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Patio doors are a beneficial and visually appealing way of opening up the back of your home during the summer months and there are a range of styles to choose from. How much you will pay for new patio doors can be difficult to estimate exactly as it will come down to several factors including your budget, the type of patio doors you want, your personal preference when it comes to glazing, colours, and more!
However, generally speaking and depending on whether you have bifold, sliding or French doors fitted, the price can fall anywhere from around £400 to more than £5,000.
What types of patio doors can you choose from?
There are multiple types of patio doors, and one is likely to stand out to you as it will be better suited to the style of your home than the others. This will help give you an early indication of what sort of cost you will be looking at for your patio doors.
Bifold patio doors
If you are wanting to create a spacious and easy route from inside your home to the garden then it can be possible to replace the wall with a bifold door that offers panoramic, unobstructed views of the back garden. Bifold doors are typically made up of 2-7 panels that fold into each other when opened, meaning they take up minimal space and are effortless to open and close.
French patio doors
French patio doors are one of the most popular choices for doors in the UK. They are designed with two doors that open outwards from the middle to provide a spacious passage from the inside to the outside. French patio doors are especially popular with period or heritage homeowners as they maintain the elegance and style of these traditional properties. However, they can also offer a stunning aesthetic appeal in modern homes too.
Sliding patio doors
Sliding patio doors are made up of one stationary glass pane and then another which can be slid open to grant access to your outside space. In some cases, there can be more than one sliding pane of glass. By not opening inwards or outwards, sliding patio doors don’t encroach on the space when open, but as one of the panes cannot be moved, you won’t be able to get as wide a walkthrough as you can with bifold or French doors.
As well as considering the type of doors you want for your, you should also think about the material you want them to be made from as this will have a big impact on how much they will cost too.
What materials are available for patio doors?
A key benefit of patio doors is that they are mostly made up of glass, offering you an incredible view of your back garden and ensuring plenty of natural light can flood your rooms. However, you still need to keep in mind the frame surrounding the glass and the material you select will influence the benefits you experience with your new patio doors.
uPVC
Thanks to it being a low-cost material, uPVC has become a popular choice for many homeowners looking for patio doors over recent years, and it is often the standard in new build properties. There have been a lot of technological advancements to uPVC over the years meaning it has shed the cheap poor-quality reputation it used to have. It can provide you with a wide range of benefits, the most compelling naturally being the price and the value of what you get for your money.
Aluminium
For those looking for an extremely modern aesthetic and the ability to maximise the amount of natural light that can get into your home, aluminium is the ideal material option. It is easy to maintain and keeps looking like new, it has an impressive lifespan, and thanks to new advancements, it can provide highly efficient levels of thermal insulation. Aluminium is also arguably the most sustainable and environmentally friendly material you could choose for your patio doors, as it comes from largely recycled metal.
Timber
Timber is a highly desirable door and window frame material for a lot of homeowners due to its rustic charm that is unique to timber, despite attempts at replication from uPVC and aluminium, nothing can beat the classic look of a wooden frame. As well as being nice to look at, timber will give you high levels of heat retention, is environmentally friendly, and can last longer than uPVC with the right maintenance.
A cost break down of patio doors
The main factors that need to be taken into account when calculating the cost of your new patio doors are:
- The type of patio door
- Choice of material
- Size of the door
- Your choice of double or triple glazing glass
The table below can provide you with a general idea of the costs related to the various styles of patio doors.
| Type of patio door | Possible cost |
| Bifold | £1,200-£3,000+ |
| Sliding | £700-£2,700 |
| French | £400-£1,600 |
Now that we have a rough idea on the price of different bifold door styles, we can break it down further and look at the combination of different styles with the material variations.
Bifold doors cost
The material and number of panels are the two biggest factors that can affect the price of bifold doors, potentially stretching it upwards of £5,500.
Aluminium bifold doors
| Number of panels | Possible cost |
| 3 | £1,700-£2,300 |
| 4 | £2,150-£2,750 |
| 5 | £4,000-£5,500 |
Timber bifold doors
| Number of panels | Possible cost |
| 3 | £1,400-£1,750 |
| 4 | £2,250-£2,750 |
| 5 | £3,150-£5,500 |
uPVC bifold doors
| Number of panels | Possible cost |
| 3 | £1,200-£1,500 |
| 4 | £1,500-£2,300 |
| 5 | £2,500-£4,250 |
French patio doors cost
French doors are typically the most expensive when installed with aluminium frames and nowadays are commonly found with uPVC at the back of new build homes in the UK.
| Material | Possible cost |
| uPVC | £800-£2,000 |
| Aluminium | £2,000-£2,750 |
| Timber | £850-£2,000 |
Sliding patio door cost
Sliding patio doors are usually made from uPVC or aluminium, with timber being more often used for internal doors, but it is still a leading material option for this type of patio doors.
| Material | Possible cost |
| uPVC | £700-1,500 |
| Aluminium | £1,300-£3,000 |
| Timber | £900-£2,050+ |
How much does it cost to fit patio doors?
