2400mm Heritage White Aluminium French Doors and Sidelites

Small, precise moves can transform how an aluminium door feels. A quarter turn on a hinge bolt can stop a bifold sash scraping. A 1.5mm lift on a sliding patio roller can rescue a stubborn lock during a heatwave. Both fixes take five minutes if you know where the adjusters live and which way to turn them.

This guide covers the aluminium doors we actually supply — ATT Fabrications systems using Smart Systems profiles, including the Visofold 1000 bifold, Smart Heritage French doors, aluminium sliding patio doors, Aluspace internal French doors and external aluminium doors. The adjuster locations, Allen key sizes and ranges below are taken from the official ATT Fabrications fitting instructions for these exact systems, so they’re specific rather than generic.

Note: DoorsDirect2U is a supply-only retailer. We don’t fit, survey or carry out service callouts. Our aluminium doors arrive with full ATT Fabrications fitting instructions and you (or your installer) do the adjustments in situ. We can help you identify the right system from your order paperwork and point you to the relevant manufacturer documentation, but the hands-on work happens at the door.

A note on FENSA certificationIn England and Wales, replacing an external door (including patio doors, bifold doors, French doors, and glazed front or back doors) counts as notifiable work under Building Regulations. The simplest way to stay compliant is to use a FENSA-registered installer. FENSA (Fenestration Self-Assessment Scheme) is a government-authorised scheme that allows approved installers to self-certify the work on your behalf, so you won’t need to notify your Local Authority Building Control (LABC) separately.  Once complete, you’ll receive a FENSA certificate: an important document to keep safe, as you’ll need it if you ever sell your home. If your installer is not FENSA-registered, you or they must apply to LABC before work begins.

The approach we recommend

Aluminium frames are robust, but tiny shifts stack up. Temperature changes can expand or contract the metal, settlement nudges a frame fractionally out of square, and hardware wears in. The result is familiar: a visible gap at the head, a traffic door catching the threshold, or a lead door that won’t quite latch.

The order of operations matters:

1. Confirm the frame is square before touching adjusters. If the frame is out, no hinge adjustment will hold.
2. Check the glass packers are correct (toe-and-heel). On ATT bifolds and French doors, “failure to fit the packers in the correct place will prevent the doors from operating correctly over a period of time”.
3. Adjust hardware in small, balanced steps across all hinges or rollers.
4. Finish with lock alignment and gasket checks.

Manufacturer guidance on the Heritage French doors makes a useful point: “This should be the last option, as normally ill-fitting doors are due to the frame not being fit square, or toe and heeling not performed correctly”. Chasing hinge cams without checking the basics is the most common reason adjustments don’t hold.

Tools you’ll need

• 5mm Allen key — this is the size specified for ATT bifold hinge height bolts and roller grub screws
• Pozi and flat screwdrivers — for keep face plates, hinge frame-side screws and beading
• Spirit level and tape measure — to verify frame square before adjusting anything
• Rubber mallet — to seat glazing beads after toe-and-heeling
• Silicone (clear/neutral cure) — to secure glazing packers per ATT spec (“use silicone to secure these in place so that they do not drop”)
• Vacuum, brush and clean cloths for tracks and drainage slots
• Dry PTFE lubricant for sliding tracks; silicone spray for pivots

How to adjust aluminium bifold doors

The aluminium bifolds we supply are the Smart Systems Visofold 1000 Slimline, fabricated by ATT. They use both top and bottom roller tracks, with pivot and carrier hinges. The most useful adjustment ranges from the official ATT Fabrications bifold fitting instructions:

Adjustment	Where	Tool	Range
Hinge height	Bolt at the top of each hinge	5mm Allen key	±4mm (8mm total)
Lateral (side-to-side)	Hinge adjuster pegs	5mm Allen key	5mm per hinge
Height per hinge	Hinge adjuster pegs	5mm Allen key	2mm per hinge
Roller height	Grub screw in side of hinge barrel	5mm Allen key	±5mm (10mm total)
Master keep	Screws in keep face plate	Pozi screwdriver	Inward/outward via loosen-and-slide

