How to Create a Flush Patio from Bifold or Sliding Doors
Large bifold and sliding doors have completely changed the way we connect our homes with our gardens.
Open the doors and ideally you want the inside and outside to feel like one continuous living space.
But there's one detail that can make an enormous difference:
the level of the patio outside the doors.
If you step through beautiful floor-to-ceiling doors and immediately have to step down onto a patio, some of that indoor-outdoor connection is lost.
A carefully designed flush or near-flush patio can create a much cleaner transition.
At Garden Ezee, it's something we're increasingly asked to achieve – particularly on modern extensions and renovations.
So how do you create that seamless appearance while still dealing properly with drainage, damp protection and the construction of the patio?
Why Are Flush Patios So Popular?
Modern extensions are often designed around the garden.
Large areas of glass, bifold doors and sliding doors are used to bring more natural light into the house and create views of the outdoor space.
When the internal and external areas are visually connected, the garden starts to feel like another room.
Keeping the levels closely aligned strengthens that effect.
Instead of:
Kitchen → doors → step down → patio
you create a much more natural:
Kitchen → doors → outdoor living space
It's a relatively small detail that can completely change how the finished project feels.
Why Isn't the Patio Simply Built at the Same Height?
Unfortunately, it's not quite that simple.
The external patio needs to work with the construction of the property.
Among other things, we need to consider:
The damp-proof course
The door threshold
Drainage
Rainwater
The construction beneath the patio
Ventilation where required
Existing ground levels
Manufacturer's installation requirements
Traditionally, external paving is often kept below the property's damp-proof course to reduce the risk of moisture bridging the building's protection against damp.
Simply raising conventional paving until it meets the doors without considering these details isn't the answer.
A flush appearance needs to be designed correctly, not just built higher.
Start with the Door Threshold
For Garden Ezee, the door is normally one of the first things we look at.
Where is the finished internal floor?
Where is the external threshold?
Where is the DPC?
What drainage details have been incorporated?
And where does the new patio need to finish?
Once we understand these levels, we can work backwards and determine how the patio should be constructed.
This is particularly important on new extensions.
Ideally, the relationship between the doors and patio should be considered before the external works begin rather than trying to solve everything afterwards.
Creating the Patio on an Engineered Frame
This is one of the areas where the way Garden Ezee builds patios has evolved.
Alongside traditional landscaping methods, we're the installation company behind the iGarden iFrame system.
iFrame is a precision-engineered galvanised steel structure that supports outdoor surfaces including porcelain.
Instead of building a conventional solid patio construction right up against the house, we can create the required patio level using the steel framework.
The porcelain is then dry-laid onto the frame.
This gives us considerably more control over the finished level while allowing us to detail the structure appropriately around the property.
Keeping the Structure Away from the House
One important difference with a framed patio is that the patio structure doesn't necessarily need to rely on the house for support.
The iFrame is designed as a free-standing structure.
Where required by the design, we can maintain a separation between the patio structure and the building rather than simply constructing a solid mass directly against the property.
This can help us manage the relationship between the patio, building fabric and damp-proofing details.
The exact arrangement will depend on the property, door system and required drainage.
Drainage Is Critical
A patio that looks flush with the doors still needs somewhere for rainwater to go.
You don't want heavy rainfall collecting against a threshold.
That's why drainage should never be treated as an afterthought.
Depending on the property, the solution might include appropriate linear drainage, a drainage channel or a designed gap between the patio and building.
The surrounding levels and where the water ultimately discharge also need to be considered.
The objective is simple:
Create the visual appearance of a seamless transition without creating a route for water back towards the house.
How Does Water Drain Through an iFrame Patio?
The porcelain on an iFrame patio is dry laid rather than traditionally pointed.
Small, consistent gaps are maintained between the porcelain tiles.
Rainwater can pass through these joints into the area beneath the patio, where the underlying drainage strategy manages the water.
This is different from a conventional pointed patio where the finished surface itself generally needs falls to direct water towards drainage points.
It also gives the finished porcelain a crisp shadow-line joint.
What If the Garden Is Much Lower Than the Doors?
This is where things become particularly interesting.
