An important point to note is that you need to consider what happens if things go wrong. As with any other product that you purchase, they can break down or get damaged. The question here is, how long do you have to wait for a replacement?

Our replacement policy is that customers requiring replacements are jumped to the front of the manufacturing queue to reduce your waiting time. We do not have to import your replacement parts from another country.

Q: Do all companies selling folding sliding doors manufacture them?

A: No, there are many companies that buy their doors from manufactures abroad and then sell them to you. These countries include Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, Turkey and even China. Some companies buy their doors from more than one country.

We have factories in Bradford UK, Las Vegas USA, Kelowna Canada and the Canary Islands. Each factory supplies its own country.

Q: Is the locking on all doors secure?

A: Many systems are fitted with aluminium rod locking with plastic cones on the top. Their reason for this is that if your were to use steel bolts it would wear the aluminium track.

Our tracking is extruded to specification "6063:T6". "T6" indicates the tempered strength of the aluminium, T6 = Very Strong. Many manufactures use "T4" or "T5". "T4" can be bent to create curved tracks.

Our company chairman was once employed by a European folding sliding door company that use this type of locking. Whilst in their employ he was shown a way to unlock a locked door in seconds with the use of basic tools. As more of these doors enter the market there is a chance that this information will get into the wrong hands.

Other systems that have appeared on the market over the last 2 years use flush shoot bolt locking that is fitted to the face of the door. As a result you have to manually lock each bolt separately. The system looks very well presented, however the running tracks on an outward opening system leave the door vulnerable to intruder attack and entry. These doors are only sold as inward opening.

Security is one of our main concerns when it come to door design.

All our locking has hardened steel hook locks, dead bolts and top and bottom shoot bolts. All our locks are tested secure and have a "Sold Secure" rating. We are a Sold Secure approved installer.

At present The Folding Sliding Door Company is the only company in the UK to submit its system to a UKAS accredited testing station for PAS 24 security endurance testing and passed with flying colours.

During the tests the doors were hammered, rammed, pounded, pulled, pushed, lifted and crow bared by forces that equalled a 20 stone man trying to force entry.

See Testing

Q: How strongly manufactured is your system compared to others?

A: Some of our competitors systems have been manufactured for many years and continue to be manufactured in the same way. If its not broke, don't fix it.

Technology has moved on. They are still using water based adhesive on their timber joints, thin walls on their aluminium profiles to save on material cost and thin fixing cleats to hold their aluminium panels together.

We have developed our system using modern technology.

We use polyurethane adhesive on timber joints. Polyurethane adhesive is used in the aircraft building industry to adhere panels to aircraft. Polyurethane adhesive becomes harder in a moist environment. The joints are then cramped squarely together using incredible pressure.

The walls on our aluminium profiles are thicker than standard, resulting in a strong profile that has greater resistance to denting if hit.

We use over size cleats to hold our aluminium panels together to ensure longevity of the joint. The cleat shown on the left of the coin is a competitors cleat that was removed from a door panel on a system we replaced. As you can see it is bent out of square.

Q: Are folding sliding doors easy to operate?

A child can operate them easily

A: Nearly all folding sliding doors are simple to operate, however, some systems have their little quirks. For the most part this is down to the running or rolling gear that is fitted to the system.

Some systems have nylon or polymer wheels for quiet running and to reduce wear to the aluminium track. The problem with this type of roller is that (1) it tends to gather dirt and needs to be cleaned regularly, (2) if an obstruction is trapped between the wheel and the track the wheel can become chipped or scored or (3) if the door is heavy and it closed for weeks at a time the wheels can develop a flat spot on the bottom of the wheel, this is due to the weight of the door pulling or pushing the wheel down, but unlike the wheels on a car that are always flat at the bottom, these wheels develop what is known in the industry as a parking spot resulting in a dunk dunk dunk noise as the roller moves across the track.

We use stainless steel wheels to prevent these problems. The wheels have sealed bearings for maintenance free use, they operate quietly, smoothly and contrary to what our competitors say, they do not wear the track. We have doors that have been in our showroom for over 5 years and the doors still run as smooth as the day they were installed. Bearing in mind that our showroom doors have been opened and closed approximately 20 times every day for over 5 years.

Some systems have single action locking with one turn of the handle, and some systems have manual bolts top and bottom of the door that have to be locked / unlocked individually.

We use single action locking.

A good example of a folding sliding door is one that is easy to lock and moves with the push of one finger.

Always try to see a full size door before you buy and if possible, always visit the manufacturer.

Q: Are all door systems weather tight?

A: Most systems on the market are weather tight, with high performance rubber seals and brush seals. However, there are some systems that have little or no seals at all. One crude but easy test is to close a folding door onto a sheet of paper and try to pull the paper out. If it pulls out easily there is not a water tight compression on the seals.

Our system has been tested at a UKAS accredited testing station and passed the PAS23 weather test to extreme weather conditions of over 300 pascals.

See Testing

We use 2 rubber EPDM seals on each side of each panel and high performance brush seals on the top and bottom of the panel.

The system also includes a tongue and groove feature to (1) prevent water infiltration, (2)keep the system stable with one panel interlocking with another and (3) to prevent attack by an intruder.

Fold'n'Slide™ 68 Laminated Hardwood 68mm

Fold'n'Slide™ 72 Thermally Broken Aluminium 70mm

Fold'n'Slide™ 73 Aluminium with Timber Clad 70mm

Q: Is a folding sliding door easy to install?

A: As for our competitions doors, we couldn't really say. However, feedback that we have received from installers that have installed different systems, has been that ours is the easiest system they have ever installed.

Our system is supplied with easy to follow fitting instructions, (click here view our online video guide).

Q: Do all systems come with a long warranty?

A: Most manufactures only offer a 12 month warranty, some a little longer.

We are so confident in our product that all of our doors come with a 15 Year Warranty

All of our door systems are also supplied with a 10 year Insurance Backed Guarantee by Home Pro Insurance.

Q: Are you an environmentally aware company?

A: Yes we are, we only buy our timber from the largest importers in the UK that are members of the following

All of our factory has be fitted out with sodium lighting that uses approximately 10% of the electricity that a florescent light uses and produces more light.

We reuse and recycle nearly all of our waste.

Q: How do you dispose of your waste?

A: As a manufacturer that creates a lot of waste, we feel that is our moral responsibility to recycle all of our waste.

(1) Our timber waste is chipped and collected by a large extraction unit.

(2) The chipped waste timber is then extracted to a briquette machine.

(3) The briquette machine compresses the waste with 8 tonnes of pressure.

(4) Small briquettes of timber waste are formed that are nearly as hard as a cricket ball.

(5) These briquettes are the used to fuel heaters to heat the factory.

(6) All of our aluminium waste is placed in bins that are collected by a recycling agent.

Information is a powerful thing. We are sure that after reading this, you are now armed with all the queries and questions that you can ask any folding sliding door supplier.

And as for which supplier, the choice is yours.