Sliding Doors, Pivot Doors, more…

At Sightline Doors, we are proud of our large leaf sliding doors with their ultra slim 14 mm side frames. We are aware, however, that these are not always the best choice for standard room sizes, which is why we offer other door styles.

Differences between sliding, slide-pivot and bi folding doors

A set of two Sightline sliding doors installed in an aperture of, for example, 2400mm will have a central sight-line of 28mm when closed. They run on a double track so that the doors can overlap. The access space will be a maximum of 1200mm. If you need tall doors of, say, 3000mm, this is the option to choose.

Each of a pair of French doors will need to be 1200 mm wide, which could be difficult to source because each door would require very strong frames and hinges to bear the weight. However, you will have the benefit of full access space with both doors open. A cill is required but no track.

Bi folding doors could be figured as two but more likely as three doors, each 800 mm wide. The first door would open against the second door, which would slide along a single track towards the third door, concertina style. Hinges on the track-side of the doors would share the weight of the doors. All three doors would stack to one side of the opening, enabling virtually the whole aperture width to be used as access space. When closed, the sightlines will be at least 100mm.

Doors that slide, pivot and stack run on a single track and do not require hinges, therefore enabling the side frames to be very slim. The UltraSlim doors that we market have side frames of 19mm, giving sightlines of 38mm when closed. For a standard door height of 2100mm, the doors can be up to 1000mm wide. For heights up to 2500mm, we recommend door widths of 800mm.

So, for a 2400mm aperture, there may be three or four doors. The first door will pivot open, just like a normal door. Each of the other doors will slide along the single track guide rail. These can be positioned wherever you want to provide access anywhere along the track. You can slide and turn a second door for wider access, continuing until all doors are stacked at one end, enabling maximum access width. UltraSlim doors have much slimmer profiles than bi folding doors, as they do not need to have hinges attached at the sides.

The above descriptions are for double-glazed patio doors which comply with building regulations in England. Some are available with PVC or wooden framesfrom other suppliers but we only manufacture and install doors with thermally-broken aluminium frames. Thermally-broken means that there is a barrier between inside and outside temperatures. We also supply non-thermally-broken, single-glazed, ‘unbreakable’ tempered all-glass doors without frames, which are suitable for out-buildings, enclosures and as room dividers. Frameless Glass Doors have a very contemporary look. Please use the drop down menu to for our range of Glass Doors or view our glass doors gallery for examples.