Sliding doors are an excellent solution for bringing the outdoors in and making the most of your surroundings. They are a popular choice for a home extension; however, there are a number of factors to consider when determining whether sliding doors are ideal for your extension.
In this guide, we take a look at the factors to consider when choosing what type of patio door to use for your extension and when sliding doors may be ideal. We also compare Origin Sliding Doors to help you choose the right option for you.
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Find out about the key benefits of sliding doors and what they offer.
Read how to determine whether sliding doors are the right option for your extension.
Read what factors to consider when choosing a type of patio door for your extension.
Find out more about the bespoke sliding doors we offer and the key benefits of each option.
Sliding doors – the key benefits and features
Sliding doors are easily one of the most flexible option in terms of both your aesthetic and practical needs. With only a minimal amount of visible frame, they provide beautiful, uninterrupted views, allowing as much natural light as possible into your home. The minimalist styling of sliding aluminium doors means they provide an attractive, modern aesthetic.
Sliding doors also help you to make the most of your space. As they don’t hinge inwards or outwards, they are a perfect option if you have compromised space. In terms of practicality, sliding glass doors also open with ease and provide great flexibility within a constricted floorplan. Additionally, the weighted bearings on sliding doors mean that even if the weather is bad and your door is open, a sudden gust shouldn’t cause the door to move.
Another key benefit of sliding doors is the flexible range of door panel configuration options available - you can design your panels in almost any configuration that suits your home. You can find out more about the configuration options of sliding doors by talking to an installer.
Fully glazed, sliding doors are also thermally efficient, giving you a perfect view of the outside while enjoying the inside's warmth.
Are sliding doors the right option for your extension?
Sliding doors may be the right option for you if:
You want to save space
Unlike French or bifolding doors, both of which open up into your home and therefore take up more room, sliding doors don’t require any extra space. By sliding neatly in front of each other, the panels are completely un-invasive. This makes sliding doors ideal if you are trying to save as much space as possible.
You’re looking for ultra-slim sightlines
Sliding doors allow for sightlines as little as 20mm, showing a minimal amount of frame so that you can keep the view of your landscape as clear as possible.
Are you looking for a sliding patio door with 20mm sightlines? Find out more about our OS-20 Artisan Sliding Door here.
You want large glass panels
Sliding doors offer the most prominent glass area, with some allowing a pane as big as up to 6sqm. With bi-fold or French door designs, windows would necessarily be interrupted by multiple frames, whereas sliding doors can give an unbroken panoramic view and a seamless transition from the inside to the outside.
You want a modern style
Ultimately, the combination of a slim frame, vast glass panelling, and space-saving doors gives an uncluttered, clean and modern aesthetic. If you want a traditional style, on the other hand, French doors may be more suitable for you. You can find out more about our French doors by requesting a brochure.
You want excellent views when the doors are closed
It’s essential that you like the look of your doors closed as well as open. Sliding doors are the least intrusive, giving as wide an expanse of clear glass as possible when closed. If your doors are likely to be mostly closed for the majority of the year, it is worth considering sliding doors as an option.
You can find out more about how sliding doors compare to bi-fold doors and French doors here.
What to consider when choosing a patio door style
Each type of patio door has its own list of benefits, so it’s important, before choosing, to decide what you’re looking for and what your priorities are. Consider the following points when making your decision:
How much space do you have?
If you’re working with a smaller space, for example, it’s definitely wise to consider how much clearance you have to open French doors or bi-fold doors.
Conversely, if you have ample space, you might consider how many breaks of frame in the glass you would like and how much of it you would like to open up to the outside. Not all patio doors are created equally, and particularly so in this arena. For example, French doors are limited to a two-door system, so whilst you might enjoy a beautiful stretch of glass on either side, you can only open two doors.
Your budget
Another important consideration is your budget. Sliding doors can often be the more expensive option because of their flexibility in design and practicality. French doors, on the other hand, are the cheapest patio door option. In terms of supplier, you generally get what you pay for, so you’ll need to decide whether your priority is aesthetic, quality or price.
How slim you’d like the sightlines to be
You’ll also need to consider what you’d like the overall appearance to be - consider how slim you’d like your sightlines, how big you'd like your glass panel to be, and how you’d like the panels to be configured. These decisions all make a massive difference to the finished product, in how much natural light you’ll have and how uninterrupted your view of the outside will be.
