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Sliding and sliding doors for home interiors
Inside the carpentry, on the interior doors of our homes we find the famous sliding doors. Although their use is on the rise for obvious reasons of space and utility, they are still in the shadow of the traditional ones.
Statistics confirm that we are increasingly living in smaller buildings (See article on how to decorate small houses) and therefore, the future of carpentry, by necessity, will go through using the Sliding door as an essential element in modern housing.
In reality, although we all understand the potential of sliding doors and we can praise its daily utility, design and ergonomics, in our homes, we continue to use and renew our carpentry throughout our lives.
In this article we are going to try to understand all the characteristics and types of sliding doors that we can find in the market to facilitate a coherent choice in a possible purchase.
Types of sliding doors
The flexibility of this type of carpentry before the different types of leaves, materials and their movements, as well as the versatility of its fittings make up a really attractive proposal without wasting a good design.
To practice a consistent classification, first, let's designate the sliding door type taking into account the opening of the leaf - door, that is, according to its movement … What opening systems and mechanisms do we have?
1.- Single leaf sliding doors
The type of sliding door most used for interior doors in residential; mainly in bathrooms (See tips to reform a bathroom), bedrooms or kitchen. A single sheet with horizontal movement that can be in both directions.
It can be placed both in guides (cheaper) and embedded in the wall itself, which would be the most appropriate way, but the installation price rises.
2.- Facing sliding doors
In this case, they are two faces facing each other on the same wall - vertical face of the wall. They are the typical double sliding doors widely used in the living room to provide a large opening.
Beware of the lesson for the electrical installation of the lights on and off switches. The door can't cover them!
Due to their dimensions, they are perfect for joining rooms with the possibility of separating them quickly
Remember our article on how to decorate a dining room with good ideas and in an easy way. It will like you!
3.- Sliding + fixed door
Here, in the sliding door we have a fixed sheet that is normally glass (lets in light) and is fixed to the wall. The other leaf is mobile and larger than the fixed one.
It is also widely used in passageways and living room dining rooms due to the passage of light and the possible need to occasionally expand the entrance space.
4.- Parallel sliding doors
Each sheet is located on each side of the wall opening. Used in large spaces such as the living room or access to the kitchen from the living room.
Its installation is more complicated since they must fit properly so as not to lose both aesthetics and acoustic or thermal insulation.
5.- Sliding door for corner
Little used in residential and more intended for offices, the door leaves fit in a corner. The closure is the vertex of the corner as we see in the attached image.
It is an unconvinced technical solution with more complex hardware and installation, raising the price.
6.- Telescopic slides
Used in residential and large format, that is, from floor to ceiling to communicate large spaces. Due to the complexity of the hardware and the size of the blades, the prices are high.
In these cases, it is not usually used like glass or metal and the leaves are usually made of wood with some type of veneer.
7.- Folding slides
Normally used in exterior carpentry for your comfort from the living room, the sheets fold over themselves while we collect the window.
The most widely used material is glass. In some cases it is used in large cabinets with mainly wooden panels.
8.- Stackable slides
The system is very similar to the folding ones (Used for exteriors) but they work like a blind, that is, to fold the entire door, the leaves are guided by a guide.
Materials
Although technical advances are providing new materials with capabilities, for example, more insulating in all ways or resistant to fire. Mainly we will find four types of materials used in sliding doors What are they:
Sliding glass doors
They are the most used for offices and inside homes; bathrooms and kitchens or in areas where we need a passage of light. The glass must be tempered and safety, according to the European directive.
glass doors are perfect for the kitchen, they bring light and easy to clean
As it is a material that can be treated in a thousand ways, we can get doors with transparent glass, with an oxide and murano base, satin and a thousand colors, even some manufacturers, if we provide them with a design, we will have a personalized sheet.
Remember, the glasses must be tempered and safety, according to the European directive
For this type of doors, exposed fittings are usually used (without any decorative element that covers) placed on the upper part of the door. The guide models - normally - are finished in stainless steel.
As an example of the fittings for glass sheets that we can find would be …
Wooden sliding doors
The sliding wooden doors They are used for interior. To separate the living room, bathrooms, bedrooms or passage spaces. They provide greater acoustic insulation and airtightness than glass.
In wood finishes, we also have great versatility in styles that will adapt to all types of rooms and decoration. From exposed walnut noble wood, to more economical such as pine or with more modern finishes such as white lacquered or plywood.
It is evident that wood brings warmth and serenity to rooms as described by the Feng Shui style. If you are looking for cozy space without wasting space, they are perfect.
Metal sliding doors
Although they are not the best known, they do exist for the interior of homes whose premise of the manufacturers is robustness and durability over aesthetics.
Ideal to stand out in industrial design spaces, offices or in a minimalist style. Usually these are the sliding doors are made of aluminum or iron in exceptional cases.
Guides on sliding doors
Although the manufacturer plays an important role here, since each one practically manufactures mechanisms for its own portals, in a generic way, there are two large groups:
1.- Guides for sliding doors embedded in the wall
It is a type of guide that is integrated into the wall, we get hide the door completely. This type of guides built-in or casonets they are compact structures that house the door and support it.
Although this type of structure works very well, they protect and avoid friction, for its installation it is necessary to carry out works and, therefore, its price rises. The most common opening systems in recessed wall doors are:
The doors embedded in the facing isolate more the sound than the exterior ones attached to the wall
Depending on how we are going to plaster the wall, we will need a masonry for brick (plastered wall) or for plasterboard. With this you have to be careful and as an example, we leave an image of both types:
2.- Guides for exterior sliding doors
Here the guides are placed on the outside of the facing - wall, the door is not hidden with visible profile. No works are required, but the installation of the metal fittings that will form the guide for the movement of the leaf is required. They are hanging sliding doors!
Manufacturers have designed almost a thousand ways to hold and slide the leaves to open or close, but, from an aesthetic perspective, we could say that we will find two large groups on the market:
- The guides on the air. The fittings that hold and guide the blade are visible having finishes with more or less design.
- The invisible guides. The fittings are covered with a trim that conceals them with different material finishes (aluminum, wood, etc.) and in multiple colors.
This type of door has a quick and intuitive assembly, with compact systems and the absence of a guide on the floor to free up the passage area. Nowadays, the hardware is already smooth gliding and low effort with closing without knocks.
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