Fantastic Homes deserve Amazing Doors - Photographs

To celebrate the fact that we've all been able to enjoy the garden recently, we are going to show off some of the fantastic homes where we've had the privilege of installing our amazing UltraSlim fully retractable patio doors, both bi folding and sliding-pivot models!

In the photograph above are two sets of 5 doors which can be fully opened to the sides of the openings (retractable) when required. They have been installed in a new extension that houses a fabulous kitchen and will open onto a large new patio/decking. Note that all the doors have integral slated blinds fitted within the double glazing cavity.

Another contemporary kitchen in a new extension is shown in the photograph above. Both sets of doors lead to the lovely courtyard garden. UltraSlim doors enable the garden to be part of the house, visually, even when closed, creating a spacious feel.
 

This home (above) has been designed to embrace an outdoor lifestyle, with an extensive patio accessible from three sides of the house via fully retractable patio doors.

The SunSeeker Doors' range offers the slimmest door frames available for retractable doors - by several centimetres! Choose our UltraSlim bi folds or slide-pivot styles to future-proof your contemporary styling. If you prefer classic bifolds, we can supply those too.

Our new website will be ready to view soon. Meanwhile you can browse the current site for information at www.sunseekerdoors.co.uk

Patio Doors for Today's Lifestyle: Revolutionary UltraSlim Bifolds

Bear with us as we streamline our branding and re-vamp our website to deliver a browsing experience worthy of our state-of-the-art patio/bi folding doors.

SunSeeker Doors "UltraSlim" are patio doors with the slimmest side-frames available in the UK today. We launched the original UltraSlim three years ago, a door system that enabled all the doors to slide to the end of the opening and to pivot 90 degrees in order to stack, out of the way, to the side of the opening. These were similar to bi folding doors but each door could slide and turn independently.

A few months ago, SunSeeker again developed new technology to add bi folding doors to the UltraSlim* range. The bifolds have the same slim side-frames - only 19mm - and the doors are hinged together, opening with a zig-zag folding-sliding motion.

SunSeeker designs, develops, manufactures and installs SunSeeker UltraSlim Doors in the UK, within a reasonable radius of our base off the M1 motorway in Bedfordshire. Our doors lead the way and others eventually follow. We continue to be innovative and develop for the future. Our UltraSlim Bifolds are revolutionary in their field.

Contact us direct for further information or a no-obligation quotation.

*At launch, UltraSlim Bifolds were called SuperSlim to distinguish from our standard Slimline bi folding doors, which we have been installing in England since 2003.

Comparing Different Styles of Glazed Patio Doors

French Doors vs in-Line Sliding vs Bi Folding vs Slide-And-Turn Patio Doors

With the introduction of Slide and Turn Patio Doors in 2010, there are now four basic options to choose from when upgrading your home

French Doors.
For centuries, French Doors were the default wider access doors for access to private gardens, accommodating openings from approximately four feet to six feet wide. Originally constructed from wood with glass panes, they consist of a pair of hinged panels that meet in the centre of the opening. Now also available in a choice of pvc, aluminium or composite frames, French doors are still popular today, particularly for smaller new-build homes.

Sliding Doors.
In-line sliding doors became popular about fifty years ago. The main advantage was the additional width of the glass panels for viewing out and for allowing natural sunlight in. There is generally no additional access benefit as one panel slides behind the other on a two-door system; three glass panes on three tracks would afford greater access. Occasionally, sliding glass would be installed as 'pocket doors' that could slide inside the cavity walls. Over the decades, there have been numerous improvements, from single to double glazing and to the quality of the sliding track gear. It is now possible to install sliding doors with glazed panels of up to six metre widths.

Bi Folding Doors.
Around the turn of the century, home-owners became interested in bi folding doors, also known as sliding-folding, concertina or accordion doors, to describe the zig-zag folds. Primarily, patio bi folds comprise a set of double-glazed doors with timber, metal, plastic or composite frames onto which hinges are mounted to facilitate a folding action as the panels slide along the top and bottom guide rails. Bi folding doors have grown in popularity during the past ten years as more people have replaced old sliding patio doors or built new extensions with almost full walls of glass, as six or seven metres of bi folds can easily be incorporated.

Almost the whole width of the installed door-set can provide walk-through access as the bi folds are fully retractable. Panoramic views are better with slimmer aluminium frames than with clumsy-looking pvc as there is more glass and less frame. Aluminium frames are also available in more colours as they can be powder-coated in white, grey, black, silver, blue, green, sepia or over a hundred other options.

