Bifold, French, patio and stable doors: which suits which opening
From a front door that sets the tone to a run of bifolds that opens the back of the house completely — a plain guide to what goes where.
- Front, back, French, bifold, patio, stable and garage doors
- Every style made to measure for the opening
- Certass registered with a 10 year guarantee
East Grinstead showroom · covering Sussex, Surrey and Kent
10/10 on Checkatrade
From 149 verified customer reviews
Certass registered
Fully insured and SafeContractor approved
10 year guarantee
On every product we supply and install
Family run since 2007
Our own fitters — never subcontracted out
Front doors
Front doors: the one everybody touches
It sets the tone for the elevation and it’s the part of the house people put their hands on. Worth getting right.
Composite is the usual answer — a solid insulated core in a moulded skin, thick and rigid enough that the multi-point locking pulls it tight into its seals. Timber is the answer where the building calls for real mouldings and a painted finish.
Glazing is where it earns its keep in a dark hall. A vision panel, side screens or a top light will change the space behind it more than anything else you can do.
- Composite, timber and uPVC, in any colour you like
- Side screens and top lights to bring light into the hall
- Leaded, bevelled, obscure and stained glazed designs
- Multi-point locking and anti-snap cylinder as standard
Back doors
Back doors: the one that takes the abuse
Muddy boots, shopping bags, the dog. A back door gets used more than the front one and looked after less.
uPVC is usually the sensible choice here — warm, secure and completely unbothered by weather or wear. Half-panel glazing is the standard configuration: daylight into the kitchen up top, solid panel where it takes the knocks.
The detail that matters is the threshold. A standard one seals best but stands proud; a low one is easier to step over but needs the outside levels and drainage designed for it.
- Half-panel, full-panel and solid configurations
- Obscure glazing for utility rooms and cloakrooms
- Outward or inward opening to suit the space
- Low thresholds where access matters
French doors
French doors: the classic way onto a garden
A pair of doors that open from the middle, throwing the whole opening wide without needing anywhere to stack.
They suit a standard opening better than anything else. One leaf takes the handle and gets used day to day; the other is bolted top and bottom and opens when you want the full width.
Available in every material we fit, inward or outward opening, and they can be flanked with fixed side lights where the opening is wider than a pair of doors needs.
- Opens the full width, nothing projects sideways
- One leaf usable on its own for everyday access
- Side lights available to fill a wider opening
- uPVC, timber, composite and aluminium
Bifold doors
Bifold doors: make the wall disappear
Panels that concertina back and stack against the reveal, opening almost the entire span in one movement.
This is what you want when the point is to remove the boundary between inside and out. On a wide opening onto a patio nothing else comes close, and aluminium is the material — slim enough to carry big panes without looking heavy.
Two things to plan: where the stacked panels sit when open, and whether you want a traffic door so one leaf opens on its own without folding the whole set back.
- Opens almost the full span
- Traffic door option for everyday use
- Folds inward or outward, stacking either side
- Flush threshold available with the right drainage
Patio doors
Patio doors: the uninterrupted view
Large panes that slide past each other on a track, taking up no space at all when open.
Where bifolds give you the biggest opening, sliders give you the best view when closed — fewer frames, bigger panes and a cleaner line across the elevation. On a room that looks at something worth looking at, that matters more.
Nothing projects into the room or onto the patio, and one panel slides with a finger, so they suit everyday use better than folding a whole set back.
- Fewer, larger panes and a cleaner sightline
- Nothing projects inside or out when open
- Slim aluminium frames for maximum glass
- Anti-lift blocks and multi-point locking as standard
Compare
French, bifold or sliding?
The three ways of opening a wall onto a garden, and what each is actually best at.
| Feature | French doors | Bifold doors | Sliding patio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suits an opening of | A standard pair-width opening | A wide opening, three panels or more | A wide opening, two panels or more |
| How much opens | The full width | Almost the full width | Roughly half at a time |
| View when closed | A frame down the middle | A frame between every panel | The cleanest — fewest frames |
| Everyday access | One leaf opens on its own | Specify a traffic door | One panel slides |
| Space needed when open | Doors swing in or out | Panels stack against the reveal | Nothing projects |
| Usual material | uPVC, timber or composite | Aluminium | Aluminium |
All three are made to measure, and any of them may need the structure above the opening checking. We’ll go through it at survey.
Stable doors
Stable doors: open the top, keep the bottom shut
Split into two halves that operate independently, so you can let light and air in without letting anything out.
They earn their place on a kitchen or utility door where you want ventilation while cooking, and where children or pets need to stay put. The two halves lock together and work as a single door when you want them to.
Most at home on a cottage or a rural property, where the split reads as part of the character rather than a novelty. Available in uPVC, timber and composite.
- Two independently operating halves
- Halves lock together to work as one door
- Ventilation without an open doorway
- uPVC, timber and composite
Garage doors
Garage and outbuilding doors
Personnel and side-hinged doors to garages, workshops and outbuildings, matched to the windows on the same building.
Most of what we do here is the side door — the one you actually walk through — along with matching windows so the outbuilding reads as part of the house rather than an afterthought.
For a full up-and-over, sectional or roller shutter we’ll tell you honestly when a specialist is the better call. We would rather point you at the right trade than take on something outside what we do well.
- Personnel and side-hinged doors
- Matching windows to the same building
- Secure locking to an outbuilding standard
- Fitted alongside our building and rooftrim work
Internal doors
Internal doors and glazed screens
Room dividers and glazed screens that borrow daylight from one space into another without knocking anything through.
A glazed internal screen is often the answer to a dark landing, a hallway with no window, or an open-plan room that needs dividing without losing the light through it.
We fit these as part of our joinery and building work rather than as a product off a shelf, so they’re made to the opening and finished to match what’s around them.
- Glazed screens and room dividers
- Borrows daylight into dark hallways and landings
- Made to the opening, not off the shelf
- Fitted alongside our renovation and joinery work
Materials
Then pick what it’s made of
Once the style is settled, the material decides how it looks, how secure it is and what it asks of you.
Composite Doors
A solid timber core wrapped in a tough moulded skin. The strongest, warmest and most popular choice for a front door.
Explore composite doors
uPVC Doors
The practical choice for back doors, French doors and utility entrances — warm, secure and virtually maintenance free.
Explore uPVC doors
Wooden Doors
Real timber for period properties and conservation areas, engineered and factory-finished so it stands up to the weather.
Explore wooden doors
Aluminium Doors
Slim, strong frames for bifolds, sliding patio doors and large openings where you want more glass and less frame.
Explore aluminium doorsBuying online? Our shop is on its way
Made-to-measure doors will be available through our online store once it opens. Until then, send us your opening sizes and we’ll quote it.
Questions
Door style questions
Can’t see what you need? Call 01342 410079 and we’ll answer it properly.
Which style suits a narrow opening onto a garden?
Can I change the style of the opening?
Which way should a door open?
Do you fit garage doors?
Can you match doors to my windows?
Where we work
Bifold, French and patio doors in East Grinstead and across Sussex, Surrey and Kent
We’re based on Station Road in East Grinstead, where West Sussex meets Surrey and Kent, and our own team works throughout all three counties.
Towns we cover include
- East Grinstead
- Crawley
- Horley
- Haywards Heath
- Burgess Hill
- Horsham
- Crowborough
- Tunbridge Wells
- Tonbridge
- Sevenoaks
- Redhill
- Reigate
- Caterham
…and the villages in between. If you’re in Sussex, Surrey and Kent, the answer is almost certainly yes.
Free quotations
Not sure which style you need?
Book a free survey and we’ll walk the opening with you before anything is quoted.