The Difference Between Frameless Glass Doors and Frameless Glass Curtains

We have been asked to clarify the difference between Frameless Glass Doors and Frameless Glass Curtains because they look the same and some information on the Internet is not clear.

In our opinion, Frameless Glass Curtains are single glazed doors for internal use or external use as enclosures. The name derives from the description originally attributed to the system that is popular in Spain for enclosing balconies and covered terraces, where there were no requirements for u-values or even weather-proofing.

Frameless Glass Doors are suitable as patio doors as they are double glazed and meet building standards, here in the U.K. We manufacture both at SunSeeker Doors, as well as aluminium-framed bi-folding-sliding doors. The choice is yours.

There are more details on our Innovative Doors website. Please contact us for comparative quotations.

Ultimate Frameless Glass Doors?

When we started the company, we believed that bifolding doors offered the perfect solution for both patio door and contemporary room divider requirements. But now we have ... Frameless Glass Doors.

Originally launched as 'glass curtains', single glazed door panels that did not conform to building regulations for patio door use in domestic dwellings, frameless glass doors were - and are - ideal for commercial premises such as restaurant frontages and enclosures. They also offer the ultimate in style as room dividers.

The thought of a double-glazed, 100 per cent weather-proof frameless glass patio door drove us to develop our latest product, frameless double glazed doors, which we began installing in Spring 2010.

For two glass panels to maintain high insulation properties, the cavity between them must remain impermeable which means that there has to be a seal or gasket all round. Although there are no frames at the side of the doors, there is a narrow, visible gasket. When compared with the frames on bi folding doors, this blip on the landscape is negligible.

Installations of frameless glass patio doors are now just about in the hundreds in the UK and we have some photographs in our web site galleries:

• frameless single glazed doors;
• frameless double-glazed doors.

Some companies are now beginning to import similar products but buying British will not only ensure faster installation of this made-to-measure home improvement item, you will be helping British business to re-build the economy.

Switchable Privacy in an Open Plan Office with Glass Partition Doors

By Bee Primrose

Open plan offices make better use of available space, helping to reduce overheads and, therefore, contributing to greater profits (or lower losses) but there is often a need for a closed off area for conferences or private meetings. The latest development in this area is a virtual wall of frameless glass doors that can stretch up to eight metres wide yet, when fully open, occupy a tiny footprint against a wall.

The doors are made of tempered glass and slide along guides in the ceiling and floor until they reach a side wall, where they pivot ninety degrees to stack neatly against the wall. The glass has a very slim profile therefore a stack of eight or so doors is barely more than a hand span.

The doors may spend many hours stacked out of the way and can be slid back into place in a minute. The first door is turned ninety degrees to slide along the guides to position, followed by each of the other doors until the final one is in place. There is a main door that opens in the traditional way so that the room can be entered and exited in the usual manner by staff, executives and guests.

The frameless glass stacking door system described should not be confused with a purely sliding doors system or a glass wall with a pair of opening doors which do not enable maximum access between areas. The slide-pivot-stack glass door system is the only one of these that facilitates a full open plan office environment.

Frameless glass partitions are becoming popular in hotels and large restaurant areas to divide areas for private functions. For additional privacy, there are tinted glass options.

Smaller restaurants are having the doors installed as their property frontage to extend their dining areas on better weather days. Better than bi-folding doors in terms of narrow profile when fully open and stacked, the slide-pivot-stack method is far superior when open part way. This is because the individual doors are either stacked away from the main access or they are in place along the guide line to form a window-wall whereas bifolding doors fold together as they slide, leaving a zig-zag protrusion along the remaining guides, wherever the doors have folded.

Developed from the 'glass curtains' concept popular in Europe, frameless glass doors are now available to order, made to measure in England, with installation included in the quoted price.

In addition to the commercial applications, the frameless glass room dividers are suitable for homes and a double-glazed frameless glass patio door version was launched in Spring 2010 to comply with building regulations for domestic dwellings. The double-glazed doors are frameless but have a narrow opaque gasket at the sides of the glass panels to seal the cavity between the panes of glass.

