THE ULTIMATE BUYER'S GUIDE TO sliding doors

Offering abundant light, slender sightlines and ease of use, it's not surprising that this classic glazing style has become a firm favourite

- SEAN O'CONNELL

When embarking on a new build or extension, the doors you choose are crucial to the success of the project, which is why sliding doors are often the natural choice.

With larger glazed panels and narrower frames than their bifold and French door counterparts, it’s easy to see why they are often the preferred option. Not only do they maximise natural light and offer the best view of any glazed door system when closed, they also offer an abundance of additional features that other doors can’t match. ‘Sliding doors have overtaken bifold doors in popularity because the narrow frames and larger panel sizes provide less obstruction to the view out (and the amount of light let in) when the doors are closed,’ says Edward Stobart, sales manager at IDSystems.

THE BENEFITS OF SLIDING DOORS

Compared to bifold doors, sliding doors can be made to very large sizes and with fewer mullion divisions, which helps maximise the amount of glass within the opening. The larger areas of glass also mean that sliding doors are more energy efficient than folding doors because a multitude of frame junctions has a negative impact on the overall U value. VELFAC sliding doors can achieve U values as low as 0.80-0.90W/m²k, which means they are suitable for low-energy or Passivhaus standard houses. Kevan Woolf, VELFAC’s internal sales and marketing manager, says, ‘The relative simplicity of the opening function and fewer moving parts contributes to making sliding doors more cost-effective than their folding equivalents.’