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Advice about buying Bifolding Doors

Here are our top tips and advice about buying Bifolding Doors.  Whether you are replacing your old sliding or French doors, or building a new extension, bifolding doors are a logical choice.  The decision  making process does not have to be complicated once you understand the basic principles about how Bifolding doors differ from conventional doors.  Unlike a typical door a bifolding door comprises complex running gear, sophisticated design so that it can slide, swing and fold.

What are the advantages of bifolding doors?

Over recent years many people have chosen to extend and upgrade their homes rather than move to a new house.

This popularity in home renovation is also reinforced by the plethora of home improvement programmes, lifestyle shows and much more.

As more and more people choose to improve their homes rather than sell, for this reason the bifolding door has become very popular. Bifolding doors are the only product that can completely fold back to open up an entire wall and create a substantially larger clear opening than a hinged or sliding door.  Additionally, they are also flexible. What you may not know is that bifolding doors do not need to be folded back all the time. They can be designed with one or more access doors giving you easy access and exit without having to fold all your doors back.

It is in the summer months that bifolding doors prove why they are so popular. No other product can connect the inside to the outside of your home like a folding door.

Are there planning considerations with bifolds?

If you are replacing older doors such as a large patio door, generally there are no planning considerations. However planning rules differ from area to area, so it is wise to check beforehand with your local authority.

Most installations of bifolding doors come Permitted Developments.

If you are building a new extension, you will most likely have used an architect and of course a competent builder. Your architect will already have the knowledge about planning and design considerations and will be helpful to you.

Choosing between PVCu or Aluminium doors.

Bifolding doors can be a valuable addition to a home so it makes sense to choose wisely.

Do your research around bifolding doors and you will see that the vast majority of quality and well engineered bifolding doors are made of aluminium.

We believe every product has its place, but aluminium is far superior to PVCu doors for many reasons. Whilst plastic bifolding doors have come a long way in recent years, the nature of PVCu as a material still means it is thicker, bulkier and less attractive than aluminium.

PVCu doors cannot be made as large as aluminium doors and are therefore restricted by size. Furthermore PVCu expands roughly two and a half times more than aluminium which means in the heat, the doors will expand and may cause operational and reliability issue.

What colour should you choose for bifolding doors?

In recent years, technology in both PVCu and aluminium doors has enabled far more colour choice than ever before.

PVCu doors in a colour will either be wet sprayed or have a coloured foil applied.

We recommend aluminium powder coated bifolding doors. The processes used in powder coating aluminium doors means the finish is far more durable, more resistant to UV rays and is available in a much wider choice of colours, textures and finishes.

There are over 200 possible colour combinations available today so you can choose literally any colour you like with with a powder coated door.

Are Bifolding Doors safe and secure?

You have the peace of mind that most quality bifolding door systems have passed stringent security testing. There are many different types of security testing by professional testing institutes meeting current British or European Standards.

Whatever standard doors have passed, this means they have been subjected under controlled conditions to a variety of attack tests, timed test, attempts to prise doors apart and much more.

All of this means that your new bifolding doors will be secure.

This also applies to our own frameless bifolding doors. Despite their minimal aluminium and large glass panes, they are as secure as any all aluminium bifolding door.

Compare more than one bifolding door.

Bifolding doors are not cheap and you are making a large investment in your home. It makes sense therefore to try out the product.

We recommend you look at the different frame options, handle designs, threshold options and how the doors operate.

Once you have seen your typical aluminium bifolding door, we invite you to have a look at our glass frameless doors that will give you the very minimum in frame and visible aluminium and the most in maximum glass area.

The importance of bifolding door installation.

One of the most important factors in ensuring the long term reliability of your new bifolding doors is ensuring they are expertly fitted.

The precise install of a bifolding door is crucial bearing in mind the large structural opening that doors will be fitted to. Builders will often not create a truly square opening despite their best efforts.

But even so, the precise installation of bifolding doors, making sure glass is packed correctly, doors are adjusted precisely and the correct fitting of the door frames and leaves will all help make your doors reliable for many years to come.

Let us help you choose the best bifolding door for your home.

Our unique frameless sliding and folding doors have been designed by us from the ground up. We manufacture them in our own factory and install them all over the UK.

We can also customise your doors to create glass screens, internal room dividers, glass porch doors and much more. Contact us and find out why our bifolding doors are like no other you will see on the market.

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.

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What our customers say

We have been very happy with the service you offer and indeed the product. We found the office responded promptly and the delivery was swift and when promised. The fitting staff were professional, polite and unintrusive. We would be very happy to let people look at our installation.

We are absolutely delighted with our frameless glass doors. They have transformed our living area in terms of light and space, giving a contemporary feel. The whole process has been very efficient and the fitters who came to install the doors were excellent. I would definitely

Angie Barker
Angie

Great all-round service. From measuring, communication to installation. Not a speck of dirt left in our shop (we are a retail space). Installed in no time at all, staff were very polite and friendly. Very pleased. Finished door looks

A Springer
Pearspring

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?

I just wanted to follow up as I was in the gallery this morning.  The guys were brilliant, on time, tidy, efficient and they fitted the door perfectly. We are very pleased  

It is a good time to say to you that while we still very much the windows, the ease of opening, the views closed or open, now that the weather has turned colder we have been struck quick dramatically by the improvement in insulation.  The large windows here that you/we have replaced were double glazed but quite tired – more than we knew it would seem.  The whole house has benefitted greatly from your magic. I

As to how we were from initial contact (were we polite)?   Very polite and attentive, always got back quickly with answers to queries but there was no hard sell which I really appreciated after being bombarded by calls and contacts from other companies!  The measuring up part seemed more complicated than it needed to be.  The initial drawings and some of the subsequent ones had errors on that I needed to phone and change

There is no comparison between the usual bifold door products and the products provided by FGC. We visited FGC to see the manufacturing process and view their unique system. We were hooked, after a simple ordering process and site visit our 2 sets of replacement doors were fitted quickly and in a very professional manner. Now we have uninterrupted views of the Channel from our fabulous glass curtains. The best home improvement product available

Philip Hills
Phil - Kent

I found Frameless glass Curtains very easy and trustworthy to deal with. All personnel I had contact with were polite and professional. I am very pleased with the product and installation

Mr M Donovan
Mr M Donovan

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

From the first moment of making contact we were given a very personal and friendly service. The survey, fitting and installation were all carried out by helpful and pleasant people. Follow up service was equally good. I am extremely pleased with the

Valerie smith
Valerie
With regards to feedback, the pre-sales advice and support from Adrian was excellent and we found it really valuable to visit the factory and see the demonstration doors. Furthermore, the installers were very professional, on time, polite, tidy, hard working and went out of their way to ensure we were comfortable operating the doors before they left. The only negative experience was the survey, feedback I shared with Adrian as we needed his involvement to

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Published on August 22, 2015

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