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Fri Jul 5

Sliding Doors – Why We Love Them

Sliding Doors – Why We Love Them

Sliding Doors – why we love them!, at Zyle Fenster UK, we have found over the years that the product our client is invariably the most excited about is the sliding door. And that is saying something considering we are the go-to company for over-size windows, glass to glass corners, and all kinds of stylish, bespoke, angled glazing. Perhaps it’s the tactile satisfaction of gently turning down a handle, feeling the wheels engage, and effortlessly and silently opening up the space of a room. Indeed it might be the fact that, for many people, their sliding door represents the connection between their indoor and outdoor living space and as such it brings to mind summertime, barbecues, and good times with family. Whatever the reason, people love their sliding doors, and as a result, they love to talk about them. So with that in mind, we decided to write a little bit about the benefits of sliding doors and which products provide them.

Thresholds

Sliding doors simply dominate standard doors when it comes to having little or no threshold across your doorway, their lateral movement means that they don’t need the clearance of traditional doors which, to engage their seal properly, generally need a threshold of at least 17mm. With sliders you can, in conjunction with a well prepared builder and skilled installers, have your threshold perfectly level with your floor inside and out. This not only provides a lovely step-less transition between inside and out, but is of course also very popular for people concerned with accessibility. In terms of our own products, our SKY Slider in hardwood, softwood, or Alu-Clad provides the most satisfying of thresholds as it flat rail can provide an incredibly smooth transition. Our Raynaers and Schuco sliders can also be levelled off with your floor although their rail style has light grooves.

Style

Okay so this section is a matter of taste of course and as it goes all our sliders have a wonderful contemporary style and are available in dual colour for different finishes inside and out. Some people simply love the look of timber indoors and as such would go for a timber slider, or perhaps Aluclad to reduce maintenance and increase longevity (for more on Aluclad click here. For those who like the more modern finish our Aluminium Sliders in Raynaers or Schuco are highly popular, they feature advance construction techniques, smooth operation, and the kind of contemporary design the many favour. However, our pick for the epitome of style and function at the moment has to be the Raynaers Hi-Finity Slider (pictured above). While this one is for those with a slightly larger budget, it is not hard to see why. Through a special system of bonding the glass directly to the centre interlocking frame, it allows for an incredibly slim profile. Additionally many clients will opt to hide the outer frame in the walls floor and ceiling giving the effect of having a beautiful glass wall that opens with ease.

Efficiency

Modern interlocking systems, chambered sections, and advanced glazing means that fantastic U-values (learn more about U-Values here) can be achieved across our range of sliders. Of course the exact figures depend on the size and product but it is not unusual for a slider to be part of a passive house build these days. When compared to traditional doors or double doors, sliders are particularly more robust when it comes to extreme weather locations, as technically the can endure more pascals (learn more here) before the seals are compromised. It is also worth noting that they are far, far more robust than concertina doors, a product for which we have a lot of inquiries. We do indeed produce concertina doors but we make it very clear to all our clients, if your opening is in a place that is exposed to the elements, then they are not an appropriate solution.

Scale

Another question we get regularly when it comes to our sliders is can you make it big enough for me? Our answer, unlike many of our competitors, is generally yes. In fact we look forward to sharing images of an upcoming 13 metre long, 3 meter high slider we have currently in production. This Schuco behemoth is being achieved as a six-pane, three track slider. This means that the outer two panes will be fixed, while the inner four will slide, giving an opening of a whopping 8.6 metres when the doors are at their limits. In theory this style of slider could go as far as 15 metres wide as a six pane, and 10 metres wide as a four pane. When it comes to timber or aluclad, we max out at 6m wide by 2.7 meter high for a two pane, while our two pane aluminium slider allows the height to increase to 3 metres. More details on glazing limits can be found here.

Additional Notes

Security is never relinquished when opting for a sliding door. We can do a locking system of up to five points, and the glass is toughened as standard so a home breaker would be as likely to get through the wall as come in through the glass. It is also worth noting that even the most robust of sliding door systems are dependent on a skilled installation process to ensure quality function and longevity so remember when shopping for your slider, do your research on the company’s service reputation as much as you research the product.

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