Top 5 Do's & Don’ts When Choosing a Bifold Door

Do’s

1. View the actual door you intend to buy. Bi-folding doors can vary hugely in cost and quality, and when spending a considerable sum of money on a set of doors, the last thing you want is to be disappointed when they arrive. 
2. Ask about weather guarantees. The current buzz word is low threshold, but we don’t know of a single folding sliding door on the market that offers a weather guarantee on low thresholds. On an external door we would recommend having a rebated threshold and then sinking it a further 1cm into the floor. This would only give you a step height of just   1 - 1.5cm (the thickness of your finger). The last thing you want is wind whistling in under your new set of doors come winter time.
3. Get an insurance backed guarantee. Make sure that whoever you are buying your folding patio doors from will issue you with an insurance backed guarantee. An insurance backed guarantee gives you the peace of mind that should the company go up in smoke, your guarantee won’t go with it. Insurance backed guarantees are usually for 10 years and shouldn't cost you any extra.
4. Buy bi-fold doors that pass the current building regs. Building regulations are constantly updated, so ask if the bi-fold or sliding doors you wish to buy pass the current regs. Also ask for documentation and certificates. Keep these safe, so when you come to sell your house, you can pass them onto the new owner.
5. Ask for references from your installer. Any reputable company should be more than willing to put you in touch with past customers.

Don'ts

1. Avoid bi-fold doors with an external track. There are some bi-fold doors on the market that have an external track that the doors slide along. These doors are not purpose built bi-folding doors, they have been adapted to make them work as bi-folds. There is a security risk here as the track can be levered off. A purpose built bi-fold door should have all the tracks built into the frame.
2. Don’t buy a door purely on price. The old saying “you get what you pay for” could not be truer than when buying bi-fold doors.
3. Top Hung vs Bottom Rolling? Some suppliers will tell you that top hung is better than bottom rolling, or bottom rolling is better than top hung. Don’t believe them. 
4. Avoid ‘floating mullions’. We don’t recommend bi-fold doors with “floating mullions” this is an extra piece of material that goes between each door leaf. Why would you need that extra piece? In our experience it not only looks ugly, but can and does drop, causing operation problems.
5. Don’t pay the balance of the job until the door is installed. There are some companies that want the balance paid a few days before the installation has taken place. If you have paid in full and you are not completely satisfied with your doors when they are fitted, you have less chance of getting a quick and satisfactory solution. Pay the balance once you are happy you have received what you have paid for.

C & L Windows and Conservatories Ltd

48, Stroud Road

Gloucester

Gloucestershire

GL1 5AJ

www.candlwindows.co.uk

01452 526025