UK specialist door company, SunSeeker Doors, manufactures and installs frameless glass doors direct to their customers - no middle man to bump up costs; more information and quotation details on: glass partition doors.

The author writes for clients of The BPc Internet presence and website promotion. Article Source: Ezine Articles.

Patio Doors - Do You Prefer To See Frames Or The View Beyond The Glass?

By Bee Primrose

There are various types of patio doors. French doors, traditional wooden centre-opening doors with glazed panels, are inexpensive and functional and will remain popular, probably forever. Attempts to improve insulating properties and reduce maintenance by manufacturing PVC versions has not replaced the traditional timber-framed French door because, let's face it, wooden ones look good and PVC ones don't. Even tired old traditional French doors have a shabby chic that many of us are drawn to in pictures of sunny Provence.

Unrestricted in the width span of an opening, bi folding doors are more versatile than French doors. Their frames may be PVC, timber or aluminum (thermally broken for good insulation). Of these, aluminum frames will be the slimmest, partly because it is a strong medium but also because of the ease of inserting the double glazed unit into it. Wooden frames, as well as being sympathetic to nature's elements, need to be of a certain thickness each side of the double glazing to maintain sufficient force without splitting. PVC door frames at the cheaper end of the door market are particularly wide in order to add strength to the door. This is overcome in better PVC products by reinforcing the inside of the frames with metal.

Because French doors and bi-folding doors are free to swing at one side, consideration must be given to the strain on hinges if the door is heavy, therefore there is a restriction on each door width, probably a maximum of about one metre. Sliding doors remain completely within the top and bottom runners and, therefore, are not subject to the same constraints. It may be possible to install a pair of sliding doors, each one possibly four, five or perhaps up to six feet across, with narrow frames. The view when closed is far better than with bi-folding doors but, in the better weather when you may require maximum access between the house and garden, half of the access is blocked by the doors.

Newly launched in 2010, an innovative design that has taken the best elements of each style and discarded the unnecessary bits. At first sight, whether closed or open, frameless glass doors appear to be sleek versions of bi-folding doors but they have been designed without side frames by removing the need for hinges. The difference is in the mechanics of opening and closing the frameless doors.

The first door opens in the same way as any normal door and remains at right-angles to the door opening. Subsequent doors are then able to slide on discrete top and bottom guides and pivot to stack against the previous door.

As it is necessary to use an effective seal to ensure the double glazing complies with British building regulations, the view through closed frameless glass doors is not entirely without interruption, as the gasket is opaque, approximately 19mm wide.

No other door style can provide all these features:

• up to 8m of fully retractable doors, plus
• low percentage of interrupted view, plus
• high thermal insulation values.

If you want to see the view rather than the door frame AND you want total access between the home and garden, a frameless glass door would seem to be the patio door style that you are looking for.

UK manufacturer, SunSeeker Doors, has engineered frameless glass contemporary patio doors; a quote request form is on the web site and the price includes site survey and installation.

Article Source - Bee Primrose works with clients to enhance their internet presence and inform their potential clients via the Internet.

New Photos: Double Glazed Frameless Doors

With more installations of our Frameless Double Glazed Doors now adorning homes in England, we have uploaded a few more photographs to our website. Why not take a look then submit the form for a no-obligation quotation? We look forward to hearing from you.

Frameless Glass Slide-&-Pivot Patio Doors

Innovative Door Design, combining the best features of bi folding doors and glass curtains, has resulted in the 2010 UK launch of fully double-glazed frameless doors for home-owners. Manufactured in England, conforming to building regulations, we introduce ... ta-da ... Frameless Glass Doors (read more here on Google Knol).

The Difference between Single and Double Glazed Frameless Patio Doors

All our frameless glass doors are, well, frameless. But the double-glazed frameless glass doors are comprised of two panes of glass that are hermetically sealed all round to create a vacuum between the inside and outside panes, giving the doors their high insulation properties.

So, to look at the double glazed frameless glass doors, you see something solid at the sides that you might think is a very narrow frame (about 19mm or ¾") whereas there is nothing at all to see at the sides of the tempered single glazed frameless glass doors.

