What Size Bifold Door Do I Need

How To Measure For External Bifold Doors

Remove The Old Door

Unless you're installing your bifold doors in a make new home, chances are that y'all'll outset need to remove the current doors. If you're removing older bifold doors, y'all might exist able to leave the tracking in place and utilize it with your new doors. This would relieve you a pretty penny, but information technology should be noted that the tracks can wear over time, especially if they haven't been properly maintained.

So, if you are moving into a new home and wish to supplant the existing bifold doors, it might be worth pulling out all the old hardware and starting from scratch. If the existing tracks are in good condition and you wish to re-use them, first check with your supplier that the tracks will be suitable for your new doors before you go ahead with your purchase. If yous did previously take bifold doors, you could apply the measurements from your old door acme help with the buy of your new doors, assuming they were the correct fit.

If your older doors are not bifold doors, y'all might need to remove the existing framework in club to make room for the tracking hardware used with bifold doors.

Consider The Tracking

Bifold doors operate on a rolling tracking system that works with a pin bracket on the flooring and a track and guide associates on the top, which allows for the titular folding movement. The tracks hold and guide your door panels, and are called "tracks," because they essentially operate in a similar style to a train track. The track will mostly be constructed from durable aluminium, and will demand to be assembled separately from the doors themselves.

open external bifold doors

How To Accept Measurements

The first thing y'all need to consider before pulling out your record and your notepad, is that you are non simply bookkeeping for the bifold doors themselves, simply for the tracking hardware that will sit within the door frame to allow the doors to office as advertised. As a general rule, the aperture should exist between a foot and a half to 2 feet college than the doors themselves.

Get-go, remember that you should always measure from the face, non the trim and that you should keep your spirit level and notepad (or maybe smartphone/tablet) on you at all times to take notes.

Start past measuring the corners of the opening with your spirit level. Everything needs to be consequent and foursquare and if this is not the case then adjustments might need to be made. This can be washed past sanding if the opening is wooden and if the discontinuity is only slightly also shallow in sure areas; if it'south as well wide and so filler and/or packing wedges can fill in those pesky gaps. Always become in minor increments though, equally if y'all make a error you'll find it easier to rectify.

There are three main measurements y'all'll need to make for the tiptop and width at both ends of the opening and in the middle. For the width, measure the side jambs at their widest indicate and circumvolve the smallest measurement and for the height, measure out between the head jamb and the sill at the tallest point and over again circumvolve the smallest measurement.

***Recollect that yous always measure for width before height***

When measuring, permit for a plumbing fixtures tolerance of at to the lowest degree 10mm and remember that you'll also need to allow space for the tracking hardware. The size of the door hardware will vary depending on the manufacturer, simply a good bet would be to allow for around 45mm. Obviously cheque with the manufacturer earlier finalising your order though!

Make a notation of the doors you want to buy and measure to see how far out they will fold (either in or out). The size of door, and the amount of doors, that you'll be able to fit will obviously depend on the size of the opening, just information technology volition as well depend on the space immediately surrounding the opening.

Measure out Twice. Buy Once.

The golden rule with measurement, of course, is to always practise information technology twice, as there are ever mistakes that can be fabricated the first time. Even the smallest mistake could hateful that the doors you purchase will be practically unusable, or at the very to the lowest degree that you could run into some serious problems during the installation process. Make mensurate twice and guild in one case!

Choose a Fashion

Size is, in this example at to the lowest degree, very of import of grade, but so is style. External bifold doors and frames come up in a variety of styles and materials, with the most common existence UPVC, aluminium and wood (solid, engineered and/or reclaimed). There are also many unlike styles, although the vast majority will exist based around more conventional glass panels.

Notwithstanding, be aware that not all styles volition come in all sizes, so the style y'all opt for might exist restricted past the size of your opening. Conversely, the fashion you opt for might determine how you mensurate your opening, because different styles might crave unlike spacing.

All materials and styles have their own intrinsic positives and negatives, but in general, you'll observe that wooden frames will allow for taller doors, aluminium frames will permit you get wider and UPVC will exist more than flexible and cheaper (though is less durable and doesn't look quite every bit special). At all times, make certain you have a decent dialogue open with your supplier and don't be agape to hassle them with questions if you are unsure.

Considering Your Options

Standard bifold doors by and large ship in two or four panel varieties and whilst their sizes volition vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, the standard doors volition be near half dozen.8 feet tall, including hardware. When information technology comes to width, all the same, things become a fiddling more catchy. The width of the opening volition dictate not only how wide your door needs to be, but how many panels you will be able to fit as each door panel volition probably measure betwixt 700 and 1000mmm.

This means that an opening of, for example, 2800mm, could accommodate a four console door or a three panel door. Unfortunately, whilst you probably don't want to cease up going the bespoke route, given the costs involved, it might be your only pick if your discontinuity (door opening) is particularly old. Nearly modern homes, however, take been built to more than consistent specifications, then if your home is less than 5 years sometime, you lot should be OK to go with more conventional sized doors.

Now that you know how to properly size your external door, cheque out our full range of external bifold doors. Many of our doors come up in a diversity of sizes to fit any habitation.

If you lot have any questions, get in impact with our friendly client service team who will be happy to assist.