Useful information about the Folding doors
FOLDING DOORS CAN BE USED AS ROOM DIVIDERS IN A VARIETY OF SPACES
Folding door is a door installation that is made up of hinged door leaves. Folding door opens and closes with the help of a track. The track makes sure that the whole opening is utilized, but still so that the whole wide of the door does not take space from the opening, either from side of the door or the front of the door.
Folding doors are used as room dividers in homes as well as in industrial and agricultural environments. In these spaces folding doors are mainly used in bedrooms, dining rooms, warehouses, storages, garages and for example cow sheds. The door leaves can be folded either with end-, centre- or side folding systems.
The folding door installations door material depends mostly on the assembly. Wooden framed glass doors are usually used in apartments and square-type steel tubing covered with steel sheets or cladding is often used in agricultural and industrial buildings. Folding doors can also be automatic, soundproof and weatherproof which requires more from the door material and systems.
A FOLDING DOOR DOES NOT RESTRICT THE WIDTH OF THE OPENING
The door size is restricted typically by the door technical qualities or due to the folding door system requirements. When it comes to the folding door systems, the main restrictions are the weight per door leaf, the amount of door leaves and the size of the door leaf, which varies by the manufacturer. Helaform’s folding door systems enables the installation of eight door leaves per folding side. The weight of a door leaf can be up to 150 kg, while the width can be 1 m and the maximum height can be 4.5 meters. With these measurements the door opening can be up to 16 meters wide, if the door leaves are open on both sides of the opening.
WITH FOLDING DOORS, YOU CAN GET CREATIVE
In apartments folding doors can be a stylish part of the whole apartment interior décor. With folding doors, you can increase the diversity of your apartment and easily transform rooms into more spaces. It is a modern and practical option when you want stylish and different options to the traditional doors. When the opening is larger than normal, you can still get a practical solution to your opening with a folding door.
HOW TO CHOOSE FOLDING DOOR SYSTEM?
On this page you will find a list of components that make up a folding door system as well as a few easy steps to selecting them. We will use the 100 series components as an example, but the main principles apply in other series as well. There are of course some exceptions in the series and if you have any questions feel free to contact our sales department or our distributors.
1. SLIDING TRACK
In folding door systems, the sliding track is normally the same length as the door opening.
2. BRACKETS
You can choose either wall or soffit brackets. The number of brackets is chosen based on the track length. Typically, the bracket interval is 1 meter, so for example with a four meter track you need five brackets.
With folding door systems, you add one bracket per side to the total amount, which are added to the ends of the tracks where the door leaves are stacked. The so called EXTRA BRACKET helps the folding door system to carry the additional weight that comes from the stacked door leaves. The extra bracket is installed approximately 30 cm from the end of the track.
For example: The door leaves are stacked on the right and left, two additional brackets are added (4 m track = 5 brackets + 2 extra brackets = 7 brackets)
If needed you can also join two tracks with track joints or joint brackets. The joining of tracks is generally more common in heavier series.
3. HANGERS AND FIXING PLATES
Hangers are installed onto every second door leaf. There are two different types of hangers: 2-wheeled and 4-wheeled hangers. All hangers have a maximum weight capacity per door leaf based on the series. 4-wheeled hangers can carry more weight than the same series 2-wheeled hanger.
No hangers are installed in the last door leaf with uneven amount of door leaves. In these situations, a 4-wheeled hanger in the same series is installed to the previous door leaf to carry the extra weight. Uneven amount of door leaves are chosen only if it is necessary due to the size of the door leaf or if uneven amount of door leaves are used so that the last door can be used as an entrance door.
The folding door systems fixing plate mostly determine the folding door system that is used. Endfolding systems requires different fixing plates then centrefolding systems or side fixing systems. The door material also determines the fixing plate that should be chosen as for example welding hinges that are used with metal folding doors are already found on the metal folding door hangers body.
4. FOLDING DOOR BOTTOM GUIDE
Folding door systems always require a bottom guide to guide the door leaf movement. The only exception for this is light folding door systems, where there is only two door leaves per side (for example fittings set 902 and 904). The bottom guide is installed to the same door leaf as the hanger, which means that a bottom guide is installed onto every second door leaf. A bottom guide slides on a bottom guide channel, which is installed to the floor onto the whole length of the opening.
Choosing the right bottom guide depends on the folding door system type and at the same time the fixing plate, since the installation place and fixing plate needs to be similar to the hanger.
5. ACCESSORIES
PIVOT SET
Pivot set systems are used with endfolding systems. Pivot set provides a hinge like movement to the first door leaf, this means that no hinge is needed for the first door and you can use the same size door leaves.
END CLIP
End clips prevent the tracks lateral movement and finish the tracks stylish design
HINGES
Welding hinges are used with metal folding doors. The amount and size of the hinges depend on the height and weight of the doors. Butterfly hinges can be used with side fixing folding door systems, since they are compatible with the hinge like hangers.
HANDLES
Flush handles and handles ease the opening and closing of a folding door system.
If any questions, you can contact our sales department or our distributors.