When it comes to ordering sliding door kits, we have found most people are confused about what guides the door at the bottom. Common questions are “Is there a full-length track?” or “Does the door flap about?” In this blog we will be covering some of the questions we are commonly asked.
All our kits come with some form of floor guide, the most common being a ‘blade’ or a ‘shark’s fin’ floor guide.
Blade Floor Guides
A blade floor guide is a small blade around 40mm long, these sit on the floor just next to the skirting board or just inside the pocket (for pocket doors) and they guide the door as it moves. This guide does require a grove to be cut into the bottom of the door, however it does allow for a clear threshold with no obstructions. Because of how this system works, being that the door must always be over the floor guide, the doors movement is limited to its own width only, moving any further would mean that the door would come off the floor guide and flap around. You can also add a guide protector to the door to extend the life of the guide and make the sliding smoother.
We also offer a rattle proof guide, which are an updated version of this system, needing either a plastic or metal guide protector channel. This roller system allows a smoother slide whilst also stopping the door rattling.
Full Length Floor Guides
Full length floor guides are the perfect option for doors that need to move more than their own width, for example security doors. These guides use a full-length channel in the floor, rather than having a grove cut into the door. They are installed by either being routed in the floor (by cutting a channel) or surface mounted, which is easier to fit, however it does leave a threshold, so the guide is not flat to the floor. A limitation of this system is that you can get dirt in the floor channel, which if built up can cause the door to stick, and not slide. If used externally, the same applies to water, so drainage holes must be drilled into the guide.
Telescopic Floor Guides
Telescopic floor guides come with more than one guide, the first guide is a standard fixed floor guide which will attach to the first door in your telescopic system and sit in a grove in the bottom of a door, like a blade floor guide. The others are door mounted floor guides, which sit on the second door, and how ever many doors you have in your telescopic system. This means the second door is guided off the first door. For example, for a telescopic system with 4 doors you will need one standard fixed floor guide and a further three door mounted guides, for the second, third and fourth doors.
For more information on how floor guides work, you can watch our YouTube Video, or contact us by telephone or e-mail and we will be happy to help.
