Living with your Lifestyle Choices

Choosing Doors That You Will Never Grow Tired Of - For Patios, Conservatories and As Room Dividers
By Bee Primrose

Four years ago, I believed that bifolding doors offered the perfect solution for both patio door and contemporary room divider requirements but they were hard to track down four years ago, being marketed under various descriptions, such as folding-sliding doors, sliding-folding doors, multi-fold and bi-fold doors - and there were very few companies selling them. Eventually, though, I found exactly what I wanted at a good price, with a good delivery date and from a local manufacturer/installer. Everything in the garden was rosy - and I enjoyed looking at it through my aluminium framed bifolds.

Then, in 2009, FRAMELESS glass doors arrived in the UK.

Popular in Spain as 'glass curtains', these single glazed door panels could not replace bifolds as patio doors as they did not adhere to building regulations regarding thermal values. Designed as external enclosures for balconies, they were not 100% weather-proof, either. However, as conservatory doors or internal room dividers for both contemporary homes and period homes, there was - and is - nothing that compares. With virtually nothing to see except the view beyond the glass, a partition comprising frameless glass doors fits in with every interior design style.

So the heart says "I want frameless glass patio doors" even though the head knows they are impractical. In this consumer-led age, necessity is no longer required to be the mother of invention - desire will do - and a couple of UK-based door companies worked hard on developing the concept into a reality. By 2010, FRAMELESS DOUBLE-GLAZED DOORS became available.

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, some photographs are available to view on a small number of web sites. There are also some installers importing 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.

Compare both products: bi folding doors / frameless glass doors

Article Source: Choosing Doors That You Will Never Grow Tired Of - For Patios, Conservatories and As Room Dividers