Property expert Dominic Arnold on finding the right doors to suit your property & lifestyle
Our firm has been providing extensions and conversions to private client for many years and we’ve found our customers to be mostly well versed in what kind of space they’d like, what it’s to be used for, how to furnish it and usually have a good sense in how the space will eventually look.
Glazing, however, is of equally enormous importance and needs to be considered at the very onset of discussions about design and in consideration of cost. While it’s a pretty straightforward matter to determine the cost of steel, plaster board, timber stud wall construction, brickwork and plastering, it’s an entirely different matter when it comes to bi-folding (tri/quad-folding) doors and bespoke patio (French-style) doors sets.
“Quad-folding doors are a fabulously practical mechanism”
We try to allow for maximum glazing in any development we’re involved with. This throws up some issues, and all different in each case. In conservation areas there is a maximum amount of glazing allowed under permitted development, to the rear of a building at least, before one needs to apply for planning permission. These constraints are in place to preserve the character of period property but can be very imposing when one wants to create large, architectural statements of glass roofing and fullly-glazed side returns; so often a simple, sensitive solution might be more appropriate. Quad-folding doors meet planning constraints in most cases and are a fabulously practical mechanism, bringing both the garden into the rear of the building and the kitchen into the outside space.
Options are pretty straightforward: timber (finished either in a factory-applied stain/varnish or painted in any colour from the RAL chart) versus aluminium (powder coated usually, with an exponential choice of colours). There are even uPVC versions but this article won’t be visiting that option here; call me a purist if you like but I hate them.
There used to be the assumption that aluminium doors lasted longer than timber but with modern running systems and the use of economic hard woods (like Meranti) timber doors can last for many years with little maintenance or issues. Other options include anti-solar, argon-filled, triple-glazed glass, with polished chrome handles and gaskets with a choice of flush thresholds and external and internal locking mechanisms.
French doors can sometimes be an alternative solution and might suit a building better. When we’re working on Victorian homes we find a full side-return extension lends itself better to quad-folding doors whereas a design that only opens up the internal walls to the rear of a building leaving the side space external is often suited better to a simple two leaf doors solution with fixed glazing either side. While this might be a less expensive option when considering off-the-shelf systems from a mass producer, bespoke versions of this design will incur similar costs to folding doors.
What do you require your doors to do? If the space immediately outside your kitchen is needed for alfresco meals and frequent access to the garden then folding doors are ideal as, if one has extended the kitchen floor directly beyond the doors, it’s no sweat to lift your dining table over the threshold through the wide opening and serve meals straight to the garden. However, if you’re of the opinion that the British weather can’t be relied on for glorious summers (and who could blame you currently?) then a simple French door set might be all you need for a cosy and traditional design.
In any case, consider the glazing early on in the design discussions and ensure you’re getting what’s just right for your home.”
Dominic Arnold
Dad to three, husband to one, MD of Cocoon Property Ltd, Brighton:
specialising in full-house refurbishments, eco-retrofit, loft conversions, kitchen extensions (side returns), interior design and condensation control.
01273 556800
www.cocoonproperty.co.uk
