Here’s how much uPVC bi-fold doors really cost

✔ uPVC bifold doors are usually priced between £1,950 and £3,900

✔ It’ll cost around £250 to have bifold doors fitted in your home

✔ Complete the form above for free quotes from trusted professionals

Bifold doors, or glass sliding doors, are an attractive addition to a home. But you want to make sure you get them double glazed, since this will help reduce drafts. It’s definitely worth thinking about paying the cost for double glazing for this reason alone.

If you’re looking to get bifold doors for your own home, check out our helpful guide below to find out how much they will cost you.

Alternatively, you can skip the reading and get bifold doors of your own, by filling out this short form. Once we have this information, we’ll put you in touch with local specialists, who’ll provide you with their best prices.

What’s in this guide to uPVC bifold doors cost?

01 | uPVC Bifold Doors Price

02 | What Affects the Price of uPVC Doors?

03 | Cost to Install Bifold Doors

04 | uPVC Bifold Doors on Finance

05 | What to Consider Before Buying Bifold Doors

06 | Finding Trusted Bifold Door Installers

uPVC bifold doors price

uPVC bifold doors will cost between £1,950 and £3,900, depending on how many glass panels they have and the colour/style of the uPVC frame. Most uPVC bifold doors with glass have double glazing, so read our guide on double glazing costs for a better idea of what you mind spend.

uPVC bifold doors price comparison

To find out about the cost of other types of uPVC doors, visit our guide to uPVC doors prices.

What affects the price of uPVC bifold doors?

• Size – As you can see from the table above, a larger door will cost more. You will also pay more for a door that has more glass: so a glazed internal door will cost more than a solid one. Bifold doors tend to come in standard sizes, and these will be cheaper (hundreds or even thousands of pounds cheaper) than having them made bespoke
• Colours and finish – As well as standard white, you can get uPVC doors in a variety of colours, usually black, grey, brown, cream, ivory, green, blue, red and silver, as well as a variety of woodgrain finishes which give the doors the appearance and texture of timber. You can opt for one colour outside and another inside if you want to match the doors to your interior décor. Colours and finishes may add up to 10 to 20% to the price
• Energy efficiency – You can expect to pay more for a door that is more energy efficient. There are 2 ways to tell how energy efficient a glass door is: through its window energy rating (WER) and its u-value, which measures how quickly heat passes through it. Window energy ratings run from A++, the best, to G, the worst; while the lower the u-value, the better. Bifold doors should have a u-value no higher than 1.8
• Door furniture – You may be able to choose different handle types and colours – black, white, gold, flint, silver or chrome
• Type of glass – You can choose different kinds of glass, including low emissivity glass (helps the room retain heat), solar control glass (helps reduce the sun’s glare), self-cleaning glass, and coloured, decorative, patterned or frosted glass: see our uPVC windows page for more details. The glass should be toughened or laminated and double-glazed as standard; triple glazing will be more expensive
• Low threshold (the step) – You can opt for a lower threshold to provide easy access for people with mobility difficulties or wheelchairs – but your installer will need to make sure you are not going to get draughts under the door and water coming in when it rains. Low thresholds can be more expensive than normal thresholds (sometimes called rebated thresholds)
• The quality of the door – The quality of uPVC bifold doors varies and it is more sensible to pay more for something that will last longer and work properly. The quality of both the door and the installation are important: a poor quality door might be draughty and insecure, but so might a high quality door that has been poorly installed

Read the product guarantee and your installer’s guarantee carefully to check what they cover.

Cost to install bifold doors

Installation of a bifold door should take anywhere between half a day and a couple of days, depending largely on the size of the door and the complexity of the job. Qualified installers are likely to charge between £120 and £180 a day, and labourers between £75 and £110. Tradespeople often work in a team of 2, usually a qualified tradesperson along with a labourer, but sometimes 2 fully qualified people. So for an installer and a labourer for 1 day, you’re looking at around £250 for the cost of fitting bifold doors.

The more work the job involves, the more installation will cost: so a straightforward replacement of existing patio doors will cost less than expanding a doorway or window or creating a new opening – all of which involve a lot more work, and for which you will need a structural engineer (to make sure the weight of the doors will be properly supported) and a builder. A builder will probably charge between £150 and £240 per day; consulting a structural engineer should cost around £100.

Can you install your uPVC bifold door?

As long as you’re completely confident that you know what you’re doing and can avoid rain pouring in through any gaps, burglars being able to lift the doors off, an overloaded door frame, structural damage to your home and an unsafe door. In other words, unless you’re a qualified installer, likely not.

At best, a poorly installed door will let draughts and rain in and will be less energy efficient and a security risk. At worst, it will just come crashing down.

And if you do the work yourself, it’s not guaranteed: meaning that if it turns out that you didn’t know what you were doing after all, you’ll have to put it right at your own trouble and expense. Which will probably involve calling in a professional anyway.

uPVC bifold doors on finance

If you can’t pay for your doors upfront, you have the option of paying for them through a finance agreement: you put down a deposit and then make monthly payments over a set period of time. This can be useful if you really need to buy new doors now and don’t have the money, but are certain you will in the near future.

The downside is that you are in debt, so you will need to be certain you can keep up the repayments. Because of the interest some companies might charge, you can end up paying hundreds or even thousands of pounds more for your doors than they are worth.

