Aluminium garden doors in Epsom: bifolds, sliders and French doors for the back of the house

The back of a 1930s semi in Stoneleigh or Ewell is where most garden doors in this part of Surrey go. Many have already had a single-storey kitchen extension, and the old patio door in it is often the first thing owners want to change.

Bifold or sliding door

At the same size, a bifold and a sliding door cost the same and take the same fitting time. So the choice comes down to how you use the garden.

• A bifold opens the whole width, which suits a family that has the doors fully open from May to September.
• A slider keeps more glass when closed, because its frames are slimmer and fewer. One panel moves for everyday use, and nothing needs room to stack inside or out.
• A slider has fewer moving parts, so there is less to adjust over the years.

On a narrow Stoneleigh garden, where a stacked bifold can block part of the patio, a slider is often the better fit. On a wide Ashtead garden with a terrace, a bifold makes more sense.

French doors

Where the opening is under about 1.5 metres, or the back room is a dining room rather than a kitchen, aluminium French doors are simpler and cheaper. They suit the post-war houses north of Leatherhead and the 1950s houses around Langley Vale, which usually have a single back door and a window that can be taken out together.

Making a bigger opening

Widening an opening means a new lintel or steel beam, and sometimes building control sign-off for the structural work. That is priced at the survey, after the wall has been looked at. The door price in our examples assumes the opening is ready or has been priced separately.