Interior Folding Door Design

Folding doors are generally associated with exterior applications, used for things like removable walls on a swimming pool area or making the patio on a beach house easily convertible into a sealed room. Consider, however that there are many possible beautiful and practical interior applications for folding doors.

Folding doors combine the elegance of French doors with the space-saving convenience of accordion doors. They are ideal for when you need to separate rooms for purposes of heating, cooling or sound, but would like the space to still feel open and large. Unlike sliding glass doors, these doors can easily be tucked away on one side of the room or the other, thus enabling you to open up just about any room.

This type of door may accordion-fold to some degree, but they differ from accordion doors in several ways. The individual panels tend to be bigger. They may be bi-fold doors (doors consisting of two panels). Also, as already suggested, they normally are made mostly of glass, as aesthetic properties are paramount. Folding doors can be arranged to bunch to either one or both sides of an opening.

Since interior folding doors don't have to withstand weather and the elements, they can be constructed from a wider variety of materials and in a wider variety of styles than exterior folding doors. They can be made of wood, metal, glass, or some combination of two of these, or even all three, depending on the look and function you wish to achieve. When building using wood, it is best to work with the natural color of the wood rather than stain light wood dark or try to paint over wood that is naturally beautiful.

These doors can even be automated. A geared electric motor with a torque limiter (a torque limiter prevents the motor from turning too fast or applying too much force) can, when connected to an endless chain running parallel to an overhead track and coupled to the lead post, can open and close the door with a minimum of effort. This can then be combined with other automating features, such as remote controls, radio controls that can operate over distance, or be coordinated from a preprogrammed PC to open and close automatically at certain times of day.

For interior applications, folding doors can come in a variety of styles. Folding doors can be made to look like French doors (except, of course, with more capacity for opening and being tucked away). You can emulate French doors, adapt to the colonial styling or ranch styling of your home, or go for an ultra-modern look. You will find that there are doors readily available that suit the look of your house.

Any modification to your home is obviously a substantial investment. As a way of dividing up space, limiting the area you heat or cool, controlling sound, or directing how rooms are used, folding doors may provide a substantial aesthetic and practical return on your investment. They also may turn out to be more affordable than you think, and you may find uses for folding doors that you can't even imagine yet.

When you're buying a new house or refurnishing and remodeling an older one, there are plenty of things to consider-what color you'd like to paint your walls, whether you need to replace your insulation, how to seal corners and edges so that they don't get dirty, whether to replace the floor or add new sections.

One aspect that many people don't consider, however, is the doors inside the home.

Why are house doors so important? Well, they are used very, very often without us even realizing it. If we have an annoying door whose lock is broken, it bothers us when we're going to the restroom or trying to find some solace in our own room.

Doors can be bothersome if they are too heavy, difficult to open, or easily jammed, so plenty of consideration must be given for the type of house doors you want and the way in which you install them.