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How to fit French doors
Lifestyle
For anyone looking to seamlessly merge their home interior with their garden, it goes without saying that your best option is a set of externally opening doors. But, while a pair of sliding and bi-folding doors can certainly make an impact, their design isn’t for everyone.
Fortunately, bi-folding and sliding doors aren’t your only external door options, and for those who still want that open garden aesthetic, a set of aluminium French doors might be just what you’re looking for.
So, to help you decide whether a set of French doors is the right choice for you, here’s what you need to know about fitting French doors in your home, including how to measure for French doors properly so that you get a flush fit.
What are French doors?
For those wanting a quick reminder as to what French doors are; they’re classed as any pair of internal or external double doors in which a glass plane accounts for the majority of either door’s body.
These glass panes are what define French doors from other double doors, but aside from this, French doors can be built using any common door frame material, and the glass used is often double-glazed for added thermal efficiency.
The benefits of French doors
While offering many of the same benefits that come with sliding and folding doors, there are two key areas that French doors excel in which may make them your preferred external entrance door choice.
For one thing, they offer a specific and classically European aesthetic look, making them very well suited to being a traditional statement piece if that is the kind of décor you want for your home.
And secondly, French doors open outwards, meaning they take up minimal internal space, allowing you to make full use of the room they’re built into. Combine this with excellent thermal efficiency and security features and French doors are certainly an excellent choice for the right home.
How to measure for French doors
Now that we’ve covered what exactly French doors have to offer your home, let’s look at how to measure for French doors properly so that, if you do choose this door option, you can ensure they fit properly in your home and retain the best energy efficiency possible.
First and foremost, let’s touch on the standard sizes French doors come in, which tend to fall into the following three width options:
- 120cm
- 150cm
- 180cm
On top of these, most French doors tend to be about 2,100mm in height, though here at Express, we specifically make bespoke windows and doors, meaning you have more flexibility in how big or small you want your French doors to be.
As for measuring for your French door installation, we recommend taking the following steps to ensure measurement accuracy:
- Regardless of whether you’re replacing an old door or installing an entirely new one, you should always measure from where you want your opening to begin. This means the chance of getting the wrong door or opening size will be kept to a minimum.
- As for the measuring itself, we suggest starting by measuring for the width of your door first, being sure to take measurements at the top, middle, and bottom of where you want your opening to be. Doing this properly will let you know what the maximum-sized French door fitting you can install in your home is. These measurements should be the same or close, but if in doubt, take the largest of these measurements as your maximum size.
- Next, you’ll want to measure height. French door fittings can vary in height depending on the size of the wall they’re being installed in and your need to get this right so you don’t order too large a doors. Taking measurements from where you want the base of the door to be, measure upwards to your desired height on both the left and right sides of your imagined opening, again taking the biggest measurement as your maximum height.
- Lastly, you might want to consider taking a measurement of your wall’s thickness. Doing this will let you get a snug door fit and stop it from looking out of place due to excess door or wall lips caused by too narrow or thick walls in comparison to your door.
As with any DIY project, we recommend doing all of these measurements at least two or three times to ensure accuracy, but if you do want further help or advice in doing this, then you can get in touch with our experts directly for assistance.
How to install French doors
Finally, let’s touch on how to go about fitting French doors. Now, while you can go about installing French doors yourself, we always recommend hiring an expert to do this instead.
There are several reasons for doing this, but the main one is to ensure that your installation goes smoothly and doesn’t cost you more than initially quoted.
Simply put, qualified installers have both the knowledge and experience to get this sort of job done quickly and to a high standard, not to mention also having easy access to the wide variety of tools necessary to do this sort of installation properly.
However, if you do want to help with installing your French doors, then there is no harm in asking your installer if you can lend them a hand to keep labour costs down.
How much does it cost to install French doors
Like the integration of any window and door product into your home, the cost to install French doors will vary depending on your project’s specific needs.
We suggest getting several quotes so you have a good idea of what you can afford on your budget, though it’s likely that the higher the price, the better the installation quality, especially if you want bespoke doors like those we offer at Express.
So, that’s what you need to know about measuring and installing French doors in your home. Hopefully, this has given you an idea as to whether or not these doors are for you, though for more information you can read our blogs comparing sliding doors or French doors and bi-folds vs French doors.
Don’t forget that you can also visit us in person at our showrooms to see our full range of French door products, and you can browse the rest of our blog for more articles like this one.
