Origin OS-77 Sliding Door Review

The Origin OS-77 Sliding Door by Origin now provides homeowners and Origin dealers with a more standardised aluminium door as well as a more affordable option to the structurally glazed inline sliding door. Made in the UK, brand new and designed for both new build projects or as a replacement to old patio doors.  

In this review of the Origin OS-77 sliding door, we explain some of the features, compare it with other brands and tell you more about its construction and specifications.

What is the Origin OS-77 Sliding Door?

With a resurgence in patio doors for the home and especially sliding doors, the latest OS-77 door, and the thinner OS-44 models offer homeowners two more expertly-crafted door options from Origin.

Like all their products, only Origin makes their doors. Therefore you not only get the well-known Origin quality and service, but you also get the renowned 20-year guarantee. The new OS-77 is not intended to replace the existing structurally bonded, slimline sliding door.  Instead, these doors address the need for the more conventionally-styled door. As a brand, Origin remains one of the best known in the UK for made-to-order aluminium windows and doors.

Like all Origin products, these new sliding doors come via a network of Approved Origin Dealers, trained and approved to sell the entire range of Origin windows and doors for the home. The range also includes bifolding doors, two types of aluminium windows, front doors, residential doors and even garage doors.

Having seen the product recently, what you get is a very attractive door with a modern square profile.  It is not intended to create large panoramic doors. This door suits standard height doors in existing openings and the typical door heights designed in most new extensions.

Why Origin products differ from others

Before we take a look at the specifics of the new Origin sliding doors, it’s worth mentioning that the introduction of these doors now provides a complete one-brand solution in the home.  Aside from a roofing system, Origin pretty much has the entire house covered.  The advantage to the homeowner is the peace of mind in who makes your doors.

While many well-made brands exist, often installers source windows from one supplier, doors from another, sliding or bifolding doors from another.  For instance, they may like to sell Aluk or Smart Systems windows but prefer bifolds from another supplier, front doors from another.  While a 10-year guarantee is commonplace with residential installations,  the warranties available from supplier to your installer vary. As a result, your supplier offers you an extended guarantee without them having the same comeback to a supplier higher up their supply chain.

Origin like other sole-manufacturers differ.  The quality of the products is consistent, the colour matching precise, the service levels steady and the lead times better.  For the trade, this means a reliable source of supply from one manufacturer.  Assuming they like the products available, the homeowner benefits too. One brand also means a single-point of guarantee and, arguably, greater peace of mind.

As recently highlighted, when an Origin dealer ceased trading, the one-source supplier also offers the rare ability for the manufacturer to step in when things go wrong.

Origin Inline sliding doors – product highlights.

First of all, these doors look modern and ideal for replacing old doors as well as for new extensions.  You get mitred door corners that look neat.  On the inside of the doors are square glazing beads. The door proportions look good and especially on dark coloured doors such as the popular grey colour.

Visually, the doors look similar to other good patio doors on the market such as Reynaers CP155 or CP130, Smart Systems Visoglide and the Schuco product too.

The doors come in a 2, 3 or 4-panel configuration as well as the option of double or triple tracks. Door sizes range from a minimum of 1.8 metres wide for smaller doors, right up to 6.6m on a three panel set.

Glass options are flexible with toughened glass as standard.  Then there are upgrades such as laminated glass, solar or acoustic glazing, switchable glass or integral blinds. With thermally insulated frames and good specification units, the doors exceed current Building Regulations for thermal efficiency.

The OS-44 sliding door.

The OS-44 is the slimmer mullion option for a slightly narrower sightline.  While the thin interlocks on sliding patio doors are heavily marketed, our advice is to look at the aesthetics of the entire door set, not just the slim interlock.

Aside from the thinner interlock at 44mm compared to 77mm, there is nothing different between the two sets of doors.

Consumers are often misled into thinking a slimline sliding door is thin everywhere. With many products, this is not the case.  Some of the best brands come with interlocks bigger than 60mm, and a smaller profile comes with size limitations too.

Therefore while a door comes with a slimline mullion/interlock, you may not be able to have it.  It’s also worth checking with what profile the door achieves its weather and security certification.

Comparing Origin Sliding Doors with other brands.

With today’s standards for security, weather performance or components, there is no ‘bad’ product on the market.  Furthermore, installation and how well a product is made is what creates a reliable and functional product.

However, buyers interested in the more conventional sliding door such as the Origin OS-77 or OS-44 will invariably be looking at popular brands such as the Visoglide and Visoglide Plus products, sliding doors from Aluk and Reynaers.