Many homeowners build an extension and then discover that the garden is considerably lower than the new finished floor level.
There might be a drop of 300mm, 500mm, 600mm or considerably more.
One option is to step straight down from the doors.
Another is to construct a raised patio or terrace.
Traditional raised construction can involve retaining walls, foundations and large quantities of infill.
With iFrame, we can create the required finished level structurally.
The steel framework supports the porcelain at the required height while the existing ground remains underneath.
That can allow us to create a generous outdoor living area at approximately the same level as the house before introducing steps down into the main garden.
A Raised Terrace Can Transform an Extension
Imagine a new kitchen extension with wide sliding doors.
Instead of opening those doors onto a narrow landing and steps, the external level continues into a large porcelain terrace.
There's space for a dining table, outdoor sofa, barbecue or outdoor kitchen.
Steps then connect the terrace with the lawn and rest of the garden.
Suddenly the terrace becomes an outdoor room rather than simply an area of paving.
This is one of the reasons we believe levels should be considered as part of the garden design rather than treated purely as a construction problem.
Don't Forget the Steps
If the terrace is raised, eventually you need to transition back into the garden.
The positioning of those steps can have a major impact on the finished design.
Rather than automatically putting a small set of steps directly outside the doors, we can incorporate them into the wider layout.
They might be:
Wide feature steps
Central to the garden
Positioned to one side
Integrated with planting
Finished in matching porcelain
Combined with lighting
With iFrame, steel step frames can be incorporated into the main structure, helping the patio and steps work together as one design.
What About Wheelchair and Step-Free Access?
A carefully designed relationship between the internal floor and external patio can also make the garden significantly more accessible.
For households where step-free access is important, creating an appropriate external level can remove one of the biggest barriers between the house and garden.
The wider route through the garden, gradients, thresholds and relevant accessibility requirements still need to be considered, but the ability to engineer the external surface to a precise level gives us much greater flexibility.
Porcelain Works Particularly Well
Large-format porcelain is an excellent finish for this type of garden.
It provides the crisp, contemporary appearance homeowners often want alongside modern bifold and sliding doors.
Some projects can take the concept even further by choosing an external porcelain that complements the colour and style of the internal flooring.
The materials don't necessarily need to be identical.
If the tones, tile sizes and laying patterns work together, the visual effect through the open doors can be extremely effective.
Think About Lighting at the Same Time
If you're creating a raised patio as part of an extension, it's also worth thinking about how you'll use it after dark.
Lighting can be incorporated into steps, beneath edges and throughout the surrounding landscaping.
Uplighting trees and planting beyond the patio can also extend the view from inside the house at night.
Instead of looking through large glass doors into a dark garden, the landscaping becomes part of the interior view.
It's a small consideration during construction that can make a huge difference to how the space is used.
Get the Levels Right Before You Start
One of the biggest pieces of advice we can give homeowners is:
Don't leave the external levels until the end of the building project.
If you're planning an extension with bifold or sliding doors, think about the garden early.
Consider where the finished patio needs to be.
Consider drainage.
Consider how you'll get from the terrace into the garden.
And consider what construction method will be used to achieve those levels.
Solving these details on paper is much easier than trying to correct them once the doors, drainage and landscaping are already installed.
Garden Ezee – Connecting the House and Garden
Garden Ezee has been landscaping gardens for more than 25 years.
During that time, the way people use their gardens has changed dramatically.
Gardens are no longer simply something we look at through the window.
They're increasingly becoming an extension of the home.
Our combination of traditional landscaping experience and the iGarden iFrame system give us another way of creating that connection – particularly where difficult levels would traditionally require substantial groundworks.
The objective isn't simply to build a patio.
It's to make the house and garden work together.
Planning Bifold or Sliding Doors?
If you're building an extension, installing new bifold or sliding doors, or already have doors that sit considerably higher than your garden, send Garden Ezee some photographs and approximate measurements.
Ideally, include a photograph showing the doors, threshold and surrounding garden levels.
We can look at the relationship between the house and garden and discuss how a raised or near-flush porcelain patio could be incorporated into the overall design.
The best time to think about your patio level isn't after the extension is finished. It's while you're planning how the house and garden will connect.
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