The problem with putting blinds on bi-fold doors is that the doors fold and the blinds don’t. Anything hung on the outside of the glass has to be taken down, tied back or fought with every time you open the doors — and on a four-pane door that’s four sets of blinds and four sets of cords.
Integrated blinds solve it by putting the blind inside the sealed double-glazed unit, where it moves with the leaf and never gets in the way.
The blind sits in the cavity between the two panes of glass, in the same argon-filled sealed unit that does the insulating. The unit is assembled and sealed at manufacture, so the blind is permanently enclosed.
It’s operated magnetically. A slider or a control on the frame moves a magnet on the outside face of the glass, which drives the mechanism inside — so nothing penetrates the seal, and the unit stays gas-tight and guaranteed.
Depending on the system you can raise and lower the blind, tilt the slats to control light and privacy without closing it fully, and operate it manually by slider or electrically by remote, wall switch or app.
Electric operation is worth considering on a wide run of doors. Four manual sliders is four separate operations every morning; one remote does the lot.
They never need cleaning. The blind is inside a sealed unit. No dust, no cobwebs, no greasy slats above a kitchen door, no taking them down to wash.
No cords. Nothing hanging, nothing to tangle, and no looped cord — which matters if there are small children or pets in the house. Corded blinds remain a recognised safety hazard and this design removes it entirely.
They fold with the doors. The blind is part of the leaf. Open the doors, the blinds go with them.
Nothing to catch or snag. No brackets, no fabric near hinges, nothing to get trapped as the leaves stack.
They don’t change the look of the door. Closed, all you see is glass and slats. There’s no headrail, no bracket and no fixings on your slim aluminium frame.
They don’t lose you any light when open. A surface blind stacks into a bundle at the top of the glass. An integrated blind retracts into the top of the cavity, behind the frame head.
The other job these do is thermal.
A large south- or west-facing bi-fold gets hot. Glass lets solar radiation in, the room absorbs it, and it doesn’t get back out — the greenhouse effect, on a domestic scale. In a Cheshire summer a big unshaded run of glass can push a kitchen well past comfortable by mid-afternoon.
Closing the slats reflects a substantial part of that solar gain before it’s had a chance to be absorbed by the room, and because the blind sits within the glazing cavity it’s more effective at that than an internal blind hung behind the glass, which is only shading after the heat is already inside.
In winter, closing the blinds at dusk adds a still-air layer and reduces heat loss through the glazing.
Slat colours — white, silver, grey, anthracite, bronze, black and cream are the common range, and most people either match the frame or go a shade lighter.
Blind types — Venetian slats are the standard and the most versatile. Pleated blinds are available where you want a softer, more diffuse light rather than slats, and blackout options exist for rooms where light control matters more than view.
Control — manual magnetic slider, cranked control, or electric via remote, wall switch, or integration into a smart home system. Electric units can be hard-wired or run on a rechargeable internal battery.
Where else you can have them — the same sealed-unit blinds go into aluminium sliding patio doors, aluminium windows and door side panels, so you can run the same look across a whole rear elevation.
Exact slat colours and control options are confirmed at quote stage — bring us the door and we’ll show you what’s available for it.
Integrated blinds are specified at order — the units are built with the blind in, so it isn’t something that can be retrofitted to doors you already have. If you’re ordering aluminium bi-fold doors, decide at survey.
Available supply and fit across Warrington and Cheshire, or supply only with the blinds already in the units.
10-year guarantee, CERTASS registered installation, and we’ll beat any genuine like-for-like quote dated within the last 14 days. We cover Warrington, Cheshire and the surrounding areas.
Not to the existing glass — the blind is sealed inside the unit at manufacture. It can be done by replacing the sealed units in your existing frames, provided the frames will accept the required unit thickness. Send us a photo and the door details and we’ll tell you.
The mechanism is inside the sealed unit, so a repair means replacing that unit. In practice failures are rare — there are no cords to fray and no exposed moving parts to collect dust — and the units are guaranteed.
No. The unit is a standard sealed double-glazed unit with the blind occupying part of the cavity, still argon-filled and still low-E coated. Closed, the blind slightly improves the thermal performance.
No. Manual sliders are silent. Electric motors are audible but quiet — comparable to a motorised roller blind.
It varies with door size and whether you go manual or electric. It’s worth deciding whether you want them on every leaf or only the ones that get the sun — we’ll price both so you can compare.
Yes. It’s common to specify them only on the leaves that face the afternoon sun and leave the rest as plain glass.