Buying Steel look bifolding doors

Steel look bifolding doors are currently a very popular style. The minimalist black steel look bifolding door allows for wide openings and is popular for creating a seamless transition between the kitchen, living, and dining areas, enabling you to open up the entire back wall of the house with glass, allowing natural light to flood into your home.

This article covers everything you need to know about black steel look bifolding doors in aluminium.

What are steel look bifolding doors?

The black steel look or steel replacement refers to the slim black-framed windows and doors with a distinctive thin box grid design. This design, very much on trend, is known by various names, including Art Deco, 1920s, 1930s, black steel, industrial, heritage, and Crittall® style windows and doors.*

We don’t like to use the term Crittall® style or look as they are nothing like the iconic genuine steel Crittall® products. Other brands also manufacture windows and patio doors made of steel.

Steel windows and doors are at the top-end premium price and remain the best for sightlines, longevity, strength and desirability. Steel look bifolding doors in aluminium offers a cheaper alternative with the same styling and for most, the aluminium version will serve well.

Design considerations for steel look bifolding doors

To the best of our knowledge, no brand manufactures a specific steel-look bifolding door. What you get is a customised regular bifolding door. As a result, virtually all bifolding door brands offer the option to add bars to provide the steel look.

Next, you must consider the different choices of glazing bars across the various brands. The thickness of the glazing bars varies by supplier/manufacturer; however, 19mm, 25mm, or 40mm are the most common widths or thereabouts. They’ll always come in the same powder-coated colour finish as the frames. It’s also incredibly rare to hear of these coming off. However, it’s recommended that you make your window cleaner aware to be careful around the bars.

The glass units have additional spacer bars covered by the aluminium glazing bars. The purpose of these is to hide the inside faces and materials used to apply them to the glass. In most cases, it’s the installation company fits these bars to the doors on site. Rarely do they come factory-glazed.

Additionally, with design, you get all the functionality of regular bifolding doors without sacrificing features. Installation is the same, as are all the options with configuration. Also available is the flush/low threshold.

Consider the traffic door on a bifold set, which allows easy entry and exit without having to fold all the panels back every time, working just like a regular door.

Interior steel look bifolding doors

Given the popularity of these products, there’s every reason to consider them inside the home, too. They can be used as room dividers and partitions or to separate a conservatory from the main room. Most systems are bottom-hung, so you will always get a threshold at the bottom of the doors. There’s no specific aluminium system here, although there are top-hung bifold models, but these, too, rely on a track.

It’s the same exterior-grade bifold fitted inside the home. In this instance, a steel product may provide a better solution for when the slimmest lines and looks matter. Bear in mind as they are exterior doors, they often come double-glazed and thermally insulated – something not essential inside the home.

Alternatively, check out the single-glazed slide and turn systems.

Where to buy steel look bifolding doors

Here are some best examples of bifolding doors customised or re-engineered in the steel look. For more detailed information, visit this website’s general bifolding door area; we focus on the steel look design feature only below.

Aluco steel look bifolding doors

Using the Smart Alitherm and Heritage system, Aluco has done excellent work with steel look products.

Their interior doors and screens are particularly special. For bifolding doors, Aluco uses Smarts, which is widely available, but with Aluco, you get access to a broader range of door and window products to match. Aluco products come via a dealer network only. Contact us if you would like to be put in touch with an Aluco dealer working in your area.

Duration Windows Heritage steel look bifolding doors

Check out the Duration Windows Heritage bifold for aesthetics and arguably a more genuine look in the classic metal style.

This product is pretty special in using the heritage stepped sash similar to the one found on the hugely popular steel look French door design. The result is a more authentic look compared with the flatter profile on other bifolding doors using the standard sash profile.

The core product is the Visofold 6000 model, one of the slimmest folding sliding doors on the market. We’ve seen this door; it looks very credible and recommended.

Visofold 6000 steel look bifolding door

Using the same system as the Duration Windows product is the Visofold 6000 bifolding door using the standard profiles and the applied bars. You can find out more about this ultra-slim bifold.

Origin OB-49 steel look bifolding door

The Origin OB-49 slimline standard bifold also provides a solution for the steel look. With 110mm sightlines, this is product up there as one of the thinnest bifolds for mullion sightlines.

The great thing about the Origin product of course is the renowned Origin quality and long guarantee. The personalisation options with Origin doors are market-leading. 

The hardware is particularly good, as are the lead door handles using the Hafi handles. They’re not a heritage style, but they look just fine on this style of bifolding door.

Schuco ASS 70 steel look bifolding doors

The ASS70 Schuco bifold is another product widely used for the steel look with its 120mm sightlines, contemporary hardware and great design. Another great Schuco product is the ASS 70 FD HD model, as the door panels go up to 1.5m wide, giving a very distinctive wide look to this steel look.

The slide-and-fold action on a Schuco bifold is particularly impressive, as is the quality. You’re also getting a fine brand with a great reputation in the home.

Solarlux Ecoline steel look bifolding doors

The Solarlux Ecoline bifold is special. Made in Germany, superb build and quality, this exemplary design is highly engineered and is simply one of the best bifolding doors on the market today. As a steel look, it’s another to consider.

Solarlux is top-end for all manner of reasons. It’s also one of the slimmest at the mullions, with a sightline of 99mm. Best of all is the knowledge you’ve got probably got the finest bifold door on the market installed.

Sunflex steel look bifolding doors

Another superior bifolding door equally good as a steel look is the Sunflex product. The manufacturing quality and reputation of Sunflex is first class. They have some of the best bifolds with slim lines, impressive size capability and also Made in Germany.

The Sunflex product also comes as an equally impressive steel-look sliding door with the SVG slider range, which has better sightlines and less complexity than structural bonded systems.

There are, of course, many other bifolding door brands, all possible as steel look bifolding doors. Above all, it’s the bifolding door sightlines which give the best look. Some of the other quality bifolds don’t come with the thin mullion lines of the brands mentioned here.

Overall, it’s down to personal choice which brand of bifold door in the heritage, Art-Deco or contemporary style works best. Of course, budget is a consideration as well. If you would like some help selecting a suitable brand for your budget, please get in touch.