Either one serves it's purpose for different situations. I sometimes prefer stacking sliders because when they are closed (which is most of the time), they have wider glass panels, so form nicer windows. But bi-folds give you a wider opening when actually open - eg. 100% open rather than just 2/3 open. Stacking sliders can usually have sliding flyscreens as well which is sometimes a preference depending on which part of the country you're in if you want to keep insects & flies out!

If the front of the house is west facing in Queensland and you have glass on that side of the house, in summer in the afternoon the sun beats down on this side for hours, heating up the whole house. There is some speculation on double glazing as some think that they do heat up, better than nothing. Once the sun hits the wall you are lost. These image are for north this is worst for west. A more passive means of cooling the house is to install tall enough thick leaves to the base trees on the western side so that they shade that elevation. Problem with that is that in winter, that sun would be nice. So you need trees that drop their leaves early winter and have them back on say September when the sun starts to heat up. Some trees hold onto their leaves till a few weeks before spring, so make sure you do your research and think root barrier up front to protect your footings. Photo below horizontal external shade screens, Another method is to shade the house with screens, i said house not windows. With western sun, it is low when it starts to clear the roof overhangs, so no amount of horizontal shade devices will make any real difference. The screens for western sun in Queensland must be of a vertical nature. So screens that hang OUTSIDE the house to around say 900 mm off the ground would be fantastic. Since the sun travels around the west from more south west in peak summer to west in winter, vertical blades tend to be ideal solution and should pivot, to deal with this moving sun. In the past, Queenslanders used to have these vertical screens on castors and they moved them around to suit the conditions, for some reason we did not learn from the past. This house the screens are not shading the walls at the bottom so they would still heat up. From the plans i see you are building in brick, so western sun and bricks in summer make an ideal oven. Takes bricks 12 hours to cool down depending on the colour. All material heats up in the sun, but bricks take longer to cool, light weight material which is properly insulated is a better choice and against popular opinion, glass is also a good choice, all better if vertically screened. Double brick tends to keep a house cooler and you might as well use the double brick for structure instead of the decorative nature of cavity brick house, but after a while that heats up and takes forever to cool. Studs hold up the roof, not the face bricks. Ever wonder why the house stands up during construction with stud wall and roof? Photo is vertical blades which pivot. A good landscape architect would be worth a look and they will know how to blend your style of house with the garden. North windows in Queensland even with no overhangs, (which is stupid in Queensland) do not get sun into the rooms, but in winter it might crawl in say 2 M which is nice. What are you doing with the roof and concrete tiles heat up nicely and the darker you make them the hotter they get, Colorbond is a good choice with all the hail we tend to get, or keep a stockpile of tiles for when they break. Colour also makes a difference to heat. Make sure you vent the roof space, whirly birds, and vented eaves or gable ends, make sure you fully insulate the roof and also ceiling, and choose a light colour. choose a style of external screens or trees to fit the house. See if that makes a difference to the report which is there to make your life better and we are talking the cost of air con for the life of the house, the reports are there to help save you money, maybe a bit more up front but worth it in the long running cost of a house. Ros

Hi Tracy, we are still building. I don't have a photo of the doors fully installed yet (the glass was installed today....hooray!) . I'll get a photo when I can (might be a few days as concrete polishing starts tomorrow). To explain the doors- they are 3-panel. The 3rd is fixed, so the first 2 panels retract back behind the fixed panel. There are 2 retractable screens, that also retract back into the 3rd fixed panel. I'm sure if you look through Houzz or even the AWS website, you will see plenty of examples. Mozzies absolutely love my older son and I. It was not optional for us to have unscreened doors or windows!

Most good screen doors are custom-made after the door frame is measured up as all doorways are slightly different. An off -the-shelf screen door is usually a poor fit. It is an important element to your security and comfort so it is good to get right, with an appropriate warranty for the exposed location. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls