Origin recently had the pleasure of hosting Michael Holmes, Property expert and Editor-in-Chief of Homebuilding & Renovating magazine, at its Flagship Showroom in Buckinghamshire to help answer the question: What should you look for in a bi-fold door?
James Harley, Head of Innovation at Origin, joined Michael at the showroom to provide expert advice and insight into bi-fold doors. Designing, manufacturing and developing all its own products, Origin has over 15 years’ experience providing high quality custom-made bi-fold doors to homeowners and businesses alike.
Similarly, Holmes started his career in the property industry in 1997, just 5 years before Origin began, and has appeared on many property-based television shows on networks including BBC1, Channel 4, ITV, Five, Discovery Real Time and UK Style. He has also contributed to many leading British newspapers including The Daily Telegraph, Sunday Times, Daily Mirror and the Independent, and even authored the book ‘Renovating for Profit’.
Like Origin, Holmes is keen to help homeowners understand what they need to look for in a bi-fold door. Watch Holmes and Harley address the 6 key things to look for in a bi-fold door:
- High quality material
- Secure locking system
- Thermal efficiency
- Weathered threshold
- Comprehensive guarantee
- Flexible configurations
1. High quality material
On the market today, there are three main materials to choose from: aluminium, timber and uPVC. As bi-fold doors are designed to replace a large portion of wall with glass, choosing the right material is one of the most important decisions you can make. By choosing a poor-quality material, you are increasing the risk of draughts and rainwater entering your home, the energy efficiency of your home and the security of your door. If you choose a strong, high quality material like aluminium, then these risks greatly diminish, and you may benefit from a longer guarantee, too. Discover the differences between aluminium, timber and uPVC, and find out more about why aluminium is the material of choice for bifold doors
As a specialist manufacturer of bespoke aluminium bifold doors, Origin believe that aluminium is the best material to choose for your doors because it’s extremely strong, durable and low maintenance. Look for doors made with premium grade aluminium – this means it hasn’t been re-melted and will therefore offer the highest level of strength and a high-quality finish. Aluminium is also extremely low maintenance, only requiring a soapy wash every now and again, unlike timber, which requires regular maintenance to prevent rot and corrosion.
Origin Bi-folds are made using only use prime billets and premium grade aluminium. It’s because of this high-quality aluminium that Origin can offer ultra-slim sightlines, a wide variety of configurations and an industry-leading 20-year guarantee. Find out more about why aluminium is the best material for bifold doors.
2. Secure locking system
One of the primary functions of any door is to keep your home secure. Origin research shows that when asked ‘what is most important to you when buying external doors and windows?’, security ranked the highest with 37% of the overall votes. The research further showed that 31% of burglars entered the home by forcing a door lock, 7% broke in by cutting or breaking the door panel, 27% involved entering the home via lock-snapping.
This research demonstrates the importance of choosing a highly secure door that has a locking system proven to protect against attack.
It’s highly recommended that you look for products that have passed PAS 24 testing and provide locking cylinders that are proven to protect against snapping, picking, drilling and bumping. Our research showed that 27% of burglaries via a bi-fold door involved lock-snapping, so ensuring the cylinders are high quality and proven to protect is essential.
Exceeding the latest security standards with a PAS 23/24 rating, Origin’s unique 8-point locking system has been combined with secure hinges that include chamfered 20mm linear bolts to withstand attack. Origin’s cylinders offer proven defence and the aluminium door profile is innately strong, altogether offering an ultra-secure system.
3. Thermal efficiency
James Harley says, “look out for bi-folds that have been weather tested in accordance with British Standards”. This includes air permeability, water tightness and resistance to wind load. “These are all crucial to their performance”, James adds. Overlooking the thermal efficiency of your doors not only puts you at risk of not complying with current building regulations, it could end up costing you more in the long run.
