Opening your bifold or patio doors is one of the easiest ways to bring fresh air into your home during summer. Unfortunately, it can also give flies, wasps, moths and other insects an easy route inside.
When the doors are closed, the large panes of glass can create a different set of problems. Strong sunlight may cause glare, make your room uncomfortably hot or leave you needing privacy in the evening.
The best blinds for bifold doors should manage these problems without obstructing the doors or spoiling your view of the garden. If you regularly leave the doors open, you’ll also benefit from a fly screen for your patio door.
Table of Contents
- What should bifold door blinds do?
- How can you keep flies out when patio doors are open?
- What is Blind Screen?
- Can you combine a blackout blind and fly screen?
- Is Blind Screen suitable for wide bifold doors?
- What other blinds work with bifold doors?
- Which option should you choose?
- Enjoy fresh air with fewer insects
What should bifold door blinds do?
Bifold and patio doors usually cover a much wider area than an ordinary window. Any blind fitted around them must work alongside the handles, hinges and opening mechanism.
Depending on the room, your bifold door blinds may need to:
- Reduce bright sunlight and glare
- Provide privacy
- Allow convenient access to the garden
- Retract neatly when they are not needed
- Cover a wide area of glazing
- Let fresh air into the room
- Help limit the number of insects entering
A conventional blind can provide shade and privacy while the doors are closed. It cannot usually cover the open doorway against insects. In cases like these, a fitted fly screen and blind in one is very useful.
How can you keep flies out when patio doors are open?
Candles, sprays and loose mesh curtains may offer some help, but they do not provide a fitted barrier across the opening. A made-to-measure fly screen for bifold doors can cover the doorway while still allowing air and light to pass through. The mesh can then retract when it is no longer required.
No screen can guarantee that an insect will never enter your home, particularly when people are moving through the doorway. However, covering such a large opening can help you ventilate the room without leaving it completely exposed.
What is Blind Screen?
Blind Screen combines an insect screen with a window blind. Instead of installing separate products, you can have a fly screen and blind in one made-to-measure system. The mesh and blind move within tracks fitted around the opening and retract into discreet cassettes.
Depending on the selected configuration, the system can include:
- Insect mesh
- Light-filtering fabric
- Solar-control fabric
- Blackout fabric
The mesh and fabric can be used independently. You can close the insect screen while the doors are open, use the fabric when you need shade or privacy, or retract both for an unobstructed view. Blind Screen is particularly useful for patio doors during summer, when you may want ventilation, shade and insect protection at different times of the day.
Can you combine a blackout blind and fly screen?
A blackout blind with fly screen can be useful when you need insect protection as well as stronger light control. For example, you might use the mesh while the doors are open, then close the blackout fabric to darken the room when the doors are shut.
The two materials perform different jobs. Insect mesh is designed to let air and some light pass through, so it does not create blackout conditions. You will need to close the blackout fabric when darkness is required. The result will also depend on the fit and any light entering from other windows. We can help you choose a configuration that suits the room and your expectations.
Is Blind Screen suitable for wide bifold doors?
Blind Screen is made to measure and can be configured for different types of bifold, sliding and patio doors.
Before recommending a system, we need to check:
- The width and height of the opening
- How the doors fold or slide
- The position of handles and hinges
- The space available for tracks and cassettes
- How people normally access the garden
- Your preferred mesh and blind fabric
- Whether children or pets use the doorway
A home survey allows us to make sure the system works with your doors and does not interfere with everyday access.
What other blinds work with bifold doors?
If insects are not a concern, several other blinds for patio doors can provide light control and privacy.
Perfect Fit blinds may suit you if you want each door panel covered separately. Allusion and roller or vertical blinds provide flexible coverage across a wide opening, while cellular blinds may be useful if your room tends to be either too hot or too cold. For any of these options, motorisation offers convenient operation.
However, these products only shade the opening. If you want to leave the doors open while limiting insects, you will still need a suitable fly screen.
Which option should you choose?
Consider Blind Screen if:
- Your doors are regularly open during summer
- Flies and moths are a recurring problem
- You want ventilation and insect protection
- You also need shade, privacy or blackout
- You want the mesh and blind to retract when they are not required
A conventional blind may be enough if:
- The doors normally remain closed
- Glare or privacy is your main concern
- You want individual blinds on each panel
- Insect protection is not required
Enjoy fresh air with fewer insects
If you love to have your bifold doors open on balmy summer days but don’t want to swat away insects, you need a fitted fly screen for your patio doors. Blind Screen gives you a retractable fly screen and blind in one made-to-measure system, making it useful all year round.
Visit our West Sussex showroom or book a consultation to explore Blind Screen and our range of bifold door blinds.