We admit that the totally frameless-sides glass doors offer the better view but they don't comply with building regulations for use between your home and the outside. They can be used as super cool contemporary room dividers in the home or on a conservatory, on a summer house or pool house. Doors for commercial premises do not need to comply with household regulations.

Frameless Glass Doors are Clear Winners

Since launching our Frameless Glass Doors a few months ago, these highly desirable additions to the home account for almost half our total door sales in that period - and our total sales are up on last year. You can compare our Frameless Glass Doors with our BiFolding Doors - and choose which is best for you - by browsing our web sites:

www.framelessglassdoorsuk.co.uk
www.sunseekerdoors.co.uk

Our Frameless Glass Doors are available as patio doors and are very popular as room dividers or installed between the original home and a conservatory, sun room or orangery. Now that the summer is leaving us, just think of how much more natural light your home will see with SunSeeker Frameless Glass Doors!

New Photographs uploaded to Frameless Glass Doors web site

It's all there on the home page -- a selection of photographs from our frameless glass doors installations, featuring frameless glass room dividers, frameless glass enclosures for balconies, terraces and commercial properties plus our latest innovative product: double glazed, thermally compliant Frameless Glass Doors for a great view of your garden from your living room!

SunSeeker Doors slide and pivot Frameless Glass Doors are made to your requirements in our UK workshop. Visit our websites for more details plus a free no-obligation quotation.

www.sunseekerdoors.co.uk / www.framelessglassdoorsuk.co.uk

About Frameless Glass Patio Doors

From the Channel4.com web site:

Under cheaper alternatives, you say "you could consider removing classic French doors, widening the entrance, and adding some concertina doors" but concertina doors need to have frames in order to fold.

Better to have Frameless glass doors that look similar to bi folding doors but work on a different principal. There is a standard fully glazed main door that opens that then enables each of the other frameless glass panels to slide along the top and bottom runners and pivot 90 degrees to stack neatly away, giving maximum accessibility through the width of the opening.

They are available in single glazed toughened glass or double glazed fully insulated versions. The single glazed are truly frameless but do not comply to building regulations for use between the home and garden; double glazed frameless glass doors are frameless but show about 18mm of opacity at each side where the cavity vacuum is sealed.

Concertina and both types of Frameless glass doors can be seen and compared on the SunSeeker Doors web site.

Frameless Glass Patio Doors are clearly looking good!

The latest arrival to the Frameless Glass Door range is the double glazed system which attains efficient heat retention and a lower U-value rating. In doing so it meets UK building regulations and weather testing requirements for all external purposes.

Whether it’s a balcony, terrace, patio door or room divider the glass curtain is becoming the alternative to bi-folds and folding sliding patio door systems. The smaller pictures in the above image illustrates the difference between frameless and Slimline aluminum frames and, of course, pvc frames are much wider.

Installation and site survey are of course standard, and included in all quoted prices. Our web site provides full information regarding double glazed frameless doors.

Frameless Glass Doors Installation, Customer's photographs

Mr M of Weaverham was so pleased with his frameless glass doors to his orangery that he kindly sent us a series of photographs which we have added to our web site gallery.

What a beautifully spacious feel the frameless glass doors give to the whole area, as well as allowing maximum natural light to flow through.

Thanks, Mr. M.

An Overview of Frameless Glass Patio Doors

(republished from Ezine Articles)

According to Building Regulations, patio doors need to meet certain levels of thermal insulation standards to be approved. This means that continental Glass Curtains, single glazed tempered glass frameless panels, are unsuitable as external doors for the British housing market. How, then, are thermally compliant double-glazed frameless doors possible?

Patio doors are traditionally available as sliding or bi-folding panels.

Because sliding doors always remain fixed between the top and bottom runners, the frames can be very slim, perhaps frameless; the disadvantage of the system being that at least one of the panel widths is always present as a barrier to unrestricted access between home and patio. Bi folding doors open fully in concertina style to stack compactly at the side of the opening. The panels are hinged together, therefore frames are necessary for the hinges to be attached to the doors, particularly to strengthen the free edges that are not supported by the fixed top and bottom runners.

