French Doors

French doors are a matched pair of glazed leaves that open from the centre, so the whole opening clears at once and the room reads as connected to whatever is on the other side. They are used both internally, between a lounge and a dining room, and externally onto a garden or terrace.

Planning a French door opening

Decide which leaf is active and which is the slave, then hold the slave with flush bolts top and bottom and close the joint with a pair maker. External sets must be double glazed and toughened, with hardware and a threshold rated for weather exposure.

For a wider multi-leaf opening see room dividers; where floor space is tight see bi-fold doors. Glazing options are in glazed doors and glazed external doors, and matching frames in external frames.

Internal french doors as a room divider

A pair of glazed french doors is the traditional way to link two reception rooms so that they can be opened into one space or closed into two. Both leaves open, which is what separates them from a single door with a fixed side panel, and the glazing means the rooms still share light even when the doors are shut. In a Victorian or inter-war house with two front rooms it is usually the most sympathetic solution available.

Space, swing and handing

A pair needs swing space for two leaves, so measure the furniture layout as well as the opening. Decide which leaf is the active one, because the passive leaf is held by flush bolts top and bottom and the latch engages into it. If swing space is tight, a sliding system or room dividers that fold will fit where a pair will not. Glazing must be toughened or laminated safety glass and comes factory-fitted.

Fitting into the opening

Measure the structural opening in three places for width and height and set out the lining before ordering, since the combined width of both leaves plus the rebate must fit. See how to measure a door and our french doors guide. If you would rather build a pair from two single leaves, use pair makers. Choose the lining from internal frames, match the ironmongery from door handles and door hinges, and compare glazing styles in clear, frosted and reeded glazed doors.