Feature	OS-77	Smart Systems Visoglide	Aluk Optio BSC94	Reynaers CP130	Air 500LS	Sunflex SVG
Sliding Action	Inline	Inline & Lift/Slide	Inline & Lift/Slide	Inline & Lift/Slide	Inline & Lift/Slide	Inline & Lift/Slide
20-Year Guarantee	✓				25-Years
Interlock Sight Line	77mm	83mm	85mm	98mm	48mm	83mm
Slim Interlock Option	44mm	35mm	45mm	69mm		30mm
Number of Panels	2 and 3	2, 3 &4	2, 3 &4	2, 3 &4	2, 3 &4	Up to 8
Double & Triple Tracks	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Typical U-Value	1.8Wm2K	1.8Wm2K	1.7Wm2K	1.5Wm2K	1.6Wm2K	1.8Wm2K
Maximum Panel Height	2600mm	2500mm	2600mm	2700mm	2800mm	3200mm
Open Corner Option			✓	✓	✓	✓
Full RAL Colour Range	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Dual Colour	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Multi-point Lock	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Double or Triple Glass	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓

Therefore there is little to separate these doors with a similar aesthetic, design and construction.  Some features depend on the model specified as well as the sizes.  However, if you’re looking at any of the other brands in our table able, the Origin OS-77 or OS44 slimmer model is certainly another product to consider with them.

Origin OS-77 sliding door hardware

In addition to a well-made door, one of the best features of Origin is the quality of the components and hardware.  For instance, the rollers are from Ciilock Engineering.  Widely used in some of the best sliding doors in the world, Ciilock rollers on sliding doors provide the smooth and light sliding action even with heavy glass and big door panels.  Another feature of the door rollers is their self-levelling feature.  While any good installer will ensure a level and correctly-fitted track, the rollers self-adjust in the even of any imperfections on the sliding door track.  All the running gear on the latest Origin sliding doors are concealed for a neater look and a cleaner track.

Another great feature is the Blu door handles. Branded Origin, Blu hardware is meticulously made, coming in 316 marine grade stainless steel.  For the end-user, this means premium metals, durable fixings and handles built to last. The door handles are so good, they even withstand corrosive coastal environments.  The choice of Blu hardware is logical given their longevity and the overall product guarantee you get with this slider.

Available in either the OS-77 or the OS-44 is either a 500mm cranked pull handle both sides with hidden fixings. Additionally, there is an integrated lock and handle. This option provides a pull handle and the lock cylinder in one unit with a one-piece backplate.

Other Origin sliding door features.

As expected from a modern sliding system, Origin sliders come tested to the latest security and weather performance standards.  Doors meet the required security ratings and weather performance standards.

For installers, a range of accessories such as trickle vents, sub-cills and drip bars offer additional options as well as helping with varying site conditions. Glass options include units up to 36mm as well as the facility for integral glass blinds.

As powder-coated aluminium products, the doors come in any of 150 standard RAL colours or a different colour inside and out. Origin remains the best supplier in the UK for fast lead times on standard colour doors. Expect these doors on the unbeatable Your Lead Time Not Ours service.

The standard colours on fast lead times include Grey 7015 Matt, Anthracite Grey 7016 Matt, Metallic RAL 9005 and White RAL 9910 Gloss.

Origin OS-77 and OS-44 sliding doors. Summary.

Origin did not bring this door to market as a game-changing product.  What they’ve done is given their installers and end-users a sliding door option where for years there wasn’t one.  Choosing an Origin OS-77 or OS-44 sliding door means an excellent brand, with excellent quality construction, durable powder-coated finishes and high quality components.  With more than sixty sliding door brands on the market, there certainly is a lot of choices. However, speak to any Origin dealer and they’ll tell you the ultra-reliable service, ability to put things right, support, training, and lead times is what sells Origin products.

The OS-77 sliding door is, ideal for any property and installation. You can use these doors as exterior patio doors, in a new porch, as a balcony door or separate a conservatory.  The OS-44 is thinner at the door interlock providing slightly bigger glass sizes and a neater overall appearance, especially on smaller door sets. But both look great regardless of the model chosen.

The brand kudos of Origin is one good reason to consider these doors as an alternative to other doors such as those by Smart Systems, Aluk or SAPA. You can also pitch Origin with sliding doors by Reynaers or a Schuco product just like the bifold. Apart from the air sliding door range having a 25-year guarantee, the lead times and the warranty and the sole-manufacturer consistent quality are other good reasons to choose this new door.  What matters too is it’s also a good-looking door with lovely slide action end-users will love and the trade can easily fit.

We’d have liked to see a lift and slide option but this might come in the future.