Patio doors come in all manner of styles and designs, providing a big range of solutions in your home. In this article, we explain all the different types of patio doors available helping you understand the many options available.

Choosing the right patio doors for your home.

First of all, one of the main reasons for choosing new patio doors is providing access to your outside area. Not only do these doors need to provide functionality but security is important too. With many patio doors at the back of the house and often sheltered, a robust patio door is crucial. There are other considerations with choosing the right patio doors too.

Bigger houses with more than one door to the outside offer the choice of more than one door type.
Smaller houses with just one back door to the outside require functionality and convenience.
New extensions give more scope for door types compared to old doors in existing openings.
Consider access for children, the elderly or wheelchair users.
Think about if you use your patio doors to get into your home as well as your front door.

At Aspire Bifolds, we help you with all these design aspects, therefore making sure you get the right door for your particular house and how you use it.

Choosing the best material for new doors.

PVCu patio doors remain the most affordable option as sliding doors or French Doors. We don’t recommend PVCu bifolding doors as our experience tells us these are not as reliable as aluminium over the longer term. However, if budget is important or you are renovating a rental property, PVCu is a great option. There are also PVCu products in timber look materials such as our Residence 9 system, providing an authentic timber look door without the cost of maintenance of real wood.

Aluminium patio doors by far give you the most product choices and come in virtually all types of doors designed for the back of the house and exterior use. Aluminium doors also offer the biggest choice of colours. With aluminium doors, you also get the thinnest frames, bigger glass sizes and bigger door sizes than other materials too.

Types of sliding patio doors.

Our at-a-glance guide shows you what doors come in what materials.

Patio door Styles
	Aluminium	PVCu
Single Door	✓	✓
French Door or Double Door	✓	✓
Folding Door	✓
Steel-Replacement Door	✓
Doors with windows/screens	✓	✓
Slim/Minimalist Sliding Door	✓
Flush/Timber-look Doors		✓

We also list the different types of doors available, how they work and some features.

Bifolding Doors.

Choose a bifolding door and benefit from the best in functionality with style. A bifold door opens in or out, slides to the left or the right and also comes with a convenient traffic door for everyday use without having to fold all the panels back every time.

With bifolding doors, you also get a selection of thresholds giving you that sought-after flush or low threshold to the outside. There is even a fixed or open corner door arrangement with our Origin bifold doors. And of course, bifolding doors replace old patio doors as well as for a new extension. A great example of a slimline bifolding door is our Schuco ASS70 with 120mm mullion sight lines, smooth running gear and top quality hardware.

Sliding Doors.

Choose a sliding patio door and you get the biggest glass sizes, door panels and the best views. We suggest a sliding door where your home has a big garden or great views and when you want less visible aluminium. Just like bifolding doors, sliding doors come in a big choice of styles, from two up to six or more panels. For the biggest glass panels and a minimal amount of frame, we suggest the Origin sliding door with a 20mm interlock.

Sliding doors come with low threshold options, open or fixed corner models and even doors that slide entirely into the new wall of your extension, disappearing from view.

Steel-look patio doors.

One of the most sought after and on-trend products is the steel look or steel replacement patio door. Our Alitherm Heritage Patio doors feature authentic glazing bars and period hardware in the style of classic steel doors.

We have specially developed these metal and industrial style doors enhancing your home with a contemporary patio door solution. Visit our showroom to view our examples of French Doors, single doors and even steel look bifolding doors as well as matching fixed internal screens.

As a patio door, steel look doors are trendy designed as double French doors with matching side panels and run through glazing bars in a black finish.

French Doors

For existing door openings, smaller houses, balconies or as part of a new extension, French doors are a great alternative. They can open in or out, come with standard or low thresholds and are affordable. Best of all, we can even take out an existing window, knock out the brickwork, creating a new door. Our Aluk, Origin, Schuco and the entire range of PVCu products come as a French Door.

More ventilation, better functionality and added benefits in the summer months. A great way to transform a room in your home.

Other patio door options for the home.

As well as these types of doors, don’t forget you can integrate different doors and incorporate opening windows, lantern roofs, skylights and much more.

With all our patio doors provide as standard toughened safety glass, enhanced security upgrades and a big choice of colours. We also offer some great one-brand solutions such as our Origin Home range of products, giving you one brand throughout your house with a single-point guarantee.