Operating doors during hot weather

Opening up your aluminium bifold and sliding doors to step outside into the hot summer sunshine is one of the big attractions of our door systems.

Whilst the sunny weather is great for barbeques and ice cream on the patio, it can occasionally cause doors to expand in the heat, particularly those systems on south facing elevations that are in unbroken, direct sunshine for long periods of the day.

I can’t lock my doors, what can you do?

When glass and aluminium are heated they expand in size which may cause some difficulty in operating locks, especially on sliding doors with large glass panes.  Whilst we build in a degree of tolerance in the systems, extremes of heat can occasionally expand the systems beyond tolerance, particularly on south-facing elevations.

As the weather cools they should return to normal, if you need to secure a system manually cooling with a hosepipe should help counteract the thermal expansion.

I can’t open my doors, what can you do?

This can occur on systems due to the thermal expansion of materials in the system.  If you can access outside and be able to hose down the system it should counteract the thermal expansion and allow the doors to open.

Will the extreme heat damage my systems?

When toughened safety glass is manufactured it is heated to temperatures around 250 degrees which changes the characteristics of the glass making is safe to use, it’s more than capable of withstanding summer sunshine.

Other forms of glass such as laminated, whilst being a very secure glass can be more susceptible to big differences in heat.  On rare occasions laminated glass can form cracks from heat especially if internal blinds reflect back a lot of heat towards the glass causing the two panes of glass that are laminated together to expand at different rate, more information is available in your terms and conditions of sale.

The aluminium profiles are also capable of withstanding high temperatures as during the powder coating process which adds a colour to the metal the finish is baked on at over 200 degrees.

Will this cause long term damage or operation issues?

As the weather cools the systems should return to their original smooth and easy operation without lasting effects. Our door systems, including the SUNFLEX aluminium bifold doors are installed all around the world including Southern Europe, the UAE, South East Asia and even Australia where the climate is far more extreme than even a hot day in the UK.

However, should you continue to experience an issue after the frames have cooled down please contact us to arrange a service call.

How can I keep my home cool?

A popular option at point of sale is to include solar control glass to reduce the heat of the sun passing through the glass.  The conventional glass will let through around 60% of heat vs values as low as 35% on specialist solar control glass.

Modern glasses are also designed to keep heat inside a room, great for winter but can cause homes to be warmer in the summer.  It’s recommended to keep blinds and curtains closed during the day to reduce the amount of heat within your home.  There are specialist companies that can apply films to glasses to reduce the heat transfer similar to the solar control glass we offer also the glass could be replaced and upgraded to solar control.