When it comes to choosing the best sorts of new patio doors or even internal partition doors, slide and turn doors give you wide door openings, better functionality, and even improved ventilation. Using our installations of both interior and exterior slide and turn doors, we explain why this door design is better than regular concertina bifolds or sliding patio doors.
How slide and turn doors work
The significant difference with slide and turn designs is the independent panels. However, it’s worth looking at the doors first of all in the closed position. You’ll find our frameless doors having no visible aluminium mullions where sliding doors or bifolding doors have these, even with the slimmest 20mm sliding doors. That said, in the closed position they look neat, equally separated but above all have significantly less visible aluminium, even at the threshold.
Then it’s worth considering the opening differences between slide and turn doors and bifolding doors. Regular bifolds have all the panels connected together with door hinges. Operating both door types is easy and familiar to users. However, the more panels you have on a bifolding door set and all folding in one direction, the heavier the door set is to move.
Why all sliding doors take up space when fully open
Compared with sliding doors, these too have independent panels. The difference with sliding doors is these sliding panels need somewhere to rest on the track. Double and triple tracks on sliding doors give you more moving panels, but again all of these need a resting place.
Slide and turn doors move along their track, but turn in or out giving you more of the clear opening than sliding doors.
How sliding doors give you more space inside and out
The independent sliding panels of slide and turn doors have another significant advantage over regular bifolding doors. Whether a bifold opens in or out, it takes up space with it’s concertina action. As a result, you need to leave a clear space in your room or on your patio to open and close them.
Slide and turn doors let you place furniture or ornaments right up to the door glass. Even better, this furniture stays in place when you want to open the doors. Because each panel slides along the track and turns only at the very end, it means you don’t need the space to move the panels bifolds do. Therefore this better door design is especially useful for smaller rooms or patios where you really want a bifold but worry about the space they take up when they open.
Even better room dividers with slide and turn doors
When you want one of the best possible room dividers, our slide and turn doors come with single glass. You don’t need double glazed doors inside the home, (although they’re available if you do).
The advantage of slide and turn doors as room dividers is they only come with frame at the top and bottom. The sides and middle are smooth safety glass with polished edges and the look is amazing. You get the same functionality as an exterior door in a product designed for inside your home.
Even better is the super low threshold giving you a smooth transition between your rooms with a minimal step over or we can set the doors down completely flush.
Bear in mind with internal bifolding or sliding doors, most products on the market are exterior systems. Therefore you get the double glass you don’t need, the insulated frames that aren’t necessary, and all the seals and gaskets exterior doors need to keep out the weather. You’ll also get exterior-grade locks, again something rarely needed inside the home, between your rooms.
Better more functional doors in your home with slide and turn doors by FGC
Both our double-glazed exterior or single-glazed interior doors are designed, made, and fitted by us with the finest materials and a quality guarantee.
Contact us today or visit our new Kent showroom where you can see examples of our outstanding slide and turn doors on display in several configurations including open corner designs.
