Can you have blinds in bifold doors?

When it comes to blinds for bifold doors there are a few of options, you can either opt for blinds that hang down from the ceiling above, choose blinds that clip on to the internal face of the doors or you can choose integrated blinds where the blind system is incorporated within the sealed unit of the glass.

Option 1 – Integral blinds

With this style of solution, available from IDSystems, the blinds themselves are incorporated between the glass in the sealed unit of the doors itself and operated via a magnet that controls the blinds through the pane of glass.

Available as Venetian blinds, the entire system is sealed within the glass at the point of manufacture and with no external forces operating on the individual elements of the blinds the solution is not impacted by the wind or by little fingers in the same way as clip on or hanging blinds are.

The other big benefit of integral blinds is that because they are sealed within the glass they never get dusty or dirty so there are no fiddly bits to try and keep clean!

Option 2 – Clip on blinds

For blinds that sit outside of the frame and supplied by others, the options are large, with roller blinds, pleated blinds and even Venetian blinds as options and you also have a wide choice of colours and fabrics. You can also wait until the doors are installed before choosing the blind system to match your internal décor. It really depends on your budget and the look you are trying to achieve.

The downside of this type of external blinds is that by attaching the blinds to the frame you are increasing the size of the frame and reducing the amount of glass that is visible – which can be seen as a compromise given that you would have chosen large glass doors to maximise the amount of light you let in.

Option 3 – Hanging blinds

Typically designed as roller blinds that are attached the ceiling above the door system and supplied by others, these hanging blinds are a popular option because when rolled up into their housing they do not obstruct the doors and the amount of light let through in any way – out of sight and out of mind.

The challenge for hanging blinds however tends to be that they really need to be either all open or all closed, because should you choose to open the doors themselves, then there is a danger that these blinds get damaged in the wind.

Can I have integral blinds in triple glazed doors such as the vistaline?

Typically we would install integral blinds between the panes of a double glazed unit, however it is possible, dependent on the system and the thickness of the glass, to incorporate blinds between two of the panes of glass in a triple glazed door, such as the vistaline slide and turn system.

Can I have integral blinds in aluminium windows?

For our Vision53 and Thermo65 window systems, it is possible to incorporate the integral blinds within the double (or triple) glazed units, subject to the size of the sash. It is not possible to incorporate the blinds within our heritage windows because the spacer bars between the glass (where the horizontal bars across the glass are located) would prevent the blinds from operating.

Can I have integral blinds within the panels of a sliding door?

Unfortunately it isn’t and for a few reasons. Firstly, the maximum width of the blinds themselves makes them impractical for the larger panels typically found within a sliding doors. Secondly, because the sealed units of sliding doors tend to be much larger than bifolds, the thickness of glass has to increase meaning the space between the two panes is not sufficient to accommodate the blinds unit. Third, and most crucially, the blinds are operated by a control unit on the outside of the glass, with sliding doors where each panel slides behind the next, there is not space between the panels for the control unit to fit.

Find out more about the range of blinds we offer for bifold doors, sliding doors, windows and glass roof lights.