When it comes to embracing your home’s connection to the outdoors, patio doors play a crucial role. They’re a transition point from your living space to your backyard for entertaining guests, enjoying a sunny afternoon or relaxing with a good book.
Choosing the right type of patio door—whether folding, sliding, or another option—can significantly impact how you use your space, and how often.
Here are some considerations to keep in mind to ensure your patio doors maximize both function and flow.
1. Consider the Layout of Your Space
Before you even select a door type, you might want to think about the layout of your home. Ideally, the patio door should be conveniently located near areas where food and drinks are prepared, like the kitchen and dining room. This minimizes the distance you need to cover when transporting items outdoors, making hosting easier and more enjoyable.
If you’re carrying a tray of meat and vegetables to the barbeque, what path will you take? Is it an efficient direct path? It’s something to think about.
Normal flow beyond the kitchen matters, too. Will the location enhance overall flow through the home, or will furniture need to be relocated? What about flow for a larger volume of people during a party? Does it enhance movement and conversation, or interrupt it?
It’s not uncommon for homeowners to solve challenges with flow or location by having the door opening moved, or opening up a window space to create a door. This can dramatically improve enjoyment and use of the new door.
2. Choosing Between Folding and Sliding Doors
Folding Patio Doors:
- Pros: Folding patio doors, often called bifold doors, open wide to create a seamless connection between your indoor and outdoor spaces. When fully opened, they don’t overlap like a sliding door, offering an expansive view and unobstructed passageway, perfect for large gatherings.
- Cons: While they provide great aesthetics and flow, they can require more space to operate. Ensure you have enough wall space for the panels to fold without obstructing other areas. Also consider the location of where the panels fold, since that can impact view and traffic. This is especially true for larger ceiling-height multifold doors that create an entire wall of glass, since they often have multiple stacking panels that take up a substantial amount of space. One additional “con” to consider is that a multifold door hangs from the ceiling, which often requires a contractor to come in and fortify the header to support the extra weight.
Sliding Patio Doors:
- Pros: Sliding doors are generally more space-efficient than folding doors, as they don’t require additional room to swing open. They glide along a track, allowing for easy access without taking up valuable floor space. This can be particularly advantageous in smaller homes or for areas with limited clearance.
- Cons: Sliding glass doors provide a sleek, modern look and are often more budget-friendly than folding alternatives. However, regardless of the number of moving panels, they typically create a narrower opening as the panels stack against a fixed one. The notable exception is a pocket door, which allows the panels to slide neatly into the wall.
Larger Multi-Slide Patio Doors:
For a large multislide door with multiple sliding panels, often ceiling height or taking up an entire wall, a few extra pros and cons should be considered.
- Pros: These have expansive panels of glass, which can be substantially larger than what a multi-fold door can accommodate. This gives you more of an unobstructed view. They carry the weight of the panels along the bottom track instead of hanging from the ceiling like a multifold door, making them easier and less expensive to install. They also have more options for a screen.
- Cons: These require one track per panel, so a multislide door with four or more panels will require quite a few tracks disrupting your flooring. And unless it’s a pocket door sliding into the wall, they require at least one fixed panel. The entire wall doesn’t open.
Additional Considerations:
When it comes to choosing a folding or sliding patio door, the size of your opening and budget may dictate your choice. It’s also important to consider the structural integrity of the opening, since certain types of large patio doors hang from the ceiling (requiring substantial support or construction) versus sliding along a track on the floor.
A few other things to consider might be how well the new doors complement the overall look of your home, and what the view looks like when the door is closed. For example, folding doors block more of the view than a sliding door, since the frame is much thicker to support the weight of the glass.
Location of the main operating panel is critical, since you’ll want easy access. It’s the panel you’ll open and close the most for simple daily traffic. Which side of the opening will it be located on? Is it roomy enough for several people to walk out side-by-side, especially if it swings? Is it close to a light switch? Do you need a retractable screen to keep bugs out and pets in, while allowing air to circulate?
The last thing to consider is the weight of the door for ease of opening it and closing it. If the homeowner is elderly and physical strength is a concern, they may want to avoid a potentially heavy door or upgrade to commercial rollers if it’s a sliding door.
3. Assess Your Usage Needs
Think about how you plan to use your patio doors. If you frequently entertain guests or enjoy alfresco dining, a larger opening may be necessary. Conversely, if your outdoor space is more of a private retreat, a sliding door might be more appropriate.
For Entertaining: If hosting is a priority and you have a lovely backyard living space, consider folding doors or a multi slide with a pocket, which provide a wider opening. You might even want to incorporate features like a separate pass-through window to serve food and drinks directly from the kitchen to the patio.
For Everyday Use: If the doors will be used primarily for everyday access, and enjoying that feeling of bringing the outdoors in, sliding doors may provide a more practical solution. They’re simple to open, close and lock securely.
They also might provide a stronger safety measure if you have children or pets. If you have a swimming pool, you’ll want to confirm any product you choose will meet local code requirements for pool safety.
In general, you’ll want to ensure the door is easy to operate and that there’s enough space for comfortable movement.
4. Enhancing Flow with Design Elements
The design of your patio doors should also complement your overall aesthetic and enhance the flow between the indoors and outdoors. Considering how you’d like them to look, and how much of the view you’d like to see might help you decide if you’d like a standard height, or something taller. If budget allows, you can create a stunning effect by having glass doors that stretch up to the ceiling.
There are also design elements to consider. Do you want the sleek look of aluminum, the warmth and character of a wood interior, the cost savings of vinyl or the performance of fiberglass? Big doors are more suitable in aluminum, since they have the strength to handle immensely heavy glass panels, but do you want a specific color or finish? Do you want a thinner frame, or is a thicker one just fine? Are you looking for a specific type or color of hardware? These kind of design features and upgrades can limit a homeowner’s choices, or help them decide on a specific product.
One final thought. Large panes of glass maximize natural light and views, but they also dramatically reduce energy efficiency. Especially in the case of a ceiling-height product, homeowners might choose for aesthetics, not caring about energy efficiency at all, and others might prefer an energy-efficient product that includes low-E4 and/or tinted glass. Comparing energy efficiency ratings and choosing an Energy Star product might be something to consider.
5. Accessibility Considerations
Don’t overlook the importance of accessibility. No matter what product you choose, you’ll want to ensure the patio doors are easy to operate for young children, older adults and any disabled family or friends. The threshold should be low to minimize tripping hazards, and if walker or wheelchair access is important, choosing a product with a recessed floor track, or with one that’s completely level with the flooring, might be something to consider.
All patio door products come with tempered safety glass, so that doesn’t need to be a concern. Tinting or the slight green hue of some low-E products might be a good choice, if you’d like to ensure the glass is more visible when the doors are closed.
Conclusion
Designing patio doors that enhance flow and functionality can dramatically improve your outdoor experience. By carefully considering the layout, choosing the right door type, and incorporating thoughtful design elements, you can create a seamless transition between your home and backyard. Whether you opt for folding or sliding doors, the key is to ensure that they meet your lifestyle needs while providing an inviting connection to the beauty of the outdoors.
We have many of our patio door products on display in our Phoenix showroom, so schedule an appointment today if you’d like to check them out! We serve homeowners in Scottsdale and the Phoenix metro area.
Last updated March 3, 2025. Published Oct. 28, 2024
