Bifolding doors, folding doors or slide and turn doors are large doors connected together and often comprise many door leaves.
Bifolding doors are completely different in their construction to a sliding door, French door or a window. The key difference is that they comprise far more elements unlike smaller doors that are one or two leaves.
A full frame bifolding door relies on the rebates and other elements on it’s frame to keep the doors weather resistant.
How are frameless glass doors weather resistant?
With up to 8 doors all connected together in a frameless glass format that doesn’t use aluminium framing, how do they keep the wind and rain at bay?
Our doors are independently tested to BS6375 2009. This is the standard that works to improve the weather performance of windows and doors.
This standard was written to provide us, as designers and manufacturers of doors, an appropriate level of weather resistance for the UK.
It is well known that strong wind places a load on the glass and on the door. This load effectively pushes the door back away from it’s seals. Simulated tests are carried out based upon various locations in the UK. After all, some areas get worse weather than others. The Standard must take into account all types of locations.
Coastal locations are of course subjected to more severe weather. The same goes for areas on high ground that get much more wind. All these factors and more are taken into account when testing doors.
Frameless Glass Curtains are tested to BS6375-2009 and have passed.
Our doors are tested to BS6375. These tests have various parts to them that comprise:
Part 1 which classifies weather tightness and gives information about test pressure levels for air permeability, watertightness and wind resistance for our doors.
Part 2 gives standards and guidance about the operation and strength characteristics for manually operated doors in their finished condition.
You can view our BS6375 certificate here.
Just like our security testing to PAS 24, they’re carried out by Independent Testing Institutes that are approved. Our finished products are submitted to tests that expose our frameless glass doors to all sorts of weather conditions, wind loads, wind speeds, air tests and much more besides. Only when they’ve passed are we awarded the standard.
This is important because we’ve installed our doors all over the UK. From properties on the South Coast right up to hand made homes in Scotland and even cruise liners. All these have had our doors installed. Therefore our doors are weather tested not for an individual application but for virtually all of them.
So despite their frameless appearance, quality glass units and lack of frames where the doors meet, you are getting some of the most weather resistant doors you can buy. These will keep your home protected in the winter and open up for you to enjoy your garden in the summer.