Bifolds. Am I being too fusy?

[paro]

Hi All - I've been fretting about the Origin bifolds I bought last year pretty much since they went it. There were a bunch of issues with how they were originally installed that probably tar how I see the doors and overall I've been incredibly disappointed with the doors vs what I was expecting. That said before I go back to the company that I got them from I wanted a view as to whether I am being too particular about them and this is just fine. 

 

I've attached some pics below. The primary issues I have are. 

 

1. One of the door leans over when opened by about 10mm. This messes with my flush'ish threshold. I can work around it but the bigger concern is that the doors are so large and heavy that they are pulling on the frame. The door was not installed plumb (see pic).

 

2. When opening the door I was given strict rules that the door must be open and set back fully onto its magnetic catch before attempting to open the rest of the bifold. That if I didn't do this the doors WILL scrape against the bottom of the frame and could pull out altogether. 

 

3. Exposed unpainted aluminium cuts. This problem is pretty much everywhere, every time I look at them I spot a new unfinished cut. This just feels really low quality to me. I can't understand why the cut sections couldn't have just been sprayed when they were cut. 

 

4. Gaskets and seals - I don't know all the names of the parts but essentially some of the external seals are hanging out. Again seems low quality finish that was cut after by the fitters. The gaskets that hold the glass in have issues where they appear ot be bent and don't have a clean finish. Not sure if this really makes a difference to the weather protection?

 

Would appreciate any views on whether I just leave it now.

Thanks, Paul 

 

 

 

Edited yesterday at 19:52 by paro

[Mr Punter]

Bifold doors tend to suffer from the issues you have experienced.  I am not keen on them.  I have had bifolds in the past and would not again.  Lift and slide is my preferred option.

[Spinny]

I have sunflex bifolds installed by ID Systems. I think it is very important that installation is done very precisely - everything needs to be exactly plumb - that takes time and extreme care by experienced installers. ID Systems did provide that. I don't trust a builder to do that TBH.

All my window seals are very good. I did have an issue with a seal at the bottom edge of a door but it was put right.

I did have some issues with wrong parts being supplied, and with my builder screwing up the opening, but that is a different thing.

 

Drop on your doors could be install issue, or might be a 'design feature'.

 

Yes I was told to open them as you describe, doesn't seem too much of a problem. Mine do slide right across the opening to hang at either side.

 

I don't have a any cut ends exposed. Opening was surveyed by the fitters and dimensioned manufacturing drawings then provided for buy off before manufacture.

[paro]

Thanks Spinny. Re the seal in the pic. Would you see that as a problem?  The company that did mine came out and surveyed twice yet still managed to forget the position of the retaining wall in relation to the door opening which mean the doors ended up being set further back than intended meaning the cill didn't cover the bottom of the wall.

 

They tick the box on looks but seem like hype in every other way. Described as the Bentley of doors but seem more like a ford escort to my untrained eye. My fault for not doing my homework.

[Spinny]

I don't think you are at fault.

We do actually have a couple of single origin doors ourselves which we are very happy with.

 

I wonder what exactly happened regarding your survey - did they produce dimensioned drawings afterwards and gain your explicit sign-off/approval of them prior to manufacture ? Did the drawings show or specify the distances to the wall as an explicit design constraint ? Did they change your cill design when they realised the wall mistake and adjusted the fitting ? Were you always going to have a traditional cill rather than a low profile one ?

 

Looks like a 50mm error - did someone build the wall out of position ?

I just wonder because if there was some clear evidence that the wall issue was their reponsibility to take account of and they failed to do that then I would have thought you would have been within your rights to refuse the original fit.

 

I found there is actually quite a lot to think about for the sizing and positioning of doors and windows - exact FFL, handle clearances, reveal clearances, threshold fixings, lintel/steel fixings, plaster lines, render lines etc. I attach our bifold drawing to show the level of info specified. You almost need to be autistic about it all.

 

ID Systems fitters came across country last summer and were still working until 8pm one summer evening to get everything right.

 

I would query that seal and the gasket. I think both should be fixable. When new stuff finally gets installed it is easy to be euphoric and not check it all over.

