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Comparing sight lines on bifolding doors

Bifolding door sightlines are one of many considerations when choosing a new, quality folding sliding door for your home.  To help you understand this feature found in all types of doors, we explain more about it as well as what to consider. We also compare our best selling frameless doors with some of the best-known brands.

bifolding door nightlines
Only our frameless sliding and fold doors come with virtually no sight line and no visible mullion.

Everything you need to know about bifolding door sightlines.

First of all, the definition of a sight line is the amount of non-glass material, blocking the line of sight through any door in the closed position.  Many good brands of bifolding doors now offer reduced sightlines thanks to the better design.

Secondly, every door, whether aluminium, PVCu, timber or even our frameless doors, require a frame. One frame houses the glass units; the other frame is the perimeter frame fixed to your house.  The outer frame is always visible – as every door needs this for rigidity, security and weather performance.

Third, is the visible frame you see around the glass.  In a conventional bifolding door, every panel is independent. As a result, when looking at a closed set of doors, you see visible mullions.  The more panels in your bifold, the more mullions you see. This is the sightline.

Therefore, while bifolding doors are outstanding as a patio door, opening up your home, in winter, they remain closed. Consequently consider that the thinner the mullion, the more glass you get and the better views through the glass.

Comparing bifolding door sightlines on aluminium bifolds.

At FGC, not only do we have a lot of bifolding door experience, but we also know other products too.  Our patented frameless system is a premium quality door.  With no visible mullions as well as no aluminium, only our door offers you the slimmest bifolding door sight lines. Therefore,  if you’re comparing our doors to other top brands as you do your research, we make it easy for you to compare bifolding door sightlines.

BIFOLDING DOOR SYSTEM Door Sight Line
FGC Frameless Double Glazed Door Virtually no sightline
Schuco ASS 80FD 112mm
Schuco ASS 70 FD 120mm
Reynaers CF68 131mm
Centor C1 Bifolding Door 136mm
AluK Optio BSF70 Folding Sliding Door 140mm
Origin Bifolding Door 154mm

Of course, there are other brands of bifolding doors, but we are showing you the premium brands allowing you to compare on a like-for-like quality basis.

Four Reasons why frameless doors are the better bifolding doors.

If the sight lines on your bifolding doors matter, there are more great reasons to choose an FGC frameless slide and fold doors.  Our unique mullion design provides benefits and a better bifolding door in other areas too.

No unsightly door hinges.

Any aluminium, upvc or timber concertina style bifolding door needs hinges to connect the door panels. As a result, you get not only visible mullions but also visible hinges.  Inside the doors, you also get two handles. One is a pull handle the other is a locking handle.

Our frameless system uses our roller system with durable guides meaning the doors do not require any intermediate hinges.

Better views through the glass.

Look at the double glazed units in your home, and you will see a white,  silver or black ‘spacer bar’.  A spacer bar holds the two panes of glass together as well as providing energy efficiency to the overall window or door.  Thermal performance in glass and windows help lower your energy bills.

Our doors also use thermally enhanced spacer bars. However, at the door mullion, we use glass instead of plastic or metal.  As a result, we offer better clarity through our already minimal sight lines.

Thinner aluminium than other bifolding doors.

As well as offering you no visible mullions and the best aesthetics, our doors also have thinner aluminium in the critical areas.  Our door rails and our outer frame is smaller than most bifolding doors on the market.

Furthermore, our doors are also narrower depth profiles too.  So not only do you get thinner doors when closed, but you also get neater stacking doors when open. Our fully folded panels take up less space than other brands.

A lower bifolding door threshold.

The thinner bifolding door sightlines and thinner frame also allow us to design a lower threshold.  Even better is our threshold is lower than other brands’ threshold and comes with a weather rating.  Check out most other bifolding door thresholds marketed as ‘low’, and you’ll often see a disclaimer saying there is no weather rating or that threshold suggested for internal use.

Contact us today to find out more and for a free quote.

Our unique patented product offers all the benefits of a bifolding door such as transforming your living space and enhancing your home.  They are energy efficient, secure and weather resistant.  Our doors also give you better views thanks to slimmer frames and bigger glass panels.  They also have the best sight lines. Contact us today to find out more and get a free quote.

We also offer a full range of aluminium windows, bifolding and sliding doors,
and front doors as FGC Bespoke Aluminium.

