Bifold Doors vs Sliding Doors

Aluminium Bi-Fold Doors , Sliding Doors 12th June 2024

Who wins this battle: bifold doors vs sliding doors? Bifold doors and sliding doors both do the same thing, opening up your home to nature and creating a fully glazed door that lets natural light into your living space. However, bifold doors and sliding doors have crucial differences. Because of this, it can be hard to know which is the best option for your home and your budget.

There are several subtle ways in which bifold doors and sliding doors differ. For example, bifold doors use multiple double glazing panels, whereas sliding doors use fewer panels and larger ones. Bifold doors have a unique folding opening mechanism, whereas sliding doors have a more simple opening on their slider. Finally, bifold doors are often more expensive than sliding doors, although they can give you more flexibility.

So, which is the better option for your home? At Jewel Bifolds, we’ve been helping homeowners find that out for themselves with our range of bifold doors and sliding doors. We’ve been offering market-leading bifold doors from Halo, Air, Schuco and Smart for years now, and we can provide sliding doors from Air as well. Explore our range of bifold doors and sliding doors to pick the best option for your home today!

The Benefits of Bifold Doors

Bifold doors, much like sliding doors, can come with uPVC or aluminium profiles. Both of these options make sure that bifold doors operate smoothly, last for decades and have no trouble in poor weather conditions. That’s particularly important in bifold doors, as the opening of the system is more complex. When you start opening the doors, the double glazing panels in the design begin to fold on each other, meaning the whole door neatly stacks into the corner of the room.

As a result, bifold doors can open fully or partially, and they can even work as a partition to break up one larger space into two smaller ones. And, when the doors are closed, you’ll benefit from slim sightlines and unobstructed views of your garden. Bifold doors can operate smoothly for decades thanks to an easy glide roller system, and they can come with 2-7 glass panes to fit any living space and a low threshold to let anybody in. Bifold doors from Halo, Air, Schuco and Smart also have impressive thermal performance, keeping you warm and saving you money on energy bills.

The Benefits of Sliding Doors

Unlike bifold doors, sliding doors have a simpler design. Although they also function on a slider, they have no swing arc, meaning the whole door pulls from side to side. As a result, they are easy to open and operate, and they can let plenty of natural light into your living space. Not only that, sliding doors are highly secure, with multi-point locking mechanisms across the large glazing panel, ensuring intruders and burglars can’t separate the glass from the frame.

The modular locking system in our sliding doors also comes from Yale, a market-leading designer. That way, you can have peace of mind to enjoy all the benefits that sliding doors offer, including smooth operation, durable design and outstanding thermal efficiency. And, when compared to bifold doors, sliding doors cost less to install in your home. So, while bifold doors may offer a better investment in the long run, sliding doors cost a lot less at the outset to help you enhance your home more affordably.

The Differences: Bifold Doors vs Sliding Doors

There are several subtle differences between bifold doors and sliding doors. Although they have similar designs and functionality, picking the right one for your home is important to get the best from your living space. For example, bifold doors can be a lot wider than sliding doors in many cases. You can choose bifold doors with up to 7 panes of glazing with Jewel Bifolds, meaning they can be as expansive as you need them to be for your living space.

Additionally, bifold doors open with a folding design, meaning you can decide how far they open. On the other hand, sliding doors are more limiting in their design, although this simple opening can be helpful in its way. Finally, the cost of bifold doors and sliding doors can vary wildly. So, if you don’t feel you need bifold doors, you may be better off choosing sliding doors for your home, although bifold doors are a great choice if you have a specific need for them.

Jewel Bifold Doors vs Sliding Doors

Whether you’d like bifold doors or sliding doors for your home, though, you can rely on Jewel Bifolds to give you the right design. At Jewel, we install our bifold doors and sliding doors across Hampshire and Surrey, and we do this with our experienced installation team and access to market-leading profiles. When you choose our bifold doors and sliding doors, you can pick uPVC and aluminium options from leading manufacturers. However, you’ll also be able to pay the competitive prices you expect with a trusted local installer.

With our bifold and sliding doors, we can offer lower travel costs, quicker lead times, and more personalised service. We also give you the chance to customise both designs fully. You can style your doors to be bespoke to you with unique colours and woodgrain foils, and we offer a myriad of traditional and modern hardware and accessories for your doors. That way, you’ll have all the options at your fingertips to create a bespoke addition to your living space.