Patio and French doors in Teesside
French doors, supplied and fitted, cost £1,400 to £2,400 on Teesside in 2026, and sliding patio doors £1,600 to £2,800. Both come in uPVC or aluminium, open the house to the garden in a day, and transform how a living room feels.
Two ways to the garden
French doors are the hinged pair that open from the middle, and they have graced Teesside living rooms for a century because the formula works: a full-height doorway, glass to the floor, and a draught-proof seal when the weather turns. Sliding patio doors trade the swing for a glide: one pane slides behind the other, nothing intrudes into the room or the patio, and the glass area per pound is the best in the door market. Both suit the standard 1.5 to 2.4 metre openings behind most Teesside semis and terraces.
The choice between them is usually practical. French doors give you the full opening width on a fine day but need swing room and can catch the wind on exposed gardens in Redcar and Saltburn. Sliders give you half the opening but never blow back, keep furniture placement simple, and put more glass in front of the view. For anything wider than about 2.4 metres, bi-folds enter the conversation.
What they cost on Teesside
Expect £1,400 to £2,400 for French doors supplied and fitted, and £1,600 to £2,800 for a two-pane slider, in uPVC. Aluminium versions of either run roughly 40 to 60 percent more, buying slimmer frames and the contemporary finish. Replacing an old window-and-door combination with French doors is routine work: the opening is adapted, a lintel checked or replaced, and the whole job usually completes in a day.
What a proper quote specifies
- The material and system: uPVC or aluminium, profile brand, and colour inside and out.
- The glass: toughened double glazing as standard (a legal requirement at this height), with the U-value stated and solar-control options for south-facing rooms.
- Security: multi-point locking, anti-snap cylinders on French doors, and anti-lift blocks on sliders, named in the quote rather than assumed.
- The opening work: lintel condition, any widening, threshold type, and making good inside and out, itemised.
- Guarantee: ten years on the doors and the installation is the standard to ask for.
Styles that suit Teesside houses
White uPVC French doors remain the default behind the semis of Billingham, Thornaby and Acklam, and do the job brilliantly for the money. Anthracite grey aluminium sliders suit the kitchen extensions going up across Wynyard and Ingleby Barwick. On period properties in Saltburn and Yarm, woodgrain foils or engineered timber keep the proportions right. Glazing bars, where you want them, come as applied Georgian bars rather than the clip-in grilles of the 1990s, and the difference in appearance is worth the small premium.
Getting the details right
Three decisions to make at survey rather than on fitting day: which way French doors open (out is standard, in suits small patios), which pane slides on a slider (work it out against your furniture), and the threshold (a low threshold is kinder to prams, bikes and knees, with drainage detailed for exposed sites). The patio doors guide walks through all three choices, and the cost guide prices every combination.