Slide-and-Turn Doors.
Most recently, a newer innovation in retractable doors was launched. At the time of writing, only two or three British companies manufacture and install slide-and-turn or slide-and-pivot doors, as others are still in development. Slide-and-Turn doors are a hybrid of sliding, pivot and bi folding doors.

All the doors in the set are able to pivot and will also slide along top and floor guides; like bi folds, they are fully retractable for maximum width access. One of the features of the slide-and-turn system is that there are no hinges necessary for folding the doors which means that the width and strength required of the side frames can be minimised. The benefits of less frame and more glass are: increased natural light and wider views between the slim frames.

Slide-and-turn doors do not necessarily need frames; there are frameless versions available but double glazed units have a thermal seal around the cavity, which can look 'ugly' and the frames will cover it. This style of door is installed with at least one conventional pivot door that may be opened inwards or outwards by ninety degrees (at right-angles to the closed position), leaving a space into which the adjacent door can slide so that the opening is further along the track. Alternatively, the second door can then be opened alongside the first door, leaving a two-door gap, and so on, until all the doors have been opened or spaced as required.

British door manufacturer, SunSeeker Doors, were one of the first companies to develop the double-glazed slide-and-turn door. In the four years since its launch, annual sales of UltraSlim patio doors have overtaken annual sales of their standard bi folding door, introduced over ten years ago. Product details and image galleries on www.sunseekerdoors.co.uk

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bee_Primrose
http://EzineArticles.com/?French-Doors-Vs-in-Line-Sliding-Vs-Bi-Folding-Vs-Slide-And-Turn-Patio-Doors&id=8542829

Sliding Folding Doors - Uppingham

"Good Morning, You have previously supplied us personally with some doors which we were extremely pleased with, we are main contractors on the above job and have recommended your company to our client..."

Many Thanks
Kevin Bray
Custom Joinery Services
Tel - 01780 482050

Our thanks to this customer for the photograph as well as the testimonial and recommendation.

Video: easy to use bi folding doors. See it. Believe it.

There is a good reason that bi folding doors have become popular. Compared with French doors, they offer a more panoramic view and when compared with sliding doors, they offer greater access. You could say that they combined the best of both yet it has taken around ten years for bi folding doors to 'take off'.

This is largely due to the cost and timing of any home improvement project but also partly down to the less pioneering home-owner who wants to ensure that bi folding door systems actually work properly and will last a good number of years. The video is taken at a customer's home and shows a set of SunSeeker bi folding doors that were installed in 2007.

Mindful of the longevity issue, SunSeeker Doors developed the sliding-folding doors system using good quality aluminium frames and have been installing their concertina-style doors since 2003. British innovation and quality is slightly more expensive than cheap imported copies (but not in the long run). SunSeeker bi-folds are manufactured at their Bedfordshire site and installed by their own experienced teams.

Sturdier than pvc and with far lower maintenance that timber, aluminium frames are 'thermally broken' so that extreme temperatures from outside are not transferred inside the home.

Notes. A strong magnet keeps the main door from swinging in the wind when open. The integral blinds controller can be removable or fixed; it works with magnets inside the glazing cavity to open/close the slats and to raise/lower the blinds.

Please visit www.sunseekerdoors.co.uk for a free quotation for your bi folding doors or to see our range of retractable patio doors, room dividers and enclosures.

Choose your Bi Folding Glass Doors by recommendation

If you have landed on this article during your research, you may already have considered that aluminium framed or frameless glass doors are suited to your property; aluminium frames complement any white, coloured or metal framed existing windows and frameless can be used with any other style, modern or traditional, whether mullioned, leaded-light or stained glass.

Aluminium Bi Folding Doors.

At SunSeeker Doors, we fully believe that aluminium is the best material for bi folding door frames. PVC isn't strong enough unless reinforced (usually with aluminium) especially where hinges are set - and even then, the frame width is significantly more than aluminium. Timber frames look good but at an equivalent price to aluminium, the quality will not be the highest; prone to weather-related swelling and shrinkage, the wood will need to be treated and protected every year.

The raw aluminium has a powder-coated finish, offering a plethora of colours. The aluminium frames are thermally broken, meaning that the temperature affecting the exposed external aluminium is insulated from the frame on the inside of the property. SunSeeker Doors use a good quality aluminium; beware of cheap imported bifolds which may not be fit for purpose. Buying from a British manufacturer will avoid any shipping delays and help boost the economy!

Frameless Glass Doors.

