We enter the interior carpentry of the houses with the different types of sliding doors, whether made of wood, glass or metal. We look at the materials, fittings and useful tips before buying any of the sliding doors on the market.

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 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 can praise their daily utility, design and ergonomics, in our homes, we continue to use and renovate our lifelong carpentry.

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.

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 coherent classification, first, we mace gulf are going to designate the type of sliding door according to the way the leaf opens – door, that is, according to its movement. With over 40 years in the Middle East market, “MACE GULF” (previously known as MACE Dubai) is a leading solutions provider and contractor for access systems, automatic doors and security products.

Different Types of Sliding Doors

Let’s check below here the different types of sliding doors being used in all over the world, especially in developed countries.

• Single leaf sliding doors

The type of sliding door mostly used for interior doors in residential areas, especially 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.

• 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 dining room to provide a large opening.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• Sliding Glass doors

Sliding glass doors are the mostly 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.

• Wooden sliding doors

The sliding wooden doors are used for interior. To separate the living room, bathrooms, bedrooms or passage spaces. They provide greater acoustic insulation and air tightness 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.

• 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 and usually these are the sliding doors are made of aluminum or iron in exceptional cases.

Guides on the 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 wall-embedded Sliding Doors

It is a type of guide that is integrated into the wall; we manage to hide the door completely. This type of built- in guides 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. Depending on how we are going to plaster the wall, we will need masonry for brick (plastered wall) or for plasterboard.

2 – Guides for Exterior Sliding Doors

Here the guides are placed on the outside of the facing – wall, the door is not hidden with a 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 in 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.

What Should We Take Into Account When Installing a Sliding Door

When installing a sliding door, our needs must be taken into account. Therefore, we will have to ask ourselves a series of questions such as: what guide systems are we going to use? Or what kind of material are we going to use? We also have to know if we need to use a double wall or not depends on what we want to achieve with the installation of a sliding door.

If you are thinking of making a change in your home and installing sliding doors taking advantage of the arrival of spring, consult our professionals to get the advice you need and find the design and material that best suits what you are looking for.