The frameless glass patio doors system has been based on the glass curtains method of using separate panels that slide and pivot, interlocking like jigsaw pieces when closed. When fully open, the doors are stored to the side of the opening, similar to stacking bifolds.

Frameless double-glazed doors do not provide such a purely uninterrupted view as can be achieved with single glazing. This is because the double glazed unit has to be sealed with a gasket that is approximately 20mm (less than 1 inch) wide. Insulated glass or double glazing has thermal and acoustic properties attributable to the a vacuum or special gas in the cavity between the inner and outer glass panels. A gasket needs to be reliably airtight to retain the gas or vacuum and to prevent humidity and condensation.

There is no additional frame on frameless glass doors but the gasket is opaque and forms a frame-like interruption to views through a set of double glazed door panels, albeit minimal. There are places where you can install non-double-glazed frameless glass doors, e.g. conservatory doors, room partitions, balcony enclosures, outbuildings and commercial premises.

Double-glazed frameless glass doors are now being made to order and installed by UK manufacturer of aluminium-framed bi folding doors, SunSeeker Doors Ltd, as may be seen on their web site, with further information on their blog and frameless glass doors web site.

Link to illustrative photographs show a comparison between slimline aluminium frames and frameless glass doors.

Article Source: An Overview of Frameless Glass Patio Doors

1st UK Installation of our Double-Glazed Frameless Patio Doors

SunSeeker Doors' Frameless Glass Doors, manufactured in England to exceed building regulations thermal insulation requirements, are now being installed in the UK. Our double-glazed frameless patio doors offer more viewing space through the closed doors than is possible with our Slimline bi folding doors.

View our photographs on our Innovative Doors web site or on our dedicated Frameless Glass Doors web site. Here is a photograph of our first double-glazed system during installation (please excuse the mess!):

Contact us for a no-obligation quotation: sales@sunseekerdoors.co.uk

Frameless Glass Windows are Excellent Value for Commercial Premises

Excellent Value because single glazed frameless glass doors are inexpensive yet clearly stunning!

Dining with the frameless doors closed is like al fresco without the wind and rain; when the weather allows the doors to be open - minimal stacking space and maximum open space! And yes, there's an in-between option ... take a look at our web site www.framelessglassdoorsuk.co.uk or www.sunseekerdoors.co.uk and browse through the photographs and features.

Use our online quote form or call us on 01582 492730

Now Available: Double Glazed Frameless Glass Doors

Newly launched: our latest product to be manufactured and installed in the UK: double glazed, Frameless Glass Doors with excellent thermal values. 

Based on our frameless Glass Curtains concept, each door panel slides to the side of the aperture and pivots 90 degrees to stack neatly at the side of the opening. SunSeeker Doors' double glazed frameless glass doors are the latest development in patio doors with the ultimate viewable area.

Also in the photograph is a traditional sliding patio door with standard white frames. Comparing the walk-through space of open doors, Frameless Glass Doors enable almost double the access width of the sliding patio doors.

Visit our web sites for more information and an obligation-free quotation for frameless glass doors.

Showcase for our Frameless Glass Doors

In a few days time, work will begin on our Frameless Glass Doors campaign...

Look at our Lock!

Clean, Shiny, Lovely Smooth Curves ... 

This sleek, chic, minimal lock exudes class and looks very nice - which is just as well as it is the only object in your otherwise uninterrupted view through our frameless glass doors.

Springtime finally bounced into the UK in the past few days and our thoughts turned to the great outdoors. How refreshing to have windows and doors open and the warm breeze wafting into our homes.

The time has come to make your decision - will it be our slimline aluminium framed bifolding doors or our frameless glass doors this summer? Whatever you choose, there will be no delivery delays as our manufacturing takes place in England.

From our Bedfordshire centre, we manage all orders, manufacture our doors and despatch our teams of fitters within a 180 mile / 3 hour drive radius.

Our quotations are obligation-free and you can be assured that no sales people will be knocking on your door as a result of you contacting us. Take a look at our web sites then contact us for your quotation.

SunSeeker Doors and Frameless Glass Doors web sites have lots of photographs for you to peruse. We look forward to hearing from you!

