8 types of glass doors
The most common type of door when inside meets outside, opening horizontally, inline sliding doors glide effortlessly alongside other glass panels on a track either above or below the frame. Best used to create seamless living between indoor home and outside space when open and maximise views and daylight even when closed.
✔︎ Can be framed or frameless to suit house style and budget
✔︎ Space saving by sliding along the wall rather than opening on hinges
✔︎ Can be recessed into the framework to maximise opening space
✘ Glass can get dirty quickly as it’s more likely to be touched regularly
✘ Dirt and debris can get caught in tracks, causing jams or unsmooth running
✘ Can make your home interior completely visible
Similar to sliding doors in looks but with a different operating mechanism. Lift and slide doors feature a handle that can lift the door onto its rollers while remaining flush with the floor and lock the doors. When the handle is pulled down, the door removes itself from the rollers and effectively becomes locked, so you can have it open as much or as little as you like.
✔︎ Easy to open and close/lock
✔︎ No inward swing, so space-saving
✔︎ Internal mechanism creates a weatherproof and energy-efficient seal
✘ Uses wide areas of glass that can get dirty quickly
✘ The handle can get stuck, leaving the door unable to lock or close properly
✘ Can be a security risk, making your home interior visible
A popular choice for homeowners, single-folding doors (often called concertina doors) can help maximise your opening space by folding back two panels joined by hinges in the middle. A premium alternative to sliding doors, single-folding doors create a fantastic wow factor which can be used as a smaller and cheaper version of Bi-folding doors.
✔︎ Compact design creates space without a recess
✔︎ Framed or frameless for a contemporary look and feel
✔︎ Lightweight and practical
✘ Can be frustrating to open if used as an access point
✘ Can be expensive
✘ More opportunity for heat loss
The bigger, wider brother of single-folding doors, bi-folding doors are a popular alternative for homeowners with larger properties. Maximising space like single-fold doors, bi-folds contain at least two, or even up to six or more, glass panels, each joined by hinges, that fold back on tracks to open fully, creating a completely open room.
✔︎ Compact design creates wide space without a recess
✔︎ A wow factor for any home with framed or frameless options
✔︎ Can be inward or outward-facing depending on internal space
✘ Being top-hung, they can need structural support
✘ Frameless or framed options can be expensive
✘ Multiple frames can obscure your view
The most standard and traditional of door designs, the hinged single door is hung on one side of the door frame by two or more hinges to allow for smooth opening inwards, outwards, or potentially both.
✔︎ Can be framed or frameless to suit taste and budget
✔︎ Maximises the space of a narrow opening
✔︎ Low maintenance
✘ Depending on the weight, the door may need structural support
✘ Needs clear space to open fully
A variation on a hinged door, pivot doors are hinged centrally at the top and bottom of the door rather than the side. Installed as either multiple or single doors, each panel moves independently, so it points both inwards and outwards. A series of pivot doors can look similar to bi-folding doors when closed.
✔︎ Panels can be angled to deflect breezes
✔︎ Weight-bearing hinges are central rather than side-based
✔︎ Can be a good option for non-standard, wider openings
✘ Needs clear space on either side to open fully
✘ Cannot be fully sealed and can lose heat
While looking very similar to sliding doors, stacker doors have more moveable panels. Usually comprising two or more panels, each panel collects and locks in with the next as they slide on tracks behind the one in front.
✔︎ Allows you to control how wide you want to open them up
✔︎ Despite the full opening width, only one ‘stack’ needs to open for access
✔︎ Panels can be wider with fewer frames for a better view out
✘ More moving panels can mean more maintenance and cleaning
✘ Tracks can accumulate dirt and debris, causing jams
As a pair of single-hinged doors, usually floor to ceiling in height, French doors are a more elegant double-door variation that open away from each other, inwards or outwards. Traditionally, each door has multiple glass panels, but they can be used indoors for partitioning rooms or as external doors opening onto balconies or patios.
✔︎ Classic look and feel with easy operation
✔︎ Can fill a wider opening space
✔︎ Can open in or out to work with space available
✘ May not have an energy-efficient seal where the two doors join
✘ Lack of seals means doors may be prone to water leakage
