Save space and gain style with a bi-fold door

Interior bi-fold doors are a great solution when you want to maximise space, create extra room or increase your privacy.

A typical bi-fold are hung and run along a top track, with the end leaves pivoted on the ground so they can be smoothly and simply folded as required, to immediately enhance room flow and light without taking up the space of traditional swing doors.

Ben Tankin of Hume Doors and Timber says there are many options when it comes to selecting bi-fold doors. "You can get solid or hollow doors, plain flush or patterned doors, doors with moldings or glass panels and multi-fold doors with up to eight leaves.

"Usually the solid doors will have a timber frame of 30mm with either a hollow honeycomb core or a solid MDF block core, but all bi-fold models are finished with a skin. You have a choice of a maple skin veneer, which you can stain, or a primed MDF skin that's ready for painting."

Sealing a Bi-fold

No matter which style of bi-fold you choose, it's very important that it's properly sealed. "Bi-folds are quite popular in wet areas such as bathrooms, but if the MDF skin is not properly sealed it will swell when wet. So it's really important you seal the doors prior to hanging, paying particular attention to the bottom, which is most prone to getting wet," Ben says.

Although bi-folds are not highly rated for noise abeyance, because of the gaps between the folds, they still help.

"If parents want to shut off a child's play area and create a bit of privacy, a bi-fold will certainly help reduce noise," says Ben. "But if noise reduction is a priority, then bi-folds are not ideal."