Countdown to latest product installations - Frameless Double Glazed Patio Doors

SunSeeker Doors is close to fulfilling their first orders for the double glazed version of Frameless Glass Doors.

An innovative alternative to bifolding or folding-sliding patio doors, SunSeeker Doors has taken the concept of Glass Curtains* and created a FRAMELESS double glazed patio door that adheres to British standards for installation in homes.

Undergoing final testing this month, manufacturing will begin in April at SunSeeker Doors' Bedford HQ. As with SunSeeker bifolding doors, their Frameless Glass Doors are made to measure to clients' exact requirements.


*Glass Curtains is the name used for single glazed frameless enclosures and partitions in Spain. SunSeeker Doors product range includes frameless glass room dividers. Please see our web sites for more information.

Frameless Glass Doors: New Website

Website Launch

Frameless Glass Doors now has its very own dedicted website. Here at Sunseekerdoors Ltd we believe our new product range of frameless glass doors is that special that it deserves its very own website.

Double Glazed Frameless Doors

With the development of a double glazed system well underway. We are confident that they will soon be ready for production. Our current estimates are that by the end of March we will have a fully tested double glazed system which will be meet all building regulations and be suitable for both internal as well as external use.

Why have a framed system when you can have a frameless?

http://www.framelessglassdoorsuk.co.uk/

To see further pictures of the new system please check out our new gallery page.

The Versatility of Frameless Glass Doors

There's a balance to be struck between open plan spaciousness and cosiness during Britain's inclement weather spells.

With Frameless Glass Doors, the open plan vision remains.

Wherever you want to use them, Frameless Glass Doors will help keep out the cold, wet weather but allow natural light to permeate throughout!

Fit Frameless Glass Doors as room dividers, kitchen enclosures, balcony or terrace enclosures, sun room or conservatory doors.

Commercially, Frameless Glass Doors can replace shop-fronts to make access more comfortable, especially useful for cafés, to enclose cloisters and terraces and, internally, to divide a large area into smaller modules that can easily be reunited as a larger room when required.

SunSeeker Doors web site has been redesigned for ease of navigation to our products' applications ... plus there are new pictures to see, with pictures of more new installations to be added.

Take a look! Tell us what you think.

Bi-folding doors v Frameless Glass Doors

The diversity of the aluminium bi-folding door market in the UK has rapidly increased in recent years. Partly due to the modern look which they offer as well as the benefit of being fully retractable. There is however, a new contender on the market which offers the benefit of the bi-fold system but is frameless.....

The frameless glass door is basically a relative of the aluminium bi-folding door but allows almost 100% clear views even when the system is closed. The benefits are as follows:

• More Space: Being frameless means less bulk and more room. There are no hinges to accommodate, therefore instead of having chunky stacks of panels when fully open, the frameless glass door offers a thinner alternative.

• Better views: When fully opened the frameless glass door offers the same as the bi-folding alternative. However, when closed the frameless has no frames so nearly 100% of the view is still viewable. The bi-fold still on the other hand has many thick aluminium panels which could ruin any picturesque view.

• Less to go wrong: Fairly obvious really, with there being no frames and fewer parts there is a smaller chance of anything going wrong. And even when there does it is likely to be cheaper and easier to fix.

• At the forefront of home build: The frameless glass door is a product of the future with its rapidly growing success. There is no doubt that it will become a household name in years to come. Why not become part of it?

Sleek, modern, the future:
the frameless glass door will impress your visitors.

The frameless glass door slides each panel to either side of the aperture then folds to one side. This allows the system to become fully opened. The added benefit is that even when closed the frameless glass door allows the user to see amazing views from the inside of their home. The system is currently used in the Mediterranean for balconies and room separators. However this is seen to be the newest in home build trends and is becoming increasingly popular in the UK.

Note that the frameless glass door shown here is single glazed, therefore its use is restricted within UK dwellings where thermal compliance is a requirement. SunSeeker Doors product range includes double glazed frameless glass patio doors.

Why not check out bi-folding and frameless glass doors at http://www.sunseekerdoors.co.uk/. Or if you would prefer to talk to someone please call 01582 492 730