Visit the FGC Showroom

You can now visit our showroom in Strood, Kent.

The full range of Frameless products are on display in wide variety of configurations.

We request you contact us to make an appointment before visiting to avoid overcrowding.

Find out more about the FGC Kent showroom.

Reviews on Facebook and Google

FGCExcellentFGC4.5 Based on 42 reviews fromSee all reviews review us onWayne T.Wayne T. ★★★★★ Very happy with the service I have received, everything went smoothly no issues, I was kept up to date throughout the process and the fitting team were very professional, polite and friendly I would recommend fgc to anyone thank youKayleigh C.Kayleigh C. ★★★★★ Amazing service, great aftercare, incredible product. It was hard to find something that would fit in our house and would have been pleasing to the eye aswell as stylish and modern and unique.From sales to install was smooth and stress free amazing bunch of people to work with I had a great experienceInci P.Inci P. ★★★★★ Great product with diligent, professional staff from start to finish. Highly recommended.Paul B.Paul B. ★★★★★ Firstly I have to say a huge thank you to Paul the owner of FGC for being willing to take on the job of sorting out the extremely shoddy and poor installation of the Origin doors and windows fitted on my new build home, when it was built. And replacing the damaged gaskets. I had your guys with me for two days this week. What a breath of fresh air comparted to the people of originally installed my doors and windows. Extremely professional and lovely chaps. They worked tirelessly to sort out the many issues we had. Would absolutely recommend 100% THANK YOU !Response from the ownerGood Morning Paul, Thank you for taking the time to share your positive experience with us. We are absolutely delighted to receive it and are pleased we were able to resolve the issues for you. It’s been a pleasure working with you. If you have any further need in the future, please do not hesitate to contact us. Lisa S.Lisa S. ★★★★★ Very helpful and good communication, great product. Thank you.Dave S.Dave S. ★★★★★ Very happy with doors. Look great. The installation was quick and straightforward.Will recommendRH K.RH K. ★★★★★ FGC were brilliant. Great advice on the best windows to get. Extremely good installation. Always ready to solve any installation or manufacturing issues. We are extremely happy with the end result!Joy W.Joy W. ★★★★★ Frameless windows were brilliant, Liam Alfie and James were great, polite, courteous, and left the site clean and tidy. The windows look amazing, Great service from start to finish. Many ThanksRayRay ★★★★★ We love these doors and look forward to having them open a bit more once the patio has ben completed. They really have a "wow" factor and this becomes a double "wow" when people are shown how the corner can be completely opened up. It was about a year from my first enquiry to the doors being installed as there was a considerable amount of building work required to prepare the room. throughout this period I remained in touch with FGC and the service was exceptional. The installation team was on site for a day, starting early and working through to completion before driving back to Kent!! We have been really pleased with the standard of workmanship and even had compliments from other tradesmen working on the room (most of whom had never seen doors like this). These are expensive doors but the price difference from a normal set of bi-folds was well worth it for the uninterrupted view you get. The doors were installed in February but I have held off doing the review until the room was more finished so I could post a more representative picture. Once the patio is done the look will be even better than we originally envisaged. I have attached a few pictures of the room (the white table is only a temporary measure while we wait for the new coffee table).Sharon B.Sharon B. ★★★★★ From first contact to installation, my interactions with FGC have been easy, fast and professional. The end product is superb, we are so happy with our new doors - wish we had done this years ago. Well done FGC!!Jayne N.Jayne N. ★★★★★ This is the second time we have installed FGC and we are very happy with our second installation- very sleek and stylish and all staff very helpful, thanksD JD J ★★★★★ Frameless Glass Curtains have few competitors so they could take a lax approach to their work. However, that is not the case. We have had a porch installed in a space that was not square or aligned. The service from survey to finish has been above standard. Barry’s attention to detail and determination that the work would not be complete until his high standards were met was much appreciated. The communication from the admin side was clear and helpful. So all in all we will be using Frameless Glass again and have no hesitation in recommending them.Brian S.Brian S. ★★★★★ Brilliant product, what a difference, no frames to block our view of the Brecon Beacons. The service has been the best I think I have ever received and the fitting team were faultless - they travelled 5 hours to get to us in Wales, arriving 30 minutes early, working flat out without a break for 9 hours before driving 5 hours back, all without one complaint!!Catherine U.Catherine U. ★★★★★ Ordered Crittal-style French doors in aluminium. The doors look fantastic and are so much better than the ancient sliding doors I had before. The company were very friendly and easy to deal with. They were understanding of my delays due to a flood. The installers were professional and polite and poor things had to work on the hottest day of the year. Would definitely recommend FGC.Laura G.Laura G. ★★★★★ Really great service from this family run company. We love the doors and the install was top notch. Thanks!Info Oad S.Info