Lift and Slide Doors: Benefits and Considerations
Lift and slide doors are often chosen for passageways to garden areas due to their numerous advantages. They are becoming increasingly popular due to their exceptional living and operating comfort, outstanding stability, tightness, and energy efficiency. These sliding doors also provide excellent protection against break-ins, making them the ideal solution for patios, balconies, and sunrooms.
What are Lift and Slide Doors?
These are a special type of sliding doors whose panel can be lifted by turning the handle from its sealed position. The panel can then be moved sideways on rollers or a trolley as desired. It's possible to lock the sliding door at any position by lowering the handle.
What Is the Best Material for Lift and Slide Doors?
There are many high-quality lift and slide doors available on the market, such as those from Oknoplast. The panel can typically be up to 9,84 ft wide, allowing for a passage width of 9.51 ft. Common materials used include:
- Wood,
- UPVC,
- Light metal (aluminum),
- and combinations of these
Pros and Cons
- Effective Thermal Insulation: The excellent insulating properties lead to high energy efficiency, making lift and slide doors suitable for both renovated old buildings and new constructions.
- Accessibility: A seamless transition between indoor and outdoor spaces (patio, sunroom, or balcony) significantly simplifies life for people with mobility difficulties due to illness or age.
- Burglar Protection: The lifting and lowering principle prevents burglars from easily prying open the sliding door. (This also prevents wind whistling, which is common in some patio doors.) Good suppliers offer lift and slide doors with burglar-resistant fittings of the official resistance class RC 2. Naturally, other windows should also be well protected.
- Space-saving/shallow installation depth: In contrast to pivot doors, sliding doors require little additional space, as the pivot area corresponding to the door width is eliminated.
- High Operating Comfort: The ease of sliding is due to the door panel being lifted with the seal when opened. This makes lift and slide doors easy to operate despite their large surface area.
Obviously, the sliding doors are heavy due to their size. Therefore, a sturdy frame construction is necessary to ensure optimal load-bearing capacity and easy operation.
Another risk is aging; the door requires regular maintenance to remain smoothly movable in its tracks. The tracks should always be kept clean, and the handle should be kept well-lubricated for smooth operation.
What to Consider When Installing?
It's important to only install a sliding door when the house is no longer settling, as even the slightest displacement or lowering of the tracks can make the door leak or become completely inoperable.
Lift and Slide Door Prices
Clearly, prices depend on dimensions, materials, and craftsmanship. The price range extends from smaller, simpler models costing several hundred dollars to large, elaborate lift and slide doors costing several thousand dollars. It's advisable to focus on quality and rely on reputable door and window manufacturers since it's a long-term investment.
In conclusion, lift and slide doors offer considerable advantages for passageways to outdoor areas, especially compared to traditional pivot doors. Those who prioritize quality and take maintenance seriously will enjoy their investment for a long time.