Our advice would always be to save up the money and then get the door, rather than have a debt hanging over your head for a decade.

What to consider when buying uPVC bifold doors: design features

You can design your uPVC bifold doors however you want. For example, a 4-panel door could open at one side and have all 4 panels sliding the same way. You can choose the arrangement that suits you best and makes best use of the space you have. You’ll need to have space for the panels to stack at 90 degrees when the door is open, and you can choose for them to stack either inwards into the room or outwards into the garden.

The larger the panels, the more glass and the less frame you’ll have, so the more light will come into your home and the better your view will be.

Panels will normally be between 60cm and 1 metre wide and between 1.92 metres and 2.43 metres high, giving you the following options:

*A traffic door is part of the bifold door but opens independently, like a normal door, so you can get in and out without having to slide the whole mechanism. If you don’t have a traffic door, you usually won’t be able to get in through the bifold doors from the outside as there will be no external handle.

Top-hung or bottom-rolling?

All bifold doors have tracks in the top and bottom of the frame that the doors slide along. With top-hung doors, the doors are hanging from the top track, so all the weight is at the top; with bottom-rolling doors they roll along the bottom track, so the weight is at the bottom.

Some manufacturers say that bottom-rolling doors are slightly more stable because of their lower centre of gravity. Top-hung systems need a very strong lintel (support beam) above the opening to take the weight of the doors and whatever is above them. One advantage of top-hung mechanisms is that, since most of the operating mechanism is at the top, dirt and leaves are less likely to become lodged in the track at the bottom and make the door stick.

There is probably not much difference between them. What you do want to avoid are doors with an external track, which pose a security risk as the track can be levered off. All the tracks should be built into the frame.

Security features

• Finger-safe gaskets and childproof locks for child safety.
• Locks – look for deadlocks (so no one can get in without a key), internal shoot bolts that lock into the frames by at least 24mm, hook locks, 5-lever mortice locks and cylinder locks that are protected against snapping, drilling, picking and bumping. Make sure there are multiple locks along the tracks
• Safety glass – either toughened glass, which is very difficult to break, and if it does break, crumbles into small chunks designed not to cause injury; or laminated glass, which stays in the frame if it is broken. By law, a door with glass 1.5 metres or less from the ground must have toughened or laminated glass
• Internal glazing and beading – this means the glass can’t be removed from outside
• Concealed hinges, locks and rollers – to ensure an intruder can’t tamper with them. Cheaper uPVC bifold doors may have exposed hinges on the outside; these are a security risk as it’s then possible for an intruder to take the door off
• Security screen doors – these are mesh doors that can be installed behind or in front of your bifold doors, so you can have them open to let fresh air in but still prevent anyone getting in

Look for the police’s Secured By Design accreditation or the British Standards kitemark with 3 stars.

How do you find trusted bifold door installers?

We always recommend getting several quotes from different installers, and we can match you with trusted companies on our website; just complete the short form at the top of this page.

Look closely at the company’s history, warranties and the quality of its products. Make sure the firm has public liability insurance and is a member of a competent person scheme: usually FENSA or CERTASS.

Always ask for your quote in writing before going ahead with the work. Don’t pay the full cost of the job upfront – you should only be asked for a deposit.

What are FENSA and CERTASS?

Always use an installer who is a member of a Competent Person Scheme. This means they are accredited by the government and their work will comply with building regulations – the laws which make sure that buildings are safe, properly ventilated and energy efficient. It also means that you’re protected from poor treatment as a consumer.

FENSA and CERTASS are the 2 main schemes that vet installers and monitor them regularly to make sure that both their work and their service are up to scratch – if it isn’t, their accreditation will be withdrawn.

When your installer has done the work, they will give you a certificate to confirm that it complies with building regulations, and will register the installation with your district or borough council so you don’t have to.

Both FENSA and CERTASS also protect your deposit – the installer can’t withhold it if they don’t complete the work properly – and provide you with what is known as an insurance-backed guarantee. This means that if the installer ceases trading, your guarantee will still be honoured by whichever scheme they were a member of.

Always check the website of the scheme the company says they are registered with to make sure they are telling the truth: unfortunately, not everyone does.

For quotes from professionals you can trust, just fill in this form.

Written by

Fran Whittaker-Wood Editor

Fran is The Eco Experts' resident solar panel and double glazing oracle She loves orangutans and is passionate about protecting the planet's rainforests from the unsustainable production of palm oil. And minstrels.

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Reviewed By

Tamara Birch Senior Writer

Tamara is a London-based journalist and has written about environmental topics for more than four years. This includes advising small business owners on cost-effective ways, like solar panels and energy-efficient products, to help them become more sustainable.

She has used her journalist and research skills to become highly knowledgeable on sustainable initiatives, issues, and solutions to help consumers do their bit for the environment - all while reducing monthly costs.

In addition to adopting sustainable practices in her personal life, Tamara has worked in the retail B2B space to help independent retailers think about their environmental choices and how they can help improve their business. She now uses this knowledge to help consumers do the same.

Her passion for sustainability and eco-friendly solutions stems from a long obsession with nature and animals and ensuring they feel looked after. In her free time, Tamara enjoys reading fantasy novels, visiting the gym, and going on long walks in new areas.

You can get in touch with Tamara via email at tamara.birch@mvfglobal.com.

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