Oad S. ★★★★★ Great service and amazing finish! Would highly recommend!paul R.paul R. ★★★★★ Highly competent office and site staff, great product and at a fair price. Couldn't be happier with the entire experience and end result.vanessa C.vanessa C. ★★★★★ From the beginning to the end, everyone at FGC have been amazing. I knew straight away that the glazing FGC would provide and install would be spectacular and how right that was! The FGC glazing allows our Edwardian stained glass door to still be a main feature and in fact it shows it off perfectly. We are so happy with the end result and can’t praise FGC highly enough, somehow 5 stars doesn’t seem to be high enough.ZorèZorè ★★★★★ Their windows are second to none. No other company in Germany, UK or anywhere else can produce such a fabulous product.Any issues that has come up, they always come & fix it. The staff are so nice and polite. For a small company they do really a great job over all. The main things are the frameless bifolds that you hardly have any frame in the line of vision and there is a 5 years guarantee. Mr & Mrs JahediFiona G.Fiona G. ★★★★★ Delighted with our new frameless glass doors. Had lots of lovely comments, even all the trades who have been working on our house have said they've not seen anything like them. Great having something a little unusual. The quality of the doors is of a very high standard. The service from FGC has been very good too, from ordering through to installation. All went very smoothly with no problems. Paid a bit more than regular bifolds, but worth every penny. Best decision, no regrets at all.Andrew H.Andrew H. ★★★★★ Great service and very welcoming for my father and I. Adrian in particular was very efficient, gave great pertinent advice and guidance on my future purchase!Des P.Des P. ★★★★★ Excellent in all aspects from initial viewing in showroom to actual installation.TonyTony ★★★★★ Excellent service and product from FGC.I have a glass-box conservatory, built with structural glass about 20 years ago. The 2 sliding doors needed replacing, along with 2 side panels, and I contacted dozens of companies selling conservatory doors and none of them were prepared to install their doors because of the perceived risks of working with structural glass.Then I found FGC who, with no fuss at all, carried out a survey, provided a very reasonable quote for the doors/panels and then installed the doors/panels on the agreed date.Communication with the FGC office was always quick and easy. The surveyor and installation team were efficient and courteous. The product works beautifully.We can now use our conservatory again. Thanks FGC.Arun S.Arun S. ★★★★★ Great company with excellent, friendly and responsive service, the guys were helpful and efficient with the installation and the slide and turn doors are a fantastic product.Matt G.Matt G. ★★★★★ Fantastic service from start to finish, from the surveying, contact with office to the workmen. I have experience through work of a number of companies providing similar products and these guys have been by far the best to deal withDavid W H.David W H. ★★★★★ FGC installed a two-panel frameless glass door at our property yesterday. Wow!! the installation is exactly as discussed, and was carried out by two of FGC's team members who were so professional and courteous. They were excellent, and we have no hesitation in recommending FGC and their team to anyone considering such an installation.We are delighted with the installation, and very pleased we chose FGC.Well done FGC!!Border S.Border S. ★★★★★ The quality of the windows / doors are second to none.The customer service was first class from placing the order to installation we were kept informed at every step.The installation team led by Richard left our house and patio cleaner than when they arrivedI would recommend FGC 100%Tony- BurnleyStephen H.Stephen H. ★★★★★ From start to finish everything was excellent.Fab u lasThank youStephen O.Stephen O. ★★★★★ BRILLIANT SERVICE FROM START TO FINISHHighly recommended.Nathan P.Nathan P. ★★★★★ We purchased a beautiful Origin sliding door and side window from FGC. FGC installed the sliding door and window on time, however the sliding door did not fit correctly. Issues can happen. FGC made the process of re-surveying and re-installation very simple. FGC is a very pleasant and professional company to deal with. We are very happy with their service and would strongly recommend them.Darius C.Darius C. ★★★★★ I love my doors! It’s transformed my place. The people are great, no nonsense, organised and efficient. I’d recommend them to anyoneAdrian W.Adrian W. ★★★★★ Excellent planning and product advice. All the staff were polite courteous and friendly.On the day of the installation, the team arrived bang on time -we live in Wales so a long drive from Kent! They had the job done by lunchtime (fitting a sliding patio door) and I have to say that on first impression of the unit, it looks and feels like solid quality.Ian J.Ian J. ★★★★★ We had a 5m stretch of these wonderful doors installed several years ago and have been very happy with the uninterrupted view of the garden that they allow from the living room. They are admired by every tradesman who sees them. A minor problem we experienced with water ingress last year was promptly and effectively resolved, and the doors were serviced for free at the same time.Response from the ownerHello Ian, thank you very much for leaving us a review and glad you're happy with your doors and our service. Elly BElly B ★★★★★ Great staff and great products! Have visited the showroom to view doors, really loved all of them! Have referred to a friend - Can't recommend enoughAdam F.Adam F. ★★★★★ Really great doors. Really are something different. Expensive, but you really pay for what you get here.js_loader

