Our Guide To French, Patio And Bi-Folding Doors

Warmer weather has made a welcome return this spring and we hope there’s lots more of it come once summer arrives. 

Are you capturing these pleasant conditions in your home? 

That will happen if you have some kind of door that transports the spring sunshine directly into your indoor space, lighting it up and making it feel wonderfully inviting. 

It would also be useful if this door provided a generous outdoor opening, which you would get if you have some French doors, patio doors or bi-folding doors. 

If you like the idea of investing in one of these door types but don’t know which to choose, we can give you a clear picture of what they each offer. 

French Doors

French doors come as a pair and were first developed during the French renaissance, which is how they get their name. 

They have prolonged glass panes in both door sections and open outwardly, handy if you have limited space inside and don’t want them taking up room. 

Continental properties almost invariably include French doors somewhere within their setup, and each time they’re ajar, a home can feel roomier than it is in reality. 

Patio Doors

It’s with a sliding motion that you open and close a patio door, which results in one of the glass panels shifting behind the other, out of the way, making it another great space-saver. 

The modern patio door has very slender frames and this maximises the view that you get through them, music to the ears of anyone who has a pretty garden or stunning view to look out on. 

Glass almost takes up the whole of a patio door, which is also great from the perspective of light transference and thermal efficiency. 

Bi-Folding Doors

The bi-folding door has become the fashionable door to have and can include as few as two panels up to a maximum of seven. When you fold them open, they operate in a similar way to a concertina, so you get a vast opening once they reach the end of the track. 

It’s the lightweight nature of aluminium that makes a bi-folding door so effortless to open and why they glide with such grace. 

We often integrate our bi-folding doors into rear walls, but we’ve also fitted them to new and existing conservatories, orangeries and other types of extension. 

Most bi-fold installations are completed at a rear wall, but we have overseen many projects where they have been integrated into orangeries, conservatories and other extensions. 

The final thing you should do before you invest in any of these doors is come and see them in our Kendal showroom.