With no hinges to dictate the strength required for side frames, Frameless Glass Doors provides a more versatile option for some home owners. An innovative new concept of a fully retractable door set, the glass doors are not joined together but each door operates separately, moving independently with a slide and pivot action.

To our knowledge, SunSeeker Doors is the only British manufacturer currently offering a kite-marked double glazed fully retractable frameless glass door system. 

SunSeeker Doors UltraSlim(tm).

Sitting between our Slimline aluminium framed bifolds and Frameless Glass Doors, SunSeeker Doors UltraSlim is a slide and pivot door-set with 19mm aluminium side frames. To help you decide between bi folding doors, UltaSlim or frameless slide and pivot doors, we are happy to provide you with a no-obligation comparative quotation which includes a measuring service and full installation by our own team of experienced fitters.

Finally, choose your bi folding doors by recommendation ...

SunSeeker Bi folding Doors are also available to Trade customers

Architects and Builders - sourcing reasonably priced, quality aluminium-framed bifolding patio doors for self-installation is now easy. SunSeeker Doors' fully retractable sliding-folding bifolds with kite-marked double glazing and thermally-broken aluminium frames are made to your exact specifications in our Luton, Bedfordshire premises, just off the M1 motorway.

SunSeeker Bi folding Doors for Trade customers.

Of course, if you would prefer us to install the doors for you, that's OK too - compare our range of bifolds and retractable frameless glass doors on our innovative glazed doors website.

Extending your Living area with Glass Doors

The great British weather! It's rained for such a long time now that it's hard to remember a day when you'd want to install bi folding doors to "bring the outdoors indoors". There have been few occasions during April and May (so far) that doors to the garden or terrace have been opened for a short venture outside - we're guessing that anyone with folding-sliding doors hasn't fully retracted them lately!

But the optimists are looking forward to the summer - the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, Wimbledon, the Olympics and much more. If it turns out to be a brilliantly warm summer, you need to make the best of it. Install bi folding or slide-and-pivot retractable doors so that your indoor-outdoor activities are seamless.

Quotes available now for SunSeeker retractable doors.

Most Popular Frame Colours for Slimline Bi Folding Doors and UltraSlim Patio Doors

Advantages of patio doors with aluminium frames rather than pvc or wooden are:

• aluminium frames can be ultra-slim, therefore less obtrusive for viewing through closed doors 
• aluminium frames have narrower profiles for wider access space when doors are open 
• the UltraSlim patio door frames are not heavy, so it's easy to manouevre retractable doors 
• aluminium frames are available in a vast range of low maintenance colour finishes 

White is the most popular colour as it matches existing pvc windows, therefore we base our quotes using RAL 9010 "Pure White" although the frames are available in almost 200 bespoke 'RAL' colours for an additional payment. The most popular of these other colours for frames are:  cream, silver, various shades of greys and black:

RAL colours: slate grey, graphite grey, silver, cream, anthracite grey & black

So, unless you are opting for our Frameless Glass Doors, take a look at the choice of frame colours we offer. Our UltraSlim patio doors gallery shows installations with grey frames and one with green frames.  Our bi folding door installations, although mostly white, show some installations with grey and black frames.

Why not compare the cost of retractable glass doors from SunSeeker Doors? It's fast - and totally free.

Guide to Patio Door Types - part 1: Styles

from  ezine articles / Bee Primrose

Traditional or modern? Classic or contemporary? Varying tastes and different architectures throughout the years, as well as innovations and enhanced lifestyles, have given rise to the wide choice in patio door variations currently available in Britain. This article aims to describe the types of patio doors - their styles and functionality, similarities and differences, together with some of their main advantages and popular options - in order to provide readers with an informative guide.

part 1: Styles - French doors, sliding panels: retractable: folding doors, slide-and-pivot doors. 

The latest patio doors innovation is slide-and-pivot doors. Developed and launched since 2007/8, slide-and-pivot doors incorporate the major benefits of bifolding doors and sliding patio doors. Comprising a number of individual glazed panels that fit snugly together when closed, there is a 'master' door that can be opened with a standard (pivot) action, enabling the other doors to be moved, individually, along the top and bottom guides; as each door is moved to the end of the guides, it can also pivot open to increase the access width between the divided areas ( to a suggested maximum of approximately 8 metres). 

Because slide-and-pivot doors have no hinges, there is no requirement for a sturdy side frame; its only purpose is to cover the gasket that seals the double glazed unit. This means that the views afforded through the expanse of patio doors have minimal interruptions. At the time of writing, there are two versions of frame-less glass doors available in the UK, both using the slide-and-pivot technique: one manufacturer supplies their frameless glass doors with kite-marked double glazed units which have a visible seal, the other uses an almost transparent method of sealing their double glazing. Contemporary by design, the absence of visible characteristics makes frameless glass doors a viable option for period properties.

