A History of Bi-fold Doors

What is a Bi-fold Door?

A Bi-fold Door is a door that folds at a point not the hinge, the door is set on tracks or collapses in on itself. Two types or Bi-fold Door exist the first is used in houses, the door is broken into two parts and each part is then moved along a track to keep it in place, the second is used in warehouses and is lifted off the ground and folded in stages.

Origin

The origin of Bi-fold doors is in contention, some places say that the Bi-fold door was invented by them in the nineteen sixties, and another place say that they first used in the nine hundreds B.C. Upon further investigation, it would seem that each door had its own separate invention. The folding door or Bi-fold door that is used in houses was first used in King Solomon’s Temple in the late nine hundreds B.C. while the second type used in warehouses was designed in the late nineteen sixties.

Throughout the last century they have been in and out of popularity due to different styles and fashions used in the building industry. Most of the time they are used in smaller spaces such as closets, fashion trends of late have seen an increased use of the Bi-fold Door being used as an exterior door.

Positive traits

The positive traits of the Bi-fold Door are numerous, depending on what the Bi-fold Door is being made out of can determine its usefulness. Most closet Bi-fold doors are generally made out of wood or plaster and used to hide away the closet to make the room look more tidy, but when needed the Bi-fold door can be pushed aside and the closet accessed, if set up properly they can be used to access only a small section of the closet or opened completely to access the whole closet.

In a home setting outside Bi-fold Doors have been normally made out of glass, so that when closed they can still provide light to the enclosed area. When opened the Bi-fold door can turn a small inside room such as a dining room into a larger more spacious alfresco dining space. The Bi-fold door can still be used as a simple door if needed without having to open the whole Bi-fold door.

These doors can be designed in such a way that they don’t have to be attached, like most doors, to a support beam. They can be put at any point allowing the designer more flexibility in use of the room space or a better control of movement. A Bi-fold Door can be used as a wall or if needed open up a space to remove choke points.

Negative traits

Bi-fold doors have few negative traits, however because they are moveable means that when using the Bi-fold door is closed decorating the wall could be tricky. If the Bi-fold is an outside door and is not made of glass, then one side of the Bi-fold door could potentially fade faster than the other.

Are you looking for bi-fold door in Sydney? Visit our online store herehttps://www.dobermanwindows.com.au/products/doors/bi-fold-doors/ to check out our aluminium bi-fold door.