Triple crown
A new generation of aluminium products are redefining the inline sliding door, according to Steve Mines, sales director at Sliders UK.
Glass and aluminium have come together to dominate contemporary architectural design. The home improvement market has been influenced by this shift, if on a more modest scale.
Flat roofs, aluminium rooflights and increasingly aluminium inline sliding and bifolding doors are being combined to elevate the humble home extension to a completely new platform.
The Ultimate Aluk Aluminium Inline Sliding and Lift-and-Slide doors from Sliders UK, is part of a new generation of aluminium inline sliding doors, designed to deliver exceptional performance and end-user appeal, including PAS 24 certification and Part Q approvals.
There are a number of things which really work for this door. The first is that it’s exceptionally flexible. We can supply it in a mono, dual or tri-rail option while the Ultimate Inline Sliding Door accommodates door heights of up to 3,000mm and maximum weights per panel of 400kg.
This delivers a huge number of options. You can go very large with a two-track system or introduce even greater flexibility with a triple track option.
Available in a choice of single or dual colour options, the BSC94 is also available from Sliders UK in an ultra slim sightline 45mm interlock option, this minimises vertical sightlines, something that allows retailers to offer and pitch it as an alternative to aluminium bifolds.
The 45mm interlock option is a really strong selling point. It’s a stand out feature of the door for the reason that it doesn’t stand out. This allows you to develop an alternate retail proposition.
It gives you that year-round connection between your home and garden, whatever the weather.
The other advantage specific to the triple track option is that the three panels will stack neatly on top of one another, so that two thirds of the aperture is open, without taking up space inside or outside the home.
Accommodating triple-glazed units, it also delivers: U-values as low as 1.5W/m2K; a Class 4 air tightness rating (600PA); a Class 7A (300pa) water tightness rating; and C4 wind load rating of 1,600PA.
The Ultimate Aluminium Sliding Door is similarly easy to operate, something which may give it the edge when pitched to older buyers.
Not everyone wants to be fussed with a bifold, and want something that is that little bit simpler to open and close. We might like to think isn’t going to be an issue for us now, but which is likely to be more important as the UK population ages. It’s why PVCU inline sliding doors still retain a large share of social markets.
Sliders UK also supplies the Ultimate Inline Sliding Patio Door. Available in two, three and four-leaf configurations, this PVCU offer accommodates maximum openings of up to 5,950mm wide.
The first inline sliding patio door to achieve an SBD accreditation, it features a high performance eight-point locking system with dead-bolt and one-piece keep. This is combined with a dual-purpose anti-lift/sash stabilising trim that increases security and assists in the smooth location of lock into the keep plate.
With a robust anti-pick, drill and tamper cylinder and handle, it’s available in Part Q approved and PAS24 options.
Sliders UK also supplies the Part Q and PAS24 Ultimate Eurocell Inline Sliding Door. Available in two, three or four pane options it’s a simple-to-install, high performance, PVC patio door, accommodating a 28mm IGU.
It also features integral gaskets and a patented knock-in bead system, to enable rapid and problem-free installation, while a fully bevelled profile delivers slim, clean sightlines, achieving U-values as low as 1.2Wm2/K.
I’m not arguing that we’re seeing the beginning of the end of the aluminium bifold. Manufacturing the Ultimate Evolution Aluminium Bifold and Aluk BSF70, they’re still a key part of our product portfolio and that of most of the industry.
What we’re seeing, however, is diversification of offer. We’re now better placed to offer not only our customers but ultimately the end-user a more flexible product offer.
What’s very encouraging is that while aluminium bifold door sales continue to grow, we’re also seeing growth in sales of aluminium inline sliding doors. That’s something which is very healthy for our industry and the end-user.
