Buyer’s Guide
Slider Door or Folding Door?
What you need to know before you decide.
Sliding patio doors have many great features
Easy to Use
- Panels slide along a track to open and close.
- Controlled ventilation: Open sliding panels only as much as needed at the time.
- Screen door available to allow airflow while keeping bugs our and pets in.
Space Saving
- Sliding panels do not encroach on living space or deck area at any time.
- Furniture can be place close to the door on both the inside and outside..
- Screen door is low profile and slides near panel.
Great View
- Larger glass panels can offer a great open view of the outside when the panels are closed.
- Less veritical separators than a folding door.
Reliable Operation
- Sliding panels are not connected to each other.
- No stress between panels.
- Simple operating system.
- Easy to repair.
- Bottom track supported.
However…
All sliding patio doors share the same disadvantage!
The Door Does Not Fully Open!
Because the sliding panels must remain on the track at all times, even when fully opened, much of the opening is blocked by both the stationary and moving panels.
Bi-fold Patio Doors:
The Good…and the Bad
Unlike the sliding patio door that is greatly limited on total open space, the bifold door offers a way to maximize the open area. It is for this reason they first became very popular with restaurants and stores. The bifold door offered a way to add an extra level of elegance or grandeur while helping to create an open atmosphere.
Unattractive Hardware
However, bifold patio doors loose many of the benefits of the sliding door and have added limitations.
- Bifold patio doors hang from the header often requiring substantial retrofitting before installation.
- Bifold patio doors require much more hardware to operate making the door more difficult to maintain.
- More difficult to operate because you have of the many locks and pull handles that must be used.
- Door panels leave the line of the track when folding. This prevents the positioning of furniture or other items near the door.
- More space is needed on the inside and outside.
- The operation often deteriorates over time as the panel-to-panel hinges age.
- Expansion of the panels can cause binding.
- Complete operation failure is a possibility.
Panoramic Doors The Next Generation Patio Door
All the benefits of the slider, none of the failings of a bifold!
You are in control
All Panels Closed
Main Door Open – Panels Closed
Open with Center Opening Created
All Panels Open
Main Door Open Panels Separated
Open with Center Wind Break Created
How the panoramic Door operates
Key Features
The Many Unique Design Features of the Panoramic Door
Main Swing Door
Every Panoramic folding patio door comes with a master swing door at one end. This door serves as the primary access in and out. As most of the time, you will be using your door with the rest of the panels in the secured position having the main swing door is both convenient and practical.
Bottom Track Supported
Avoid major header construction with our bottom track supported system. Traditional bi-fold patio doors stress your top support beam with hundreds or thousands of pounds of weight. This added weight often requires a completely new header to be installed. Not so with a Panoramic Door.
Variable Panel Placement
With independently operation panels, you can move them to the optimal position to suit your needs at the moment. You can move them all together, or space them out over the span of the opening to manage airflow.
Clean and Elegant
It was important to us that our doors be modern in both
Magnaline Hardware™
The patented Magnaline™ Hardware utilizes permanent magnetic attraction to hold the sliding panels off the wheels to allow it to swing open. This unique design is the secret to the way the Panoramic folding patio operates and why we call it a “slide-and-fold” patio door.
Tongue & Groove
Interlocking Panels
A second patented feature of the Panoramic Door system is the tongue-and-groove interlock between the slide and fold panels. The tongue-and-groove superior security and weather rating.
Track Options
Choose from a variety of track options according to your weather and design needs. Recess your track for a smooth transition from inside to outside.
Thermally Stable eeCore™
eeCore™ is next-generation thermal technology. A combination of aluminium and PVC makes it possible to build a stronger, more thermally efficient door system that is suitable for all weather conditions.
Designed for All-Year Use
The door that gives you the most options!
1. Panels Fold Out Out at End
Each panel slides along the bottom track and only folds out when it gets to the end of the opening. This allows you to place furniture right up to the door without being required to move them when opening or closing your door.
2. Control Ventilation and Traffic Flow
Individual panels allow you to control both ventilation and traffic flow by the way you position the panels. Move one or more panels at a time to customize the opening to fit your needs.
3. Clean Design – No Connecting Hardware
Panoramic Doors’ unique design removes the panel-to-panel hardware for a clean elegant design inside and out.
4. Low Profile Bottom Track
Our bottom track is only 3 inches from inside to outside and a low 1 ¾ inch high. Inset the track for a seamless transition from inside to outside.