Cheap bi-fold doors, or doors made from low quality materials, are at risk of warping, flexing or corroding, which may allow wind and rain to enter your home. You may need to pay to have the doors replaced, for treatments, and your energy bills could become costly. Thermally efficient doors should offer proven and long-term protection against the elements and help to lower your energy bills.
Because premium-grade aluminium is incredibly strong and reliable, it promises not to warp, flex or corrode and requires only minimal maintenance to keep it looking clean and operating smoothly. Whilst aluminium is technically not the most conductive material on Earth, Origin Bi-fold Doors are expertly designed to feature a polyamide thermal break in the door profile, which boosts thermal performance allowing the doors to easily exceed current building regulations.
Origin Bifold doors offer an overall U-Value of 1.4 W/m²K when using a double glazing and centre can achieve the best overall U-Value of 1.1 W/m²K when using a triple glazed centre pane.
What’s more, Origin make use of highly sophisticated weathertight seals to offer superior weather performance for living spaces that can be used all year round. All of this is covered in the Origin 20-year guarantee, providing ultimate peace of mind that you and your home are protected.
4. Weathered threshold
A bifold door threshold is the track at the bottom of the door which the carriage slides along to open and close the doors. There are typically two types of threshold options: weathered and non-weathered. Choosing the right threshold is crucial in ensuring your home is weather-protected and maintains a consistent level of thermal performance
A weathered threshold is always recommended for external doors that are exposed to the elements. Also known as a ‘rebated’ or ‘standard’ threshold, a weathered threshold features a weather-tight seal and small lip of just 14mm that must be stepped over. It prevents water from entering your track, which could compromise the operation of your doors. Any water that enters a weathered threshold is cleverly carried away from the property through a drainage system to ensure the water does not saturate the area around your home.
If your bi-fold doors are internal or located in a covered area, then you may wish to consider a non-weathered threshold. The main benefit of a non-weathered threshold is that there is no lip and therefore no step, which creates a streamline and aesthetically-pleasing transition. Find out more with Origin bi-fold door threshold FAQs.
5. Comprehensive guarantee
When looking for a bi-fold door, checking exactly what’s covered in the guarantee is imperative to make sure your doors will last for many years to come. Many competitors offer misleading, lengthy guarantees designed to sound reassuring, however, when you drill it down the guarantee only covers powder coating, not all door components. This means that if the operation of your door fails for reasons out of your control then it may not be covered in your guarantee
Origin offers a 20-year guarantee on all door components, as well as powder coating, offering you optimum peace of mind. The reason Origin can offer this industry-leading guarantee is because it’s both a fabricator and a systems house, meaning it has total control over the design, manufacture and supply of its doors. Many of Origin’s competitors are only one or the other, which means they cannot guarantee the quality they ultimately provide. What’s more, Origin only works with trusted partners who are trained and high experienced in installing Origin Doors and Windows, ensuring bi-folds are installed correctly. When ordering Origin Bi-fold Doors, you’ll be assigned one of Origin’s local trade partners, all of whom receive ongoing technical support from Origin to deliver the highest quality service.
6. Flexible configurations
It’s very rare that two homes will have exactly the same requirements when it comes to bi-fold door configurations and sizes. Therefore, choosing a supplier that can be flexible and custom-make doors to suit your requirements will make your life a lot easier and deliver the look and style you want. For example, if you have an approximate opening size of 1.4 metres then you’re probably looking for a 2-door configuration. However, if you have an approximate opening size of 5.4 metres then you may require a 5-door configuration with wide door leaves. Looking out for maximum and minimum door width and height sizes will help you decide on the right configuration for your home.
All Origin products are entirely bespoke and can be made to fit almost any size or configuration depending on your requirements. Featuring ultra-slim sightlines for optimum views and natural light, Origin Bi-folds also come equipped with finger-safe gaskets to prevent fingers getting trapped when the doors are closing and magnetic catches to hold the doors in place while you operate them. To find out more about the minimum and maximum sizes Origin provides for its bi-folds please read our Bi-fold Door FAQs.
