Bringing the outdoors in is an enormously popular trend – one that has been around for quite some time and seems, will be here for a long time to come.

 

One of the easiest ways of opening up your home to the outdoors is by installing stacking or fold away doors. Charl Jacobz, from Swartland Wooden Windows and Doors, offers some pointers on what to look for when investing in these beautiful fixtures.

“Sunny days call for long, lazy lunches in the garden and late-night entertaining under the stars, and by installing fold away doors in your home, entertaining outside couldn’t be easier.  Otherwise known as stacking or concertina doors, fold away doors allow you to open the interior of your home to its outdoor surrounds – creating a seamless indoor-outdoor flow. Furthermore, their floor-to-ceiling composition will make the most of your home’s outdoor views and let in an abundance of natural light into your interior spaces,” explains Charl.

What are concertina doors?

Concertina doors are a kind of folding door that comprise various “sections” or hinged doors that can be opened and pushed aside so that they stack in a concertina-style on either one or two sides of the opening. The fact that they can be opened and neatly stacked away to the side makes them a great option for maximising the free-flow of space and creating a feeling of openness that marries the outdoors with the indoors.

 

“The seamlessness between this marriage is further enhanced by the fact that the configurations of doors run on tracks that are flush with the floor underfoot and the frame overhead, so there is no visual divide between indoor and outdoor spaces. These doors are also a great option as a room divider, allowing you to create a wide-open interior space when required, or alternatively, two smaller spaces the rest of the time,” explains Charl.

What to look out for

As beautiful as these doors may be, Charl notes that they also require a sizeable investment to install them and as such, great care needs to be taken to choose only the best quality stacking doors possible: “There are a lot of inferior-quality fold away doors out there and it is important to know how to tell good quality apart from bad.” He offers the following pointers on what consumers should look out for when buying fold away doors for their homes:

 

Effortless functionality: You should be able to test how the doors work by opening and closing sample doors in the retail outlet you are visiting. The doors should be perfectly weighted and balanced, making functionality smooth and effortless and offering a uniform, easy-opening action. The doors should not be too heavy to open and ought to flow effortlessly along their tracks.

Frame power: Stacking doors should come fully assembled in a frame, ready to be installed (glass excluded). It is crucial to check the frame – it should be thick enough to ensure stability. The frame should also boast adjustable doorframe stiles to accommodate the inevitable movement of the wood, thereby minimising the wood’s standard swelling and shrinkage action.

Standard or custom-made: You should be able to buy standard fold away doors, or if the aperture in which you want to install them is very large or boasts an unusual measurement, you should be able to have these custom-made to fit these particular measurements. Fold away doors come in a wide range of configuration and sizes – they are available in 813mm door widths, and come in 3-door, 4-door, 5-door and 6-door configurations.

 

Check out the hardware: Have a good look at the tracks, locks and bolts that come standard with these doors. Fold away doors boast high quality brass hardware, cylinder locks and bolts for optimum security and longevity.

Able to withstand the elements: Like standard windows and doors, stacking doors should be able to withstand the elements and as such, it is essential that wooden stacking doors are properly sealed. The bottom of the door and sill of fold away doors for example, are well sealed with waterproof PVA. These doors also boast rubber seals for exceptional insulation – maintaining the desired temperature indoors, and keeping the wind and the cold out when necessary.

Made for South African conditions: Good quality wooden stacking doors should be made from kiln-dried timber, as it allows the moisture content to be controlled more easily than if timber is air-dried. It also helps to maintain the properties of the timber within various climatic conditions. The ideal moisture content for the South African climate is 8%, and as such, wood should ideally be kiln-dried.

Choose a green material: It is important to do your bit for the environment and ensure that the doors you choose are made from sustainable materials. Wood used for these doors should be monitored by supplying sources, giving preference to responsible loggers. Make sure that logging is sustainable guaranteeing that only the best eco-friendly materials are used for products.

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