Bi Folding doors were launched around the turn of the century; they can be installed in place of French doors, where both doors are hinged to fold as they open together to one side. Bi folding doors can also span an opening to around 7 metres wide, depending on the frame chosen. A 'master' door can be placed amongst the doors, at the ends or in the middle, wherever the opening is required; this door is a standard (pivot) opening door which enables the other doors to be pushed to the side or sides of the aperture, resulting in a sliding-folding action, concertina-style, to maximise the width of the opening between home and garden or conservatory.

Originally, patio doors were all of the French Door variety; that is, a pair of doors that are hinged at the sides and open from the middle, each door pivoting in- or out-wards. French doors are still popular, especially with builders of new homes, as they are comparatively cheap and easy to accommodate in place of windows and offer an alternative evacuation route for families, especially for elderly or disabled people, to meet improved fire safety requirements.

Arguably, French doors could be considered as retractable as each door can be pulled back. The advantage of retractable doors is that maximum access is possible between the two sides of the aperture whereas sliding panel doors generally overlap unless built to retract into a recess.

In the mid-20th century, sliding doors became very popular - two or three panels of glass that slide along grooves in the floor. To distinguish them from traditional French doors, they were marketed with the thoroughly modern name of Patio Doors and this is often the image people have today when that term is used. Easily installed in place of a window, the immediate advantages were additional natural light and access to the garden. They also became a popular option to use where a pivot door opening space was limited or where the aperture was wider than a pair of French doors. Older installations were typically single-glazed, prone to warping and usually became difficult to slide open and closed. Still available today but in a developed form with double glazing and rollers for easier sliding, the popularity of sliding doors during this century has declined as bifolding doors gained market share.

SunSeeker Doors is the only UK company to manufacture and install a choice of slide and pivot doors (including frameless glass doors), bi folding doors and French doors.

Article Source: Guide to Patio Door Types

We've Re-jigged the Photos on our Website

Seasons Greetings to our readers!

The bi-folding doors animation that illustrates how the doors fold back and also shows integral blinds has moved to the bifolding patio doors page, enabling us to showcase all our products in a new fade out - fade in animation on our home page at www.sunseekerdoors.co.uk.

• Bifolds (retractable folding sliding patio* doors)
• UltraSlim** (retractable slide and pivot patio* doors)
• Frameless (dg) (retractable slide and pivot patio* doors)
• Frameless enclosures (retractable slide and pivot doors / glass curtains)
• Frameless room dividers (retractable sliding pivot doors)
• Integral Blinds (Optional Uni-blinds, shown in bi folding sliding doors)

*All our patio doors are made with kite-marked double-glazed units. The SunSeeker Doors range is manufactured in the UK, to your exact requirements. **Our latest innovative double glazed door system.

We look forward to installing your choice of doors in the new year. Our best wishes for 2012!

The Test of Time: SunSeeker Doors Bi Folding Doors Installations.

When a product is considered to be 'new' there are many cautious people who, quite rightly, want their hard-earned money to be carefully invested in a product that is going to last. Fortunately, there are also pioneering-spirited people who embrace new products, enabling them to be tested - and improved - over time.

SunSeeker Doors' glazed bifolds have been manufactured in England since 2003. One of the case studies we published earlier related to a bi folding doors installation in Hertfordshire in 2007. The customers are still living at the same address and agreed that the following could be published:

"It took us about 3 years to get used to the doors just being there rather than admiring them! We still love them. There was a time, after about 2 years, when the lock was a bit stiff to turn and needed either patience or strength. I did tell the company and they assured me that it was a standard problem that occasionally happens with locks and, unless it's broken, we should persevere."

"I had to reluctantly agree as we were having a similar problem with the lock on our front door, fitted by a well-known double-glazing company before we purchased the house. A few months later, the lock on the front door jammed and the key broke off inside. However, the lock on the bifolding doors did loosen and has been trouble free for quite some time, so they were right!"

"We also had integral blinds fitted inside the glazing, despite reading that people questioned the cost of repair if the mechanism should fail. We have used the blinds every morning and night for four years and (touch wood) they are as good as new. More importantly, the blinds have never had to be cleaned or dusted. Bliss!"

Our thanks to Mr & Mrs P, Hertfordshire, for sharing their SunSeeker Doors experience.