When it comes to installing glass folding doors, the biggest appeal is that you’ll be able to open up your home or business to a lot more natural lighting. Thanks to today’s high-tech, energy-efficient, extra-strong tempered glass, it’s possible to create expansive panoramic doorways that pretty much give you the feel of having an all-glass wall.

Although the idea sounds appealing, there’s one key issue that stops some customers from investing in a set of bi-fold doors for their home or commercial folding doors for their office – privacy.
When you replace a large portion of your walls with a wide glass door system, you’ll definitely be sacrificing some of your privacy.

However, there are a number of simple and affordable solutions that you can customize your glass doors with if you want more privacy.

In today’s post, we’ll start by explaining what type of customers should look into privacy glass. Then, we’ll break down all of your options for increasing your folding doors and making them more private.

You Might Need Privacy Glass Doors If…

Depending on where you live, you may not need or care about privacy glass. Perhaps you live in the mountains where the natural incline prevents others from seeing into your home. Or maybe you live on a large, isolated piece of property where you don’t have to worry about privacy.

However, if you live in a busy city or suburban neighborhood close to other residences, then you may not be willing to let everybody see what you do behind closed doors.

Folding door manufacturers often offer so many different customization options during the buying process that the option for privacy glass gets lost among selecting between doorframe materials, hardware, glass types, etc.

So, that being said, you might need to consider adding privacy glass to your doors if…

You’re Installing Folding Doors In An Office

One of the hottest office trends of 2021 is installing folding door systems inside of an office space. It’s becoming more common to see large commercial folding doors installed as a way to enclose a meeting or conference room.

Chances are that most of the clients you’re working with value a certain level of confidentiality and may not want your entire office to stare at them while they’re in the middle of a meeting. Customizing your office folding doors with privacy glass is a great way to make your clients feel more secure.

You’re Installing Folding Doors In A Nightclub Or Restaurant

Large commercial folding doors are commonly installed in high-end nightclubs and restaurants. When it comes to clubs and restaurants, though, your patrons may not want everybody who passes by the building to be able to watch them eating, drinking, and dancing their hearts out.

You’re Installing Bedroom Folding Doors

For those who have a bedroom patio, installing a set of folding doors is an excellent way to create a resort-like glass wall experience. Plus, whenever the weather is favorable, you can open up your home to the night air and enjoy the sounds of the city (or just listen to the crickets chirp).

There are some obvious reasons why you may not want everybody to be able to look into your room. While you could just install a set of curtains or drapes above the door, this kind of defeats the purpose of having folding doors in the first place, and limits the amount of light that can get in. Privacy glass will obstruct outsiders from seeing in, while still allowing plenty of natural light inside your room.

Your Backyard Isn’t Private

Some homeowners are lucky enough to have a private backyard where they don’t have to worry about nosy neighbors peeking in. However, if nosy neighbors are a problem, then you may want to consider installing privacy glass or a privacy tint on your glass folding doors.

Privacy Glass For Folding Doors: Your Options

Alright, so now that you understand who can benefit from customizing folding doors with privacy glass, let’s take a minute to break down what your options are. Generally speaking, privacy glass takes on a certain pattern, such as:

• Opaque/sandblasted.
• Cracked/Shattered look.
• Reed-style etching.
• Ice-style etching.
• … and others.

These patterns can be achieved with several different methods, which we’ll explain below. Check it out!

1) Sandblasted Glass Doors

The most traditional and time-honored method of creating privacy glass is sandblasting. This process is always done prior to door assembly when the glass window panes are still in the factory.

Sandblasting is exactly how it sounds like. The exterior sheet of glass is blasted with large gusts of fine-grain sand that create millions of micro-scratches in the surface of the glass, turning it opaque. The interior-facing side of the glass usually isn’t blasted, so it will remain smooth and clear.

2) Laser-Etched Glass Doors

Another traditional method of manufacturing privacy glass involves etching the surface of the glass with high-powered lasers. These powerful laser beams are able to etch specific designs into the surface of the glass and create opaque privacy patterns that resemble a more ordered version of sandblasted glass.

3) Auto/Switchable Privacy Glass Doors

One of the latest innovations in glass-making technology is the advent of electronically-powered switchable privacy glass. These panes of glass are charged with ionic compounds that respond to an electrical current when it’s run through the pane.

When the glass is turned “off,” it remains clear and appears just like normal transparent glass. However, when the switch is flicked and the current runs through the glass, the ions are activated and the glass becomes opaque and prevents outsiders from being able to see inside.

4) Aftermarket Privacy Film Or Tint

Perhaps the company you ordered your folding doors from didn’t offer many privacy glass options or you’ve already ordered and installed your glass doors, so you aren’t able to go back and customize them.

In this case, then your best bet is to hire a window tinting company to apply an aftermarket privacy film (that resembles the sandblasted or laser-etched windows described above) or a metallic tint (which allows you to see outside from the interior, but won’t let anybody outside see inside).

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there are a number of different options that you can choose from to make your folding door system a little bit more private and secure. The most straightforward way is to customize your doors from the factory. However, if it’s too late for that, then an applying an aftermarket privacy film or tint is your next best option.