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Show me your sliders/Bifolds please


SuperJohnG

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I have a 4.6m opening (west) and a 3m opening (North west) in our design off our open plan living area. 

 

I had originally planned for Bifolds as I wanted a full opening in both areas, however in more investigation with air tightness, sight lines etc the Bifolds might not be the best option, albeit I still favour their large opening. 

 

Hence I have been looking at sliders for months now. There are a few options available(for the larger 4.6m opening) where I have 2 fixed panes at side with two sliding doors in the middle (50% opening in middle), or a single fixed and 1 slider (50% opening but only at one side) or you can get a triple where all three slide from IDsystems which seemed to make sense as then i have a 66% opening that can be anywhere, but cost is a good bit higher. 

 

I think the single slider will be the best option (for the large opening) as I can then view with no sightline from couch area, or same from dining table which make sense, and I would make the opening side at the dining table. 

 

For the smaller 3m opening I am unsure yet, havent really thought about it. I am still hankering for a full opening somewhere with bifolds. 

 

I was hoping to see some pictures and get real world feedback on what matters once you are living in there and highlight anything that I am not taking into consideration.

 

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Thanks

 

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We have almost the same openings. We're still going for bifolds as we can't live with the look of sliders.

 

We're going with Lacuna - their u values and airtightness are right up at the top and they are routinely used in passive certified houses. Top hung system so no pressure to deform floor seals. Price is a bit more but nothing scary.

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1 minute ago, Conor said:

We have almost the same openings. We're still going for bifolds as we can't live with the look of sliders.

 

We're going with Lacuna - their u values and airtightness are right up at the top and they are routinely used in passive certified houses. Top hung system so no pressure to deform floor seals. Price is a bit more but nothing scary.

@Conorthanks. 

 

I would have said sliders look better when closed as they have less sightlines. is there anything particular that's putting you off? 

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I installed bifolds, locally made from Oak, I specified compression rubber seals as I have heard brush seals used by some are not air tight. Yes sightlines are a bit heavy but that’s the price for Oak I was willing to pay.

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35 minutes ago, SuperJohnG said:

@Conorthanks. 

 

I would have said sliders look better when closed as they have less sightlines. is there anything particular that's putting you off? 

We have matching windows above - 5m span with 5 panels. If we went for sliders below, the lines would not match. We can't easily change the 5 panels above as there is a room partition where one of the frames are, as well as an escape window. And we had mock ups done of three, four and five panels. 5 looks best! And the frames aren't am issue as there isn't really a view to speak of... Just a garden and trees. We much prefer the effect of having a full 5m door opening. 

 

 

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3 minutes ago, Conor said:

We have matching windows above - 5m span with 5 panels. If we went for sliders below, the lines would not match. We can't easily change the 5 panels above as there is a room partition where one of the frames are, as well as an escape window. And we had mock ups done of three, four and five panels. 5 looks best! And the frames aren't am issue as there isn't really a view to speak of... Just a garden and trees. We much prefer the effect of having a full 5m door opening. 

@Conor ahh I get you now. make sense. 

I will have the 4 panels at the top and likely might mess with me having only a single split below, but maybe just have to live with it. I did check if I can get it in two panels but think it is  costly! 

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When we lived in oz I had a 6m multi stacker, so 6 panels 4 that slid out of the way leaving a 4m opening. 

When we started designing this place I thought we would have the same, but then I thought this is England not Australia, how many days of the year will I have all that door open. 

The answer was not often so we settled on smaller openings but picture windows

looking at your location I will be surprised if you ever open it ?? 

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@SuperJohnG first of all, do you need both those in your dining room to open? how realistic is it that you have them both open at the same time? My frugal mind says fixed on on and openable on the other

I really don't like bi-folds so I won't get too involved, but for me, sliders are a better looking, more practical solution for scotland...

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1 hour ago, Russell griffiths said:

 

The answer was not often so we settled on smaller openings but picture windows

looking at your location I will be surprised if you ever open it ?? 