What our customers say

Thank you for a brilliant product I am so glad I chose FGC for my windows/doors everybody who sees them is so impressed by them but mostly my wife and myself! Thanks again [and your team] Best regards Brian

The amazing glass door has transformed our kitchen and given it a wonderful inside/outside living feel and flooded the room with sunlight. It’s a fantastic product. The whole team at FGC were

Gerry Geddes
Gerry
I am really impressed with the finished product and service e provided by FGC. I had an image in my mind of how I wanted the end result to look. The “invisible” glassing was the most difficult and important part to source. FGC came through with flying colours, right from the initial contact, design and survey discussions, to the installation visits. FGC have been superb at meeting my requirements and timescales. The fitting was carried

David, Surrey
As to how we were from initial contact (were we polite)? Staff were polite and prompt in answering telephone questions. There were technical problems with our installation and staff were open and discussed options and were polite. The fitters were surprised at the distance they had to travel to reach us each time, although we had explained where we lived prior to proceeding with the installation to check whether the company would be happy to

Just to thank you for great service, it exceeds expectations and is really appreciated. Please circulate around your team and particular thanks to the two guys who completed the work professionally and represented your company very well. Thanks again Reg

Reg Ford
Reg
Re delivery, there was an initial hope that you might be earlier than the 6-8 week lead time, but once that wasn’t going to happen, you gave us a date, and were then able to bring it forward a couple of days to fit around our holiday schedule, which was great.  Guys turned up at 8am as expected. Your guys were clean and tidy. I love the doors and think they are great.  I would

Thank you for a good job even though there were a few issues along the way. Chris and I will have no hesitation in recommending your company, products and services to others. Kind regards Mike and Chris Rodwell

I had been looking for some time to replace my patio doors in our lounge as they had very wide plastic frames and wanted something that wouldn’t restrict the view up the garden I asked to see if it was possible to view some already installed close by. Luckily there was, we went and viewed and was very impressed. I’ve seen lots of companies do bi-fold and there is actually one that is on the

Paula Sanders
Paula

It’s nearly a year since you installed our glass curtains. They have been really great, exceeding our expectations, particularly during the winter months when they were absolutely draught free. When they are fully open you really feel that the lounge is part of the garden, it all becomes one space. Many thanks, they were one of our best decisions.

We had been looking for ages for the solution to fill two large spaces leading from the house to our new Orangery. From the moment Gary showed us the product at Partridge Farm we knew it was just what we wanted. A year later and we are still delighted. We broke one of the glass handles the other day and they have just left after fixing a replacement FOC. Hows that for service?

Unit has been replaced thank you, once again I find FGC have responded to a problem with a no quibble replacement, it is good to know that there is still companies left who honour their guarantee in the proper manner and send installation teams that carry out their work in a professional manner with competence and courtesy, I would be quite willing to give any prospective customers a reference if that would be of interest

Mr D

The bottom line, I am happy with all your support to get me the financial support for this project.  Without your help the project would not have been

Bashir
Bashire in Cambridge

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Published on May 28, 2015

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