest of the design.
A two, three or four-section sliding door still offers much configuration opportunity and you’ve got a pick of colours, opening and closing direction, hardware etc., similar to a bifold.
5. Space saving
Bifolding doors: 4/5 Sliding doors: 5/5
The size of your property could also dictate your selected feature door.
Occupants of smaller residences, where roominess is lacking, will find much to like about sliding doors and how they traverse from left to right, or vice-versa, without eating up essential space internally or externally.
Some space has to be surrendered on either side of a bifold’s low threshold when the panels collectively fold and group together.
At a glance bifold vs sliding doors
We’ve broken things down in a table to help give you a clearer picture of whether you fall in the sliding or bifold doors camp, rating them out of five in some key areas.
As you can see, they’re pretty evenly matched, with no considerable downsides or disadvantages.
Bi-Folding Doors
Sliding Doors
Outside view when closed
Bi-Folding Doors
Sliding Doors
Outside view when open
Bi-Folding Doors
Sliding Doors
Accessibility
Bi-Folding Doors
Sliding Doors
Configuration
Bi-Folding Doors
Sliding Doors
Space saving
Bi-Folding Doors
Sliding Doors
Which is better: bifold doors or sliding doors?
Sorry to sit on the fence here at Hazlemere, but there’s genuinely no winner or loser in our eyes as it all comes down to what you value most, with affordability being an additional factor that might influence your final decision.
The acid test will be when you come into a showroom to test them out, where there’s also UPVC windows and composite doors displayed, and we can address common questions such as “are bifolding doors more expensive than sliding doors?”
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