@Russell griffiths thanks. Unfortunately the West Coast of Scotland is the wettest place going...however that is the reason for the very large canopies. its not always particularly cold just wet. Plus slowly as global warming ramps up..our weather has improved steadily and I imagine in 20 years it will be similar to the south of France. ?

1 hour ago, the_r_sole said:

@SuperJohnG first of all, do you need both those in your dining room to open? how realistic is it that you have them both open at the same time? My frugal mind says fixed on on and openable on the other

I really don't like bi-folds so I won't get too involved, but for me, sliders are a better looking, more practical solution for scotland...

@the_r_sole possibly a good point/ question. But they are in their now and I want both. There is method to it...I BBQ/ smoke food a lot in my kamado. Id say we use it every week if not twice a week even through the winter hence...in summer all doors open and sit outside. In winter..the bbq is underneath that north elevation canopy and easy access through the smaller slider direct from  the kitchen to cook.  

 

Voila.....tonights dinner. 

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No sliders here, I thought these doors would be sliders, but we just went for French doors. I was quite put off when I looked at a set of sliders and as soon as I went to touch them the salesperson said I had to be careful or they would break. I don't need that kind of worry.

 

I must admit I do sometimes wish we had a wider window looking out from the kitchen, the TV/chimney got int the way.

 

The easy one is the 3m window. I would make it fixed, the table is in the way so it is unlikely you open it to go outside. If you want air it could be a full height opening window.

 

The trouble you have is sightlines. Looking at your house you have a quite consistent window width. Even in a fixed window you would probably want to split it into three sections. The good thing is that fixed windows have much slimmer frames. I actually find that as long as he window is large you don't notice the frames much.

 

One the wider window, a big slider would have great sightlines, but it wouldn't match the windows above. You would either have to be comfortable with that or change the configuration of the top windows, actually I think ti would be just about OK. Personally  I would go for centre opening as the natural walkway through the room hits the centre of the window. I wouldn't do three windows, it would be too off centre relative to the roof and top windows. It is either two or four for me.

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, AliG said:

 

 

One the wider window, a big slider would have great sightlines, but it wouldn't match the windows above. You would either have to be comfortable with that or change the configuration of the top windows, actually I think ti would be just about OK. Personally  I would go for centre opening as the natural walkway through the room hits the centre of the window. I wouldn't do three windows, it would be too off centre relative to the roof and top windows. It is either two or four for me.

 

@AliG I'm with you here, I like the idea of more space with three, but not the split. The two main sliders with the four split up top...I THINK I can live with.

 

I did at one point have a fixed picture window where the 3m unit is, but we flipped the layout and then I removed it (should have been on south elevation) however on that North side we have a burn and endless view hence when it's not quite flat calm it will be nice to open that door and BBQ there so needs access. I think I will have that open more than then big 4.6m unit as I have a feeling the wind might blow in that one.  

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1 hour ago, Russell griffiths said:

Off topic @SuperJohnG any more pics of your smoker bbq thing. 

And how do you use it for that chicken. Cheers. 

 

 

1 hour ago, Ferdinand said:

 

I think it goes underneath the grill, or there is a dome shaped lid.

@Russell griffiths @Ferdinand is bang on, dome shaped lid. I just spatchcocked (sp?!) a chicken tonight a done it on there for quickness.

 

Its a Kamado Joe , one of the best if not the best purchase i have ever made. We cook a lot of dinners on there including our xmas dinner every year. Few pics if your into bbq/smoking meat....20200710_201914.jpg.69858a0ecb529d09b053ec1a9b712af0.jpg

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, SuperJohnG said:

 

@the_r_sole possibly a good point/ question. But they are in their now and I want both. There is method to it...I BBQ/ smoke food a lot in my kamado. Id say we use it every week if not twice a week even through the winter hence...in summer all doors open and sit outside. In winter..the bbq is underneath that north elevation canopy and easy access through the smaller slider direct from  the kitchen to cook.  

 

Voila.....tonights dinner. 

 

 

you're not thinking this through, if you put the kamado further away from the house, you must stand close by for a number of hours drinking beers, if it's just out the door, you'll be observed!

?

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