We’ve got your door covered. Literally. When it comes to cladding and finishing off your bifold door, you want to make sure it looks good with the rest of your building. Today, we’ll take a look at the two most popular finishing choices and the advantages of each.
A Traditional Choice – Tuff Rib Bifold Door Cladding
There are many reasons why you might consider metal cladding as a finishing option for your bifold door. Diamond Doors offers a Tuff-Rib ¾” profile cladding as a standard finishing option for our bifold doors. Offered in either a 28 gauge or 26 gauge, this stepped rib design is known for its low-maintenance durability. It lasts for years – no matter the weather.
A quick side note: if you are ordering a door for your new building, we recommend getting your building and door cladding from your building supplier. This helps ensure a better colour match. We’ll provide all the details you need to order the correct length of cladding for your door.
Versatility
We offer cladding in 28 standard colours, including:
- Brite White
- Antique Linen
- Light Stone
- Heron Blue
- Barn Red
- Forest Green
- Buckskin
- Tile Red
- Melcher’s Green
- Charcoal
- Galvalume
- Burnished Slate
You can check out more available colours by viewing our digital colour chart.
Customers often mix-and-match cladding colours to match the wainscotting on their building, or to simply make their door a focal point. The options are virtually endless – just look at what customers have done in the past.
Easy Installation
Steel cladding is one of the simplest bifold door finishing options. At Diamond Doors, we take that two steps further. We include all the necessary fasteners and trim in your cladding package, and ship your cladding precut to the length you need. This makes your installation process even easier. Our installation manual also includes step-by-step instructions, and our service team is available 24/7 to answer any questions you may have.
Affordability and Low Maintenance
Steel cladding is also one of the most long-term cost-effective options for finishing your bifold door. While cladding can be more expensive upfront, it costs far less in terms of maintenance and replacement due to its extended life.
Our Tuff Rib cladding is resistant to hail and rust – the most common causes of shortened lifespan for exterior metal finishing materials. You don’t need to replace it as frequently as other options, and it doesn’t require repainting or refinishing, which saves you both time and money.
Polycarbonate Sheeting
Polycarbonate sheeting is another great choice for your bifold door. It allows plenty of natural light into your building while still maintaining privacy.
Diamond Doors offers two types of polycarbonate sheeting in varying thicknesses, tints, and insulating capabilities. First, we’ll talk about measuring the insulation performance of different materials.
Measuring Insulation Performance
Although the insulation performance of a material can be measured in a variety of ways, the most commonly used measurements are U-value and R-value. These two values are very closely related.
Thermal Transmittance and U-Value
U-value measures the thermal transmittance of a material or product. In other words, how quickly heat transfers through something. It is dependent on things like the thickness of the material, gaps in insulation, and type of material.
A low U-value indicates that minimal heat is transferred by the material, which means that a well insulated product will have a lower thermal transmittance and a lower U-value.
If you’re interested in the technical details… U-value can be mathematically expressed as W/m2K or watts per square metre-kelvin.
Thermal Resistance and R-Value
In comparison to U-value, R-value measures the thermal resistance of a material, or how well it resists heat transfer. Like U-value, it is dependent on the thickness, density, and type of material.
A high R-value shows that the material has a high resistance to temperature changes and provides superior insulation capabilities.
The formula to calculate R-value is m2K/W, or square metre-kelvin per watt.
Therma Vu Polycarbonate Sheeting
As mentioned earlier, Diamond Doors offers two types of polycarbonate sheeting. Both are equally popular options depending on the application of the building and door.
Our Therma Vu option is ideal for insulated buildings. While not as effective as proper insulation, this 30mm thick polycarbonate sheet has a U-value of 1.3. This is similar to the U-value on many double pane windows.
Diamond Vu Polycarbonate Sheeting
Diamond Vu sheeting comes in a 10mm thick polycarbonate sheeting, with a higher U-value of 3.2.
If you recall, a higher U-value means that there is more energy transferred through the material. Because of this, we recommend Diamond Vu sheeting for uninsulated buildings where temperature control is not a concern.
Frequently Asked Questions about Polycarbonate Sheeting
How much light does polycarbonate sheeting let in?
Light transmission, or how much light the material allows into your building, is another important consideration. For the best results and the most light coming into your building, we recommend adding polycarbonate sheeting to south-facing doors.
Therma Vu sheeting comes in two tint options – clear and smoked. The clear option has a light transmission of 64%, while the smoked option lets in between 15-20%.
In comparison, Diamond Vu sheeting only comes in clear and lets in approximately 88% of light. It has a greater light transmission because it has fewer walls in the internal structure than Therma Vu polycarbonate sheeting.
Why choose polycarbonate sheeting over windows?
While polycarbonate sheeting and windows are both great options for bifold doors, they do have different advantages. Depending on your building application and needs, you might find that one is a better choice for you than the other. Here are a few cases where you might prefer polycarbonate over windows.
To keep it short, it’s safe to say that polycarbonate sheeting is the preferred option for plenty of natural light and affordability.
Cost of the Project
Polycarbonate is a less expensive option than windows. If you are planning to cover a significant portion of your door, polycarbonate sheeting is a cost-effective way to do that.
Weight of the Materials
Polycarbonate also weighs significantly less than glass windows. Again, when covering a large portion of the door, polycarbonate sheeting will allow you to maintain standard opening speeds. This is because the weight of it doesn’t cause significant additional strain on the motor.
Note: this isn’t a concern with doors where only a few windows are installed. There, the additional weight doesn’t cause a noticeable change in the door’s opening speed.
How easy is it to install polycarbonate sheeting?
Easy installation is one of the foundational values of Diamond Doors. Our polycarbonate sheeting is delivered with your door, cut to size and ready to install. Each sheet snaps together with a tongue and groove connection. If you have any questions, our installation manual includes step-by-step instructions to guide you through the process and our service team is always ready to help.
If you are considering installing polycarbonate sheeting on an existing door, we have good news. That’s easy to do! Our service team would be glad to answer your questions and offer you pricing. Get in touch on our parts and service page.
How long will polycarbonate sheeting last on my door?
Polycarbonate sheeting is a durable and long-lasting choice for your bifold door. Our sheets are covered with a protective coating that prevents UV damage from the sun and discoloration. This ensures that your sheeting won’t become brittle or turn yellow over time, offering a finishing option that will last the lifetime of your door.
Our sales team would be happy to answer any questions you may have about our door finishing options – including custom options not shown here. Reach out to info@diamonddoors.com or call us toll-free at 866-325-7600.
