Custom-made, high-quality sliding doors are a popular and versatile choice for opening up the home and letting in more natural light. Unlike bifold or French door systems, a sliding patio door saves space in the home, as the sliding panel simply glides to the side rather than opening inwards or outwards.
When made from high-grade aluminium, the strong yet lightweight frames can have much slimmer sightlines than traditional sliding door systems while maintaining a high degree of security.
Understanding the sliding door types and configurations available to you can help you make the right choice for your home. If you're considering replacing your old patio doors with aluminium sliding doors, our advice centre is full of useful information to help you choose the right doors for you.
In this guide:
Aluminium sliding doors
A sliding door system featuring an aluminium frame has a number of advantages compared to doors made from alternative materials, such as wood or uPVC. Aluminium is strong and durable yet lightweight and slimline, and that’s why Origin Sliding Doors can accommodate large glass panels without compromising on design, safety or security.
Aluminium doors are made to last, as they resist force and are resilient to warping or twisting. With large maximum panel sizes, they incorporate large glass panels (which can be either double or triple glazing), so a Sliding Door from Origin can achieve optimal thermal efficiency to reduce heat loss in the home and cut down your energy bills.
Find out more in our guide to choosing aluminium sliding doors.
Sliding doors with large panels
One of the main advantages of aluminium patio doors is that the strength of the frames. This means the sliding system can safely hold large panes of glass for a floor-to-ceiling effect. With less frame and more glass, Origin Sliding Doors are stylish yet strong and allow you to let more light into your home.
A large sliding glass door not only creates the illusion of space by extending the interior of your home into the space outside, but this door type is easily opened even to a small amount, helping improve airflow and ventilation to prevent moisture build-up in the home.
Origin Sliding Doors are thermally broken, so limit the heat transfer from one side of the door to the other and keep your home warm when it’s cold and cool during warmer spells.
Key considerations when choosing sliding doors with large panels include:
- Safety: the OS-20 Artisan Slider is a wet glazed system, so the glass is bonded to the frame.
- Sound insulation: glazing options for the OS-29, OS-44 and OS-77 Patio Sliders are 28mm, 32mm or 36mm, and your installer will discuss whether double or triple glazing is best for you.
For more information about the benefits and considerations of sliding doors with large glass panels, read our guide here.
Sliding doors with slim frames/sightlines
As mentioned above, the benefit of manufacturing sliding doors with aluminium instead of alternative materials is aluminium’s inherent strength and durability. The profiles of aluminium sliding doors can be much slimmer than frames made from steel, uPVC or wood, providing a modern and stylish appearance that looks just as good in an urban inner-city home as they do in more rural settings surrounded by countryside.
Origin Sliding Doors have incredibly slim frames. The OS-20 Artisan Slider offers a 20mm sightline, and our OS-29, OS-44 and OS-77 Patio Sliders have sightlines of 29mm, 44mm and 77mm, respectively. Without the bulk of a thicker door frame, these systems offer a picturesque view of your outside space, and offer smooth and seamless access to and from the house to the garden with low track heights that won’t cause trips or falls.
When choosing slim frame sliding doors, you should consider:
- Security: all Origin Sliding Doors are made to the highest standards and have multi-point locking systems.
- Installation times: our doors are designed to be installed quickly and easily, but the exact time may depend on the size of the doors and your exact specifications. It will also depend on your chosen installer’s schedule. Find your local installer here.
- Style: Origin Sliding Doors are offered with a range of bespoke features as standard, including a choice of over 150 RAL colours for the frames.
Read more in our guide to the benefits and considerations of sliding doors with slim frames.
