Patio Doors vs French Doors; which option is best for you?

So you’ve decided to decorate your living room and you’re not sure whether to replace your tired old patio door with a nice shiny new sliding patio door or go for some nice double glazed French doors. How do you decide? Well, that would depend on how you want to use your doors.

For example, if your living room has a glazed extension overlapping the doors, a sliding patio door might be the better option as there are no hinged doors that could take away valuable space either inside the glazed extension or the living room. Although a sliding patio door won’t allow you to use the whole space of the opening, it won’t take away extra room which could be used to set down some furniture. So what about the French Door option?

Double Glazed French Doors

Image the scene: it’s a glorious summer day and your garden is looking rather inviting. You want to get as much of that warmth and light in by opening up your room. Patio doors aren’t going to do that, but French doors will.

Space is the main advantage of double glazed French doors. You can throw open both sets of doors and make use of the full width of the opening. You can invite all the warmth of summer in and make the best use of that extra space.

But double glazed French doors bring other advantages. Say you’re moving house and you need to fit that great big new sofa you have just ordered in your living room. The front door probably is going to be a squeeze. Double glazed French doors though give you that extra space to use so you don’t have to scrape the walls as the sofa company deliver your new suite!

Double glazed French doors also have the extra little advantage of you being able to use just one part of the door, rather than both. Just because both open doesn’t mean to say you have to use them both. French doors have a primary door and a “slave” door. The primary door is the door you open the most and can be on either side of the French doors. The slave door is the one you normally keep closed until you need to open both.

Glass Sliding Doors

Glass sliding patio doors are a great option too! If you don’t like the idea of a pair of swinging doors on hinges, then a glass sliding door might be the way to go. A sliding glass door is probably the neatest form of door as the leafs of the door slide over each other, creating a nice neat operation as opposed to something that is either inward or outward opening to a room.

Add to that the ease in which a glass sliding door operates smoothly across its runners, they become a great addition to the elderly or disabled who would prefer something as easy as a sliding door to use.

Glass sliding doors are for people who want to make the most of their glass area. French doors often have a chunky frame section where they meet in the middle. But because of how sliding patio doors are made, they have a larger glass section in comparison, which means if you’re a lover of light and sun, this would be the better option!

The security and energy efficiency of patio doors and French doors have come a long way over the past few years. Long gone are the days of the old-fashioned, cold and condensating aluminium patio doors that burglars could get into and used to suck all the heat out of the room.

Energy A rated glass and high-security locks which meet Secure By Design standards mean that new patio doors or new double glazed French doors will keep your room significantly warmer and more secure than your previous version – no matter which option you choose.

Both are high quality and reliable options. But the best way to decide is how you plan to use the doors! Value Doors UK provides high-quality patio doors and French doors. Contact them to see which option would compliment your needs best.

This is a post written by our guest blogger DGB, his website can be viewed here