Why you should only buy from a genuine folding sliding door specialist

"Where there is much desire to learn, there of necessity will be much arguing, much writing, many opinions; for opinions in good men is but knowledge in the making."
John Milton

The main questions our customers ask when deciding on which company to buy from are these.

Q: Am I buying from a specialist company in folding sliding doors?

Q: I have found other companies on the internet with a similar web address to yours, that sell the same product, why is this? Its a bit confusing.

Q: Are all folding sliding doors the same?

Q: Why can you compete on price?

Q: What do you mean when you say "We will beat any like for like quotation"?

Q: What is the difference with your track and other tracks?

Q: What is the difference in delivery waiting period?

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

Q: Is the locking on all doors secure?

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

Q: Are folding sliding doors easy to operate?

Q: Are all door systems weather tight?

Q: Is a folding sliding door easy to install?

Q: Do all systems come with a long warranty?

Q: Are you an environmentally aware company?

Q: How do you dispose of your waste?

Q: Am I buying from a specialist company in folding sliding doors?

A: The word specialist derives from the medical field, meaning "A physician whose practice is limited to a particular branch of medicine or surgery".

To specialise in one particular field of the glazing industry is to have accurate knowledge and skill in that field. The term folding sliding door specialist is used so flippantly by companies that also manufacture windows, French doors, sliding patio doors, roofs and conservatories.

There are many upvc and joinery companies that believe that they can simply manufacture some rectangle panels, fit some hardware on them that they purchase from their hardware supplier and call themselves a folding sliding door specialist.

We specialise in folding sliding doors only. The design and manufacture of folding sliding doors is an exact science. Do not buy from chancers.

Our doors are manufactured using our own UKAS tested profile and hardware; this has been developed over the past eight years with our three main designers offering a wealth of engineering knowledge and having a total of 22yrs experience in the science of creating Folding Sliding Doors systems alone.

Our system is manufactured to the highest standards of ISO9001:2008, thus gaining us the following accreditations:

See Testing

Our Factory

Final Assembly Shop

   Timber Machine Shop

Aluminium Shop

Timber Finishing Shop

Spray Shop & Denibing Room

Laminated Timber Stock Area

Glass Warehousing

Aluminium Warehouse

Sales Office

Reception

Showroom

Our rapid success since we started in 2001 has been due to (1) specialising in one particular field and producing a high quality product at affordable prices (2) the company name (it does what says on the tin) and (3) being the first company in the industry to register the words "folding sliding doors" together as a website address. www.who.is

Q: I have found other companies on the internet with a similar web address to yours, that sell the same product, why is this? Its a bit confusing.

A: Since 2004 there has been some companies that have passed themselves off as us by registering www.foldingslidingdoor(s).? or even www.folding-sliding-door(s).? Do not be deceived, they are not The Folding Sliding Door Company and they may offer inferior products. The governments term for this is "Cyber Squatting"

Q: Are all folding sliding doors the same?

A: We often hear customers on the telephone say "well one folding sliding door is the same as any another, isn't it?" or "I would like a folding sliding door". All folding sliding doors are not the same. This is a bit like going into a car dealership and saying "I would like a car". There are big differences from manufacturer to manufacturer. Materials used, hardware used, strength, longevity, function and warranty.

Q: Why can you compete on price?

A: Most companies offering folding sliding doors are based in high value property areas. They pay high rates for the property they are based at.

We are based in regeneration area, our rates are low and discounted as we provide local employment to over 25 of our factory staff that come from the area.

Nearly all of our competitors buy their doors from else where or  buy their hardware and profiles at a loaded price through a middle man or supplier.

We manufacture our own hardware at our quality assured UKAS & ISO-9001 certified factory.

Some Of Our Hardware

 We buy our aluminium profiles directly from our extruders in Banbury and Guangdong and our timber from the UK's largest importers. We do not buy through an agent or middle man.

We do not have expensive sales reps. We have no need to hard sell.

Q: What do you mean when you say "We will beat any like for like quotation"?

A: There are many different folding sliding doors on the market and it can be quite confusing as to which one to buy.

Like for Like refers to: specialist engineered folding sliding doors and not "I'll get some upvc, aluminium or timber, make some rectangles and stick some hardware on them" folding sliding doors.

Like for Like refers to: 70mm Thermally broken aluminium, 70mm Thermally broken aluminium and timber clad and 65mm to 70mm Laminated hardwood.

Like for Like refers to: an inline folding sliding door that does not have hinges, rollers or track fixed to the face of the system. You can not see the rollers or track when the door is closed. The hinges are not face fixed, they do not have large plastic covers on them to hide the hinge and fixing screws. The system can be inward or outward stacking and still maintain security. The system can be any possible configuration of you choice.

There is not a like for like offer on Upvc as we are the only manufacturer of the inline folding sliding door, of which we have the designright until 2017.

Q: What is the difference with your track and other tracks?

A: We offer an inline out of site track system, this track system is strong and secure. It is supplied to you flush as standard, however it can incorporate a sill. All our running gear is concealed and is resistant to attack from potential intruders.

Click Here For Cill Options

You should be very cautious when choosing your door system as the track is a vital part of the security of your door. If an intruder can get access to the track, they have easy access to you home with the simple lift of a crow bar. These systems can only be inward opening. Many of these door systems do not have a water resistant flush track option.

Examples of other track systems

Demonstration wmv Video

Q: What is the difference in delivery waiting period?

A: Many companies (specialists) in the folding sliding door industry have their doors manufactured in Europe and ship them to you, hence the delivery waiting period being from 8 to 24 weeks.

Some companies (non-specialists) are promising delivery in 2 to 4 weeks for a system that is fully factory assembled. ???????????

We manufacture between 200 to 300 door sets per week and have a maximum of 7 weeks delivery waiting period. Once the doors are manufactured and quality checked, they are boxed and racked ready for delivery or collection.

Packaging

Despatch Warehouse

Loading one of our trucks

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.

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.