Q: What colours can I choose for my bi-folding doors, windows and French doors?

A: We can make bi-folding doors, windows and French doors in any of the myriad of colours offered by the RAL colour matching system to ensure they fit in with the look of your modern or period property.

In practice, most homeowners opt for anthracite grey or white. Our most popular colour is anthracite grey (RAL 7016). It goes with many different colours and gives a contemporary feeling to your home. If you’ve got white windows, you can, of course, choose white bi-folding doors, but grey will blend in equally well. Some householders like to have the best of both worlds by having grey on the outside of the frame and white inside, or the other way round. There are no rules. It’s up to you. One customer wanted his aluminium windows to be golden oak, so we made them in that colour.

Q: How do I clean my new bi-folding doors to make sure they look as good as when they were first fitted?

A: The frames can be washed down with soapy water. The glass panels inside can be made to sparkle with a good glass cleaner. Avoid doing this on the outside as it could remove the protective coating. Let the rain do its work instead.

Q: How secure are your doors?

A: All our bi-folding doors are fitted with high-quality, sturdy locks and toughened safety glass to give you peace of mind. Our doors conform to BS 6375 which is the British Standards for doors. To pass the BS test, the door has to endure being opened and closed more than 50,000 times without the door, frame, hinges or locking system failing. This is just one of many tests that have to be performed (CHECK). The locking system in place with each set of bi-folding doors is highly secure. Each time you lock the door eight bolts come shooting across to keep out intruders. The sliding mechanism is also designed with security in mind. The rollers which allow the doors to be folded back are built into the frame so that they cannot be moved. We’ve tried breaking into them ourselves to see how secure they are and have never been able to.  

Q: Why is aluminium such a good material?

A: Aluminium has many advantages over other types of material. Aluminium bi-folds are robust and built to last. Unlike wood, aluminium never warps or rots. They are easy to maintain and never need to be repainted because the frames are powder coated.

Another advantage is that the frames are extremely slim as the metal is so strong. This factor, combined with the large panes, allows lots of natural light to pour into the room and gives you a virtually uninterrupted view of your garden or patio when the doors are closed. When open, they fold right back on each other for optimum visibility.

Q: What type of glass can I choose for my door?

A: All our doors and windows are fitted with either Pilkington or PLANITHERM thermally insulating glass with a typical U-value of 1.1 (the measurement of heat loss through the thickness of the material) or lower on request. We offer a range of glazing options, including double and triple glazed units in thicknesses of 28 to 42mm, with weather-resistant seals. Up to 42mm is available for a triple glazed unit.

Q: Will my aluminium doors keep out the cold?

A: Burntwood Aluminium Systems’ doors are thermally efficient. In winter they will conserve the heat in your room, and in summer keep it cool.

Aluminium conducts heat easily. When it’s hot outside, the heat can come into your room. If the weather is cold, this can extract the heat. The way we get round this is to install a thermal break within the aluminium frame, separating it into interior and exterior pieces joined by a strip of polyamide, which is an extremely good insulator. The effect is to reduce the flow of heat through the aluminium, giving you protection against the elements and helping to reduce your energy bills.

Q: Are your bi-folding doors suitable for commercial use?

A: Yes. Burntwood Aluminium Systems supplies aluminium doors to a wide range of businesses, schools, college, leisure complexes and other organisations. We also fit heritage windows and secondary glazing on listed buildings. Our non-domestic customers include some of the biggest names on the High Street.

Q: How many leaves can I choose for my bi-folding door?

A: The beauty of a bi-folding door is that the design is flexible. You can choose how many leaves you want up to a maximum of 12. Usually we fit between two and eight panels. You need to decide too whether you want an odd or an even number. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that the more you have, the bigger the folded door will be in the open position. A good rule of thumb is to keep the number of glazed panels to a minimum for maximum visual appeal.

You can also choose which way the doors open. One option is to have them all opening outwards to make the most of the available living space, or you could have some opening the other way. There are a number of different configurations available, including ones which allow for an independently opening main door.

Q: How big is each bi-folding door?

A: This will depend on the individual property. The maximum width of each door is 1.2 metres. The maximum height is 3 metres which is ideal for an orangery, for example. The standard height is 2.1 metres.

We also manufacture bi-folding windows to window height.

Q: How long does it usually take to install bi-folding doors?

A: It can be done in half a day. It can take longer if we have to remove brickwork or install a roof, but it’s one home improvement which can be finished quickly.