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The latest generation of aluminium sliding patio doors offers sophistication and technical excellence that is justifiably gaining renewed awareness among homeowners. Better designed than ever with more robust, slimmer frames and functionality, sliding patio doors are best for creating a glass wall that provides uninterrupted views, more light and a real connection with the outside, giving a feeling of well-being.

Why choose sliding patio doors

While doors with folding operations are popular, sliding patio doors offer features you won’t find in a bifold door, such as larger glass panels and the fewest visible mullions. They offer more design possibilities and are a very popular choice for architectural glazing.

Sliding patio doors buying guide

Not sure which aluminium sliding patio door is best for your project? Everything you need to know about these and other patio doors.

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Advantages of sliding patio doors in aluminium

Similar to the bifolding door, the sliding patio door is a wall of glass and allows you to open up the entire space, letting the light flood in. You get a view of the garden or a spectacular vista, such as a high-rise, mountain or coastal, all year round, in all seasons, making you feel closer to nature.

The bonus with sliding patio doors is the glass panels can be significantly larger; you have less vertical frame to interrupt the view. For example, the average bifold door panel is 1.2 m, and a sliding door panel can be up to 4 m wide! The only downside is that unless you have space in your wall for a pocket, one door will always be closed.

With sliding patio doors, you can create flush floor levels and provide a seamless transition from inside to out, perfect for children and accessibility issues. For new builds or extensions, you can incorporate designs such as open corners and pocket walls where the doors can be parked whilst open.

For architectural glazing designs, you can incorporate almost frameless, minimal slim doors, fixed glass or open-corner designs.

At the premium end of the market, sliding patio doors are designed with the lightest and smoothest slide action. For the ambitious, grand sliding doors at extreme sizes create dramatic glass sliding walls. Motorisation and automatic open/close sensors can be included for extremely large doors or accessibility solutions.

Types of aluminium sliding patio doors

Many of the leading aluminium systems companies in the UK now offer a sophisticated range of sliding patio doors with a broad spectrum of designs, aesthetics, performance and functions. You can even design a modern sliding door to disappear into a wall pocket as well as having a full open corner design, motorisation and automatic open/close sensors.

Sliding doors will usually feature flat profiles giving a clean appearance on the horizontal and vertical profiles. Ultra high-end sliding patio doors can accommodate glass panels of up to 15 square metres.

Standard sliding doors are available from two to six panels. They can be fitted stand-alone or as part of a screen spanning one or more floors. Many specialist door providers offer aluminium sliding doors with virtually no limitations on the number of sliding panels available. However, when choosing new sliding patio doors, it’s important to understand sliding door sizes, and the role these play in the design of a new extension especially.

In considering a sliding door for the home, there are four types to choose from:

Inline sliding doors

Inline sliding patio doors feature the familiar arrangement where doors slide within their frame. Inline sliding doors come with the option of fixed or sliding panels, depending on their size and configuration.

Slim sliding doors

Slimline aluminium sliding patio doors are the latest generation of doors designed to provide a minimalist or near-frameless appearance. Other names for these types of thin-framed patio sliding doors are panoramic sliding doors, slim and ultra-slim sliding doors, floor-to-ceiling sliding doors, frameless sliding doors, or minimalist-framed sliding doors.

cortizo cor vision sliding doors in a modern room with lakeside views

Lift and slide sliding doors

Lift and slide aluminium sliding patio doors work with more sophisticated gearing and components. The door handle rotates to lift the entire door panel away from the frame, then sliding as usual. The benefit of lift and slide doors is ventilation and more flexibility as a door set.

aluminium doors and windows maintenance showing a large set of grey sliding doors

Tilt and slide aluminium doors

Similar to lift-and-slide doors, the tilt-and-slide arrangement offers a tilt facility when the doors are closed for convenient ventilation.

Take a look at our article for further information on the different types of sliding patio doors.

PVCu sliding patio doors versus aluminium sliding patio doors

Buying aluminium for large patio doors remains the most popular material because no other material goes further in terms of sizes, styling options, or capability, and aluminium has numerous benefits over PVCu, for example:

Slimmer sightlines
Wider choice of frame styles
Modern aesthetic
Premium, luxury styling
More colour options
Steel-look and Crittall® style glazing possible
Environmentally friendly and sustainable material

If you want wood on the inside to suit your home’s ambience, there are brands that offer real wood on the inside with low-maintenance, modern-look aluminium on the outside, which gives you the best of both worlds.

Why choose sliding patio doors in aluminium

Above all, when the largest glass sizes, the more complex design configurations, the best views, the maximum light transmission and a minimal slim frame are required, only aluminium sliding doors meet these requirements.

Sightlines are now one of the most significant considerations when buying sliding patio doors, and nothing is as thin or near-frameless as a slider. Check out who makes the slimmest sliding doors.

The technical excellence, security, energy efficiency, smooth operation , and multi-function of sliding doors make them perfect patio doors. They also have the advantage of powder-coated aluminium, with hundreds of colours to choose from and even the option of added protection for those in coastal environments.

Many brands offer aluminium sliding patio doors. Our article outlines some of the best aluminium sliding doors to help you navigate all the possibilities.