Installing a set of beautiful folding doors in your home is a big investment. The total cost of purchasing the doors and having them professionally installed can cost thousands of dollars, and they’re designed to last for at least a decade or more.

Since most folding doors are custom-made to order for each customer, manufacturers typically allow their clients to choose between a wide variety of different building materials. Buyers can choose the type of doorframe they want, the type of hardware they want (handles and such), the type of door sill they want, and of course the type of glass they want.

Seeing as over 80% of the surface area of each folding door panel is glass, this makes it one of the most important customization options in your entire order! So, if you’re in the shopping or buying process, then this article is definitely worth your time.

Below, we’ll start by explaining why it’s so important to pick the right glass for your glass folding doors. Then, we’ll give you an in-depth breakdown of the difference between the various glass types you’ll see when shopping and selecting your door system.

Let’s “take a look,” shall we?

What Are Tempered Glass Folding Doors?

Thanks to modern glass-making technology, today’s glass accordion doors are bigger and stronger than ever. This is thanks to a process known as glass tempering, which makes the glass four times stronger than regular panes of glass.

In addition to enhanced strength, tempering the glass also makes it safer if it ever breaks. Standard glass breaks into large, irregular shards that can be very sharp, often resulting in severe injury when broken. In contrast, tempered glass shatters into very small pieces of glass that aren’t anywhere near as sharp (and that’s IF the glass can be broken, in the first place).

To temper a sheet of glass, the manufacturer starts with a regular sheet of glass. Then, they insert the glass into a large furnace, where it’s heated up to 1,148-degrees Fahrenheit. This incredibly high temperature is enough to soften the glass without turning it into a liquid/molten state.

Throughout the heating process, the sheet of glass is blasted with cold air, which causes rapid temperature fluctuation, and further strengthens the bonds between the glass molecules. The process of heating and cooling is repeated several times until the glass meets strength requirements.

The end result is a sheet of glass that’s far stronger than any type of regular glass.

How To Pick The Right Type Of Glass For Your Folding Doors

Almost all glass used to manufacture high-quality folding door systems is tempered, giving it enhanced strength and durability. This is what allows for large door panels or glass accordion doors that feature an ultra-low-profile doorframe.

So, now that you know a little bit more about how glass tempering works, it’s time to move on and discuss how to pick the right type of glass for your folding doors. There are a number of different options that you’ll have to choose between, depending on the company that you’re buying from.

These are the most common concerns when deciding what type of glass is right for your exterior folding doors.

Energy Efficiency

One of the biggest concerns is energy efficiency. In the past, glass was typically thought of as a very inefficient material due to the fact that thermal energy (hot or cold air) easily transfers from one side of the glass to the other. This meant that if it was cold outside, your big glass doorway would significantly decrease your home’s temperature and cause your furnace to use more power.

Low-E Glass

However, today’s energy-efficient doors are designed to prevent most hot or cold air from passing through the glass to the other side by infusing gases in between multiple glass panes.

All low-emissivity (low-E) glass is made using a double-glazed or triple-glazed format. This aligns two or three panels of glass in parallel, creating a vacuum space in between the panels. Then, Argon gas is injected into this vacuum.

The gas naturally resists temperature change, which prevents the interior glass panes from absorbing the temperature (hot or cold) from the outside and affecting the climate inside of your house.

Privacy

If you live in a busy neighborhood or you’re installing your folding doors in a bedroom space (e.g., an upstairs patio), then you may want to consider investing in privacy glass. Privacy glass is typically laser-etched or sandblasted to create an opaque surface that allows light through while blocking outsiders from a direct view inside.

Sound-Proofing

Sound-proofing tends to be a bigger concern in regards to commercial folding doors. However, there are a number of residential homeowners who may also appreciate soundproof glass bi-fold doors. Opting for soundproof glass doors will prevent your neighbors from complaining about your loud music and give you the privacy you need to make as much noise as you want inside.

Triple-Glazed Glass

The traditional method of soundproofing glass accordion doors and winds is to use a triple-glazed approach. By aligning three panes of glass in parallels you decrease the ability of the sound to transfer through the glass to the other side.

Privacy Film

The easiest (and most modern) method of soundproofing glass folding doors is to apply a privacy film. Basically, it’s a thin, transparent sheet of polymer that absorbs and dampens sound waves, preventing them from vibrating the surface of the glass and allowing others to listen in.

Glass Strength And Safety

If you’re afraid of potential burglars, hurricanes, tornadoes, or other severe weather, then you may want to invest in a stronger glass option. These will be harder to shatter and break, and if they do shatter, will remain in place instead of sending flying glass everywhere.

Shatterproof and Hurricane-Proof Glass

Shatterproof glass is most commonly used to manufacture hurricane-proof door systems. To create shatterproof glass, each pane of glass in the system is sandwiched between two thin, transparent layers of polymer (similar to soundproofing, but slightly different).

If the glass does break due to heavy impact or high winds, then the polymer will hold all of the glass together, preventing it from falling out of place or endangering others.

Ease Of Cleaning

Although it’s a relatively new technology, some manufacturers use a special type of “neat” glass. Neat glass is created by applying a thin layer of silicon dioxide to the exterior surface of the glass to create a hydrophilic glass. The result is that water easily falls off of the surface or quickly evaporates, reducing the occurrence of “spotting” and streaks and making the windows a lot easier to clean.

Conclusion

There you have it! You just got a crash course in glass-making technology, and you probably know more about folding door glass than most sales reps. The most important thing to take away from this article is to decide which features you want first (soundproof, shatterproof, privacy glass, energy-efficient glass, etc.).

Once you know what result you want, you’ll be able to identify folding door manufacturers that offer the type of glass that you’re looking for in your folding door system.