Internal Bifold Doors: FAQs

Bifold doors are not just any average door although, there’re not much different. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t lots of frequently asked questions surrounding the topic. Here we will answer some of those FAQ’s for you.

How to Lock an Internal Bifold Door

If you're installing internal bifold doors to connect your dining room and kitchen together then it's unlikely that you're going to need to add locks for those rooms. However, internal bifold doors are also popular choices for bathrooms as they allow homeowners to maximise the space within the room, without having to keep large amount of floor space free for doors to open and close. In these instances, a lock on your bifold door is likely to be a very welcome addition. For internal bifold doors, a normal lock at the opening end of the door would be useless, due to the fact that simply pushing the door in the middle would release the catch from the lock and allow the door to be opened. Simply swapping a standard lock for a bolt that could be shot in to the floor or ceiling would solve this problem, though this does mean a hole would need to be put either in to the ceiling or the floor; something which not all homeowners may be happy to do. The most popular way to lock an internal bifold door is to use a hook and eye lock to close the door from the inside. They have the added bonus of being simple and quick to fit, too. If you want the lock to be able to be operated from the outside of the room, fitting a hook and eye lock to the centre of your doors will allow you to secure the folding mechanism, and use a traditional lock to prevent the door from opening. Some people also reuse their sash fasteners as locks for their doors, too.

What Handles for Internal Bifold Doors and Where to Fit Them?

The answer of this question does depend on a few things. One of those factors, is which way the door folds, for example, if you have to push in to open and pull to close or whether you have to push in to close and pull to open. The handle affects this so you need to figure out where is the best place to put the handle. If your doors are pull to open, the best place to put your handles is on the pulling side of the door, on the opening side of the door. Otherwise known as the side that follows the guide, opposite to the hinge side. You always want to keep the handles on this side so they do not bother the folding process of the doors. There are lots of different types of handles for internal bifold doors. Some people like to use simple small knobs, the kind you would see on a wardrobe door, or on a chest of drawers. Others like to use some more average door handles.  However, some more of the useful door handles, are the ring pull, flush handle hinges and flush recessed. If you use door handles like that, it wouldn’t matter which side you decided to put the handle on. This is because the handles are flush to the door, so it will not affect the folding process of the door.

Do I Need to Install a Bottom Track for My Internal Bifold Doors?

The simple answer to this question is a solid no. However, you can, depending on what you want from your bifold door. Not having a bottom track means the door will rely on the top-hung system, which means that your door will have a smoother folding motion with a little more flexibility. If you feel as if your door needs more guidance and support during its path, bottom tracks will help the door out with that. If your doors are super heavy then it is worth having the bottom tracks just to support that weight, balance it out and prevent unnecessary stress on the door frame.

Can I Change How My Internal Bifold Doors Open?

You can change the way your internal bifold doors open without too much trouble. It is just simply a job of taking your door off, swapping the tracks around to the other way and then placing the door back on, the other way. After you have taken your door off the tracks, simple unscrew the tracks from the wall and door frame. For the bottom bracket, just unscrew it and place it on the other side of the wall. For the guides, you’ll need to take it off then turn it around and screw it back into the door frame. After you have done this, you need to place the door back onto its guides and it will open the opposite way it was opening before. Bifold doors aren’t too different from normal internal doors and they aren’t much easier to fix or change either. Simple problems have easy solutions; you just have to know how to do it correctly. Fixing the problems or changing something about your doors shouldn’t take too long either, and should go along without any hassle.