There isn’t really a set price when it comes to installing patio doors, different companies will provide you with different quotes to complete the work. Contact our team at Clydebuilt to get your tailored quote for patio doors today.
What are the additional costs of having patio doors installed?
Now that you know the rough costs of patio doors themselves and installation, we are going to look at some additional work which you might need (or want) to pay for while you are having your new doors fitted. For example, to have a new patio fitted, it will cost around £30 to £40 per metre squared, which takes into account both the labour and installation costs.
If you are wanting to install outdoor lights to better your view at night and as an extra safety feature, you can expect to pay between £125 and £150 to have a single 30-watt security light installed. The total price will reach about £150 to £200 for a PIR motion sensor light if it is fitted to the mains.
How long does it take to fit patio doors?
The length of time it takes to install patio doors depends on the type of doors you choose as some are more difficult to fit than others. If you choose sliding or French patio doors it will likely take around 4-6 hours, but if you want bifold it will probably take around 1 day to fully install.
Other factors that could affect how long it takes to install your new patio doors include:
- The ease of access to your garden area
- The condition of your garden area
- The complexity of the specific patio door you have chosen
- Whether the fitter needs to remove old patio doors first
What are the maintenance costs of patio doors?
Even though maintenance isn’t a cost that is accounted for when shopping for and fitting patio doors, it will be something you will incur eventually. So, it is best to have an awareness of what you could need to pay to keep your patio doors in good condition. There are various different types of maintenance you can undertake on your patio doors, let’s take a look at a few examples and their price tags.
Painting your patio doors
This job involves having your patio doors completely painted or repainted, which if you’re not doing it yourself, could cost you around £100 to £500. A lot of painters typically charge around £160 per day, and the overall cost of the job will be heavily based on the size of the patio doors in question.
Weather treatment
Another type of patio door maintenance is weather treatment. There are a number of forms of weather treatment you could apply to your doors including wax, varnish, oil, and water-based treatments. Weather treatment mostly applies to wooden doors, although patio doors made from uPVC will also need weather treatment every now and then. Treatment will likely cost between £15 and £35 per litre. If you are looking to hire a professional to do this, you should look to pay roughly £14 to £18 per hour.
Cleaning the tracks
An easy and useful way of maintaining your patio doors is to regularly clean them. For those doors with tracks, you should clean out any dirt and debris you find as soon as possible. If even the door’s rollers seem to be struggling, you might need to remove them from the door and clean them. To do so effectively, you should wipe down the rollers with denatured alcohol using a cloth.
The same or a similar product can be used to clean the track. Lastly, hoover the track and re-attach the rollers to the door(s). You might need to pay between £12 and £20 per hour for a cleaning job like this plus any supply costs.
Lubrication
With patio doors that are roller/track-based, lubricating the rollers after cleaning them can help make the sliding mechanism of the doors smoother and freer. For this job, it is best to use a silicone spray and avoid other types of lubricant as these could lead to dust gathering over time. The spray should be applied to both the rollers and track with a paraffin wax block being added to the track as well. In terms of cost, you can expect to pay £6 to £8 for a 400ml silicone spray like WD-40.
Paraffin wax blocks usually cost around £5 to £10 per kg, although there will be much cheaper options available for budget prices like on eBay where you can buy these blocks for around £2 to £6 per kg.
What about patio door repair costs?
Wheel replacements
If you have a sliding patio door, one potential problem you could encounter is that the roller and track mechanism could malfunction. In a lot of cases, this is due to the wheels needing replacement. To replace patio door rollers, the door should first be taken off the track before the new rollers can be fitted.
When they are attached, the rollers should be altered so that they fit perfectly onto the track and then finally the door can be placed back on the track. New rollers can cost between £6 and £30 per roller, with labour costs likely reaching about £30 to £40 for this job, assuming it only takes an hour or 2 to complete.
Fixing a sliding patio door handle
To replace a broken door handle, first you will need to remove the two screws that are fixed to it. Then, the backing plate should be taken off and the handle turned clockwise by 90 degrees. Lift up the handle and turn it back before taking it off the door. When you have done this the new handle can be installed which can be done following the steps above in reverse.
Hopefully this article has given you a better understanding of the cost of patio doors and the factors that can influence their price. Don’t forget to contact Clydebuilt for your new patio doors.