Bi-folding doors - Any Recommendations?

[russ_a]

Hi,

We are looking to purchase some bi-folding doors (around 4m in length). Could anyone recommend a supplier, preferably around Nottingham?

Cheers

Russ

[eps]

Russ

What sort of material and what sort of size? How many doors will make up the folding door and what sort of configuration?

[supersport]

We have some very nice solid wood doors made by Norton Joinery http://www.nortonjoinery.co.uk but sadly they are based in Malton N. Yorkshire. Very vey nice.

We have about a 5 meter run with 5 doors. They are fantastic and we love them to bit.

[h4rvy]

Hi Russ,
I own a company called SOLARFOLD DOORS LTD , we manufacture aluminium bi folding doors and travel nationwide , done sets for P.H'ers.

Give me a bell 07976 588093 if interested.

russ_a said:

Hi,

We are looking to purchase some bi-folding doors (around 4m in length). Could anyone recommend a supplier, preferably around Nottingham?

Cheers

Russ

[russ_a]

I honestly don't know what material - was think uPVC to match the existing windows. I know we just need to span 4m so any recommendations would be great.

[Junior Bianno]

We used these guys and the doors were fantastic. A LOT cheaper than other competitors too.

http://www.foldingslidingdoors.com/

[Steve_W]

Good thread - when we get on with building our extension we're wanting to put a set of these in so will watch this thread with interest.

Ours will be 3 doors to fit a 3 metre wide by 2 metre high gap.

Interestingly I noticed at least one supplier says they no longer do these in wood - aluminium only. Fine, they will be white anyway.

[T5GRF]

I have been advised against bi folding UPVC doors due to expansion issues with heat in our proposed extension, not sure if this is correct?

[russ_a]

Hmm not heard that before, will have a search.

[tuskkev]

We used foldingslidingdoors.com also. They have been in for about 4 years now and had no problems at all, in fact been very very impressed.
As said above they are very cheap compared to the other suppliers just don't let them fit them, they wanted £1000 for fitting which I did myself in a day on my own and that included cutting and knocking out the wall under the old window.
We were advised against upvc sliding doors for a few reasons so chose coated aluminium, which look like upvc anyway.
Ours are about 3.4 metres wide in 3 panels and cost approx £1400 delivered.
We visited the factory near bradford, they have a few sets on display you can see and play with, all in all very helpful and excellent company to deal with.

[dugsud]

tuskkev said:

We used foldingslidingdoors.com also. They have been in for about 4 years now and had no problems at all, in fact been very very impressed.
As said above they are very cheap compared to the other suppliers just don't let them fit them, they wanted £1000 for fitting which I did myself in a day on my own and that included cutting and knocking out the wall under the old window.
We were advised against upvc sliding doors for a few reasons so chose coated aluminium, which look like upvc anyway.
Ours are about 3.4 metres wide in 3 panels and cost approx £1400 delivered.
We visited the factory near bradford, they have a few sets on display you can see and play with, all in all very helpful and excellent company to deal with.

That sounds really cheap but isn't 3.4 metres wide in 3 panels really massive doors....3 panel doors only seem to usually go up to about 2.7m.

We're getting 3.6m but it'll be 4 doors I think.

[gavinv88]

Loking for some myself and approached a mate who has a 4m hardwood set for advice.......told me not to bother with wood as the elements (sun in particular) has warped them, and fit and movement is everything with these doors!!

[ribenavrs]

we used http://www.i-d-systems.co.uk/ in Norwich

excellent service and quality

we spent some time researching and going to shows and they were easily the best quality for the price

we've got aluminium ones painted to match the UPVC windows and they look great

IIRC they also offer aluminum but clad with wood which looked good

HTH

[Tuna]

When you're comparing doors, check whether they're top hung or run in a bottom rail. Check also the threshold - some companies offer a level, or virtually level threshold whereas others are more intrusive. It's also worth considering what glass you have in them (e-coated etc.), as such a large area will potentially result in some cold draughts in the winter.

There is also the issue of which doors open - in a four set you can either have 2-2, which tends to mean you can't open a door in isolation, or 3-1 which gives you a single 'entrance' door on one side. Then you can consider whether the doors open inwards (take up room in the room), or outwards (stick out into the patio and collect rain), or centre hung.

[Ranger 6]

-Pete- said:

Sunfold - Too expensive, but potentially good

Recognising they are expensive, it's an excellent product and fantastic service. Blew away the competitors when we looked round although I-D systems were close.

Oh yes, it's a 4m run, 3+1 opening, bottom rolling, flat threshold etc, etc.

[h4rvy]

-Pete- said:

We've been looking and currently rank them as follows (with comments):

1stFoldingSliding - Solid build, good track, good price
Colourline - More expensive, no handle to pull door into line
WindowWise - Not as nicely made but good price, our builder seems to like them
ID Systems - Feel more lightweight (good & bad), Rubber seals fall out
Sunfold - Too expensive, but potentially good
Sunparadise - Far too expensive, demo system 'broken' at show

It will be one of the first two I think, but I'm interested to hear from other peoples' experiences.

Pete,
Send me an email [e-mail]. or check website www.solarfolddoors.co.uk - mention pistonheads !!!

[BrightYellowTVR]

Great thread, I am looking at fitting these in an extension that has a 6m opening.
Is it possible to have 2 sets of 3m doors that meet in the middle? I am also looking do a flush mounting system in the floor so no lip to step over ( or as low as possible). I am based in Berkshire so any recomended suppliers would be useful as my initial enquiries are not going well.

Thanks, Jon
ps Never thought to look on PH for my answer..

[Ranger 6]

Jon - let me know where you are in Berkshire as we may not be far from you, I'd be happy to show you ours and pass on the experiences we had

[CraigW]

I almost went to court with one of the companies above (not the chap who is a ph'er), if you decide to use them then email me 1st for small advice (treading gently here to avoid naming and shaming).

In short we werent sure if the doors could be put in the opening we had, we had to pay a "fully refundable deposit" before they would send an engineer round to ascertain whether it could be done.

The engineer said we needed about 4 grands worth of preparatory work.

The company refused to return our deposit.

Then said that the initial "free survey" was £600 in the event that we didnt order the doors (nothing about this in their paperwork).

we were on the brink of taking them to court when the silly bint sales advisor accidentally emailed a load of abuse about me, to me instead of her colleague.

I forwarded it to all her directors with her cc'd back in.

I had a cheque the next day. I like to think she got fired and is now a prostitute dependant on hard drugs.

[Steve_W]

Ranger 6 said:

Jon - let me know where you are in Berkshire as we may not be far from you, I'd be happy to show you ours and pass on the experiences we had

Sorry for jumping in Ranger; as I mentioned back up this thread, this is one of the things we're thinking of installing in our extension.

I live near Pangbourne & drive through Bracknell to work in Woking - are you anywhere near?

Alternatively, if you would rather PM your experiences I'd be obliged.

Craig - would you be prepared to PM your bad experiences at all?

Thanks,
Steve

PH - sliding matters!