 

On the unfinished cut edges, you could go back to a showroom and examine the showroom origin doors - do they have the same finish - if not you could raise it.

 

Does the fall angle on the open bifolds match the non-plumb angle on the frame install ? When you build up the outside with slabs where will your drainage falls go anyway ? Normally a fall away from the house.

 

In the end certain things are fixable with different degrees of consequence:

Changing seals

Changing gaskets

Replacing Framing pieces

Reinstalling the whole frames and doors

Cutting a notch in the wall for the bifolds to open into

Fitting a whole new door set made to different dimensions

Replacing with different bifold make or different fitters

 

All depends how unhappy you are, and how much you may or may not be willing/able to spend to address it.

[Gus Potter]

On 21/06/2026 at 20:51, paro said:

One of the door leans over when opened by about 10mm. This messes with my flush'ish threshold. I can work around it but the bigger concern is that the doors are so large and heavy that they are pulling on the frame. The door was not installed plumb (see pic).

Sorry to hear about your issues.

 

In terms of flexing, the door dropping common issues are:

 

1/ It's the glass that holds the door leaves stiff and prevents distortion, dropping. If the glass is not packed properly in the frame this will happen. 

 

2/ The door frame is not properly secured to the surrounding structure.

 

3/ The hinge screws have been over driven ( the screw threads are stripped) and the hinges are moving.

 

4/ The structure is moving as it gets loaded sideways. 

 

You can experiment yourself to see what is causing this. The following notation is.. A relates to item 1 and so on. 

 

A. Is the glass packed properly? Get some 50mm masking tape. The wider the tape the better. When the day is not too hot or cold and the sun is not on the doors gently put strips of masking tape between the glass and the frame. Let it bridge over the gasket, i.e not touching the gasket.  Don't stretch the tape, let it settle but not touch the gasket. . Do this each side of the corners of the glass, in the middle vertically and mid point of the head and base of the glass. Open the door a little and see if the tape wrinkles. If it does it means the glass is moving relative to the frame. 

 

Repeat but this time smooth the tape around the gasket so it is in contact all the way round. Carefully take a Stanley blade and cut between the glass and the gasket and the gasket and frame. The objective here is to see if the glass is moving relative to the gasket, the gasket moving relative to the frame or both. This is a bit of a moot point but later we may want to check is the correct size of gasket has been fitted. If the door is dropping by 10mm and it's a glass packing problem then you should be able to see this with the naked eye or a magnifying glass. What we are doing here is the same in principle where we may want to accurately monitor a building for settlement. 

 

B. You can carry out a similar exercise to the above but where the frame meets the walls.

 

C. The hinges often have a vertical adjustment. You may have 3 or 4 hinges. If they have not been balanced (to share the vertical load) then all the vertical load and then a share of the sideways load ends up on one hinge which can over stress it. If the screws are stripped the heavily overloaded hinge may be moving. It's tempting to fiddle with these yourself.. but as soon as you do the last man on the job gets the blame.. which will be you! But have a look at them and see if they look like they are carrying equal loading. Look for unusual gaps between the shims and see where there is no gap in others comparatively.

 

D. You say that the door drops as soon as you open the door? The loads at this stage from the door leaf will be mainly in the plane of the wall. If the movement gets greater as you further open the door then the structure may be flexing. This is the last thing we would look at, try and rule out common issues first. 

 

@paro I see you are using a spirit level and a laser level. Often the accuracy of these is disputed. To avoid any doubt at your end go to B & Q and get a bit of clear plastic pipe. Get some water and put a dye in it, mostly fill the tube and tape it to the door leaf at eye level when shut. Now we have a water level and the physics of this cannot be disputed. 

 

Mark the BOTTOM of the meniscus. Open the door, remark, measure the difference. This is going to be within 1-2mm accuracy at worst. 

 

In terms of the gasket and brush bar fits.. it does look a bit rough. Bare metal cuts are common, often these are hidden. Here we may want to get some touch up paint.

 

If you fancy having a go at this it should help inform you or at worse rule out what is not causing the problem.