Choosing between a traditional or modern aesthetic
Another thing to bear in mind is that large panes of glass and slim sightlines give a sleek aesthetic, and are extremely modern. So, if you’re after a more traditional look, you might want a slightly thicker frame.
If you’d like to find out more about French and bi-fold doors, you can talk to an Origin installer who will talk you through the differences and benefits of each option.
Origin bespoke sliding doors
Origin currently offers two systems of sliding doors- the Origin Artisan Slider OS-20 and the Origin Patio Slider OS-29/ OS-44 / OS-77. Both systems provide a modern take on the traditional patio door system, offering the perfect blend of aesthetic and practical design.
Both sliding patio doors are made of the very best lightweight aluminium, which makes the doors practically maintenance-free, weatherproof, highly resistant to warping and corrosion, and completely secure. Aluminium can also be infinitely recycled, unlike UPVC and timber, making it the most environmentally friendly option.
We can manufacture both systems in up to six panels in whatever design best suits your home. In fact, all Origin products are utterly bespoke in nature so that you can have any combination of fixed and sliding panes, with openings configured to your needs, as well as an array of colour and handle options.
All Origin doors are thermally broken, which significantly limits the transfer of heat between inside and outside and keeping your heating costs down.
Origin also offers a guarantee on all of its patio doors of up to 20 years, giving you complete peace of mind on your purchase.
What are the differences between the Origin Artisan Slider and the Origin Patio Slider?
The Origin Artisan Slider OS-20 is a sleek, ultra-modern design, with minuscule sightlines of only 20mm. This model is ideal if you are looking for a super-slim, minimalistic option. The design is made from premium grade aluminium and is able to accommodate panes up to 13m. The OS-20 comes as a bonded system, so its glass is structurally bonded to the frame. The low-emissivity glass (low e-coating) in the Origin Artisan Slider reflects heat back into the room and is additionally very tough to break. It has been engineered with an optimised weather rating, achieving an impressive U-Value of 1.4. A key benefit of the Origin Artisan Slider OS-20 is that it is also equipped with a minimum of six points of locking and no lock on the outside for potential intruders to pick. The Artisan Slider offers a four-week lead time for its popular colour; anthracite grey. The Origin Artisan Slider OS-20 also offers slightly more handle colours than the Patio Slider; offering a flush faced lever handles in colour options of hipca white, slate grey, anthracite grey, light silver and jet black.
Request a sliding doors brochure to find out more about the Origin Artisan Slider.
The Origin Patio Slider OS-29/ OS-44 / OS-77, on the other hand, is an elegant design, with a nod to the more traditional patio doors. Made from a high-grade aluminium, the Origin Patio Slider offers slightly larger sightlines – with options of 29mm, 44mm and 77mm, and can be installed in apertures as wide as 11.9m in a range of configurations to suit your home and spatial requirements. The OS-77 Patio Slider offers a dry glazed system, which means the glass is installed into the frame after installation with gaskets, providing a weathertight seal. The OS-29 and OS-44 options are semi-dry, offering the benefit and flexibility that smaller sightlines offer. The Origin Patio Slider also provides excellent thermal efficiency, and all options deliver a U-Value of 1.3 for triple glazing and 1.6 for double glazing. The lead time for the popular colours of the Patio Slider is particularly impressive – when you order the OS-44 or OS-77 in one of our popular colours - 9910G, 9005M, 7015M and 7016M - they can be with you in as little as one week, and on the OS-29, in as little as two weeks. The Origin Patio Slider offers handle options of a 300mm stainless steel all in one handle and a 500mm stainless steel offset bar handle.
The OS-29 is new to the Patio Slider range, and its 29mm sightline makes it one of the slimmest semi-dry glazed sliding door systems in the UK. This impressive option allows you to maximise glass and the levels of natural light that can flood into your home. You can find out more about the Origin Patio Slider by requesting a sliding doors brochure.
Ultimately, your choice of patio doors will depend on your home and how you want the finished product to look. Origin offers a wide variety of patio doors to suit any number of styles and tastes. Speak to an Origin installer, or simply request a brochure for more information, and we can help you on your way to finding the right patio doors for your home extension.