Pro-Lock · East Sussex
Bifold door repair in Brighton — seals under uneven pressure
Bifold doorsets are not all built the same way, and the arrangement decides how a fault behaves rather than the badge on the door. Some systems carry the panels from a head track; others run them on bottom rollers in the threshold, with the head track guiding rather than supporting. Which arrangement a doorset uses is something the assessment establishes, because it changes what a draught actually means.
In Brighton the complaint that brings us out most is a draught, often with a whistle, running along the closed edge of the doorset and worsening when the weather comes in off the sea. That is seldom a seal that has perished. A bifold seal only shuts a gap while the panel squeezes it evenly against the frame, and where the squeeze is uneven the same stretch of seal opens every time.
Local fault emphasis
Seals under the wrong pressure: why Brighton doors draw
It is the panel that pressurises a bifold seal, not the handle. How hard each length of seal is pressed depends on where the panel sits, how the hinges are holding it, and how the leaves meet when closed. That pressure needs to be consistent along the entire edge: a seal crushed in one place and barely touched in another cannot close the gap, whatever condition the rubber beneath it is in.
So the seal is treated as evidence rather than as the fault itself. Replace it while the panel is out of position and the new seal will be compressed just as unevenly, and the draught will return with it. The assessment narrows the cause to the seal, the panel position behind it, or the closing pressure holding the leaf shut — and only then does a repair become worth quoting.
Brands fitted locally
Bifold systems we assess across East Sussex
Bifold doors across East Sussex are fitted with hardware from a wide range of systems, and the components inside a doorset are frequently a mix rather than a single brand. The guides below cover the systems we are asked about most often, and each sets out how that manufacturer's running gear, locking and sealing details behave, and what tends to fail first.
Local conditions
Local conditions in Brighton
Brighton is about 3 kilometres from the coast. Its mean wind speed is about 5.54 m/s, against a range of 4.96 m/s at the most sheltered locations we cover to 6.63 m/s at the windiest. Its seasonal temperature range runs from about 0.02°C to 21.7°C, a spread of roughly 22 degrees, with the sea softening the winter end of it.
Brighton's historic name, Brighthelmstone, appears in the Domesday Book of 1086; the town later grew as a sea-bathing resort.
Pro-Lock repairs bifold doors; we do not sell new ones. That matters more than it sounds. A company that fits replacement doorsets has somewhere to send a problem a repair would have solved, and a recommendation is only as independent as the person giving it. We have nothing to upsell you, so the honest answer is also the only one available to us: if your doorset can be repaired, that is what we will quote for. Every assessment ends in a written report and an itemised quotation, the repair is booked separately and only if you decide to go ahead, and completed work is backed by a 12-month warranty.
Complete doorset overhauls may help where frame distortion exceeds tolerances or panel realignment cannot compensate; read the full explanation ↗
Toe and heel is checked when appropriate as part of alignment; understand toe and heel ↗
A clear first step
£79 professional assessment, credited against any repair, or refunded if we cannot quote. 12-month warranty on completed repair work.
Why do you charge £79 for an assessment when some companies offer free quotes?
An experienced engineer checks the complete doorset, explains the findings, and sets out the sensible repair route. Read the full explanation on the FAQ ↗