1: Diagnose first

• Open the entire set, then close until the lead door is just shy of the frame. Note any visible gap at the head or lock side.
• If the top corner touches at the hinge side, it’s likely a toe-and-heel issue — not a hinge issue.
• Check the top and bottom roller tracks for debris. A single leaf can make a door feel like it’s dropped.
• Place the spirit level on the threshold. If the floor is out, aim for a parallel sight-line rather than chasing perfection.

2: Height adjustment

Insert the 5mm Allen key into the bolt at the top of the hinge and turn in small increments. Adjust the lead door and the opposite pivot equally to keep panels square.

• If the door catches at the bottom near the lock, lift the carrier nearest that edge first.
• If the sag shows as a tight top corner at the hinge side, lift the top pivot slightly, then recheck.

3: Lateral and compression

The hinge adjuster pegs deliver 5mm of side-to-side and 2mm of height adjustment per hinge — so spread the adjustment across all hinges rather than cranking one. Over-tight compression binds the gasket and accelerates wear.

3: Master keep alignment

If the multi-point lock meets the keeps too high or too low, the keep itself is adjustable. Per ATT: “Master door keep adjustment is achieved by using the screws in the keep face plate. These simply need to be loosened in order to give inward and outward adjustment. Once the keep is in the correct position carefully retighten the screws.”

4: Toe-and-heel: the right fix for a dropped panel

If a panel has dropped or you can see the top corner has moved slightly out of square, the cure is toe-and-heel — packers under the glass that transfer weight diagonally from the bottom hinge side to the top lock side.

The ATT instructions are explicit: “All door sashes must be ‘toed and heeled’ to ensure an equal and parallel sight line between the head of the sash and the outer frame… use silicone to secure these in place so that they do not drop once the beads are put in place and during the normal operation of the doors.”

Step-by-step:

1. Carefully remove the glazing beads in sequence (top and bottom first, then sides). Mark them so they go back into the same positions.
2. Add or adjust packers under the glass at the bottom hinge side and at the top lock side — forming a firm diagonal.
3. Secure packers with silicone so they don’t slip during normal operation.
4. Refit beads with the rubber mallet — tight but not bowed.

This is genuinely the single most powerful fix for a dropped bifold, and it’s the one most DIYers skip because it involves removing the glazing beads. Don’t skip it.

Shop Aluminium Bifold Doors

1800mm Black Aluminium Bi-fold Patio Doorset

How to adjust ATT aluminium sliding patio doors

The aluminium sliding patio doors we supply are ATT-fabricated using Smart Systems profiles, with a U-value of 1.8 W/m²K and a high-security multi-point locking system as standard (product spec).

1: Track cleaning first

A misaligned sliding door usually advertises itself — it drags, clicks over dirt or refuses to latch. Before adjusting anything:

• Vacuum the tracks. Lift sticky grime with warm soapy water, then rinse and dry.
• Apply dry PTFE lubricant along the contact line. Avoid oil — it attracts dust and grit, which is what caused the problem in the first place.
• Inspect the bottom rollers through the access holes near the bottom of the door stiles. Worn rollers create a rhythmic thump or wavy slide.

If the door still feels heavy after cleaning, it’s time to adjust the rollers.

2: Roller adjustment

Per the ATT sliding patio fitting instructions:

“To adjust the height / ensure that the jamb and door stile are parallel, you will need to raise or lower the door rollers. Access is obtained to the adjusting screws through the holes near the bottom of the door stiles. Turn the screws clockwise to raise the door, anti-clockwise to lower it. You may need to adjust both roller assemblies.”

Critical caveat from the same document: “Please ensure you do not over-adjust rollers.” Small increments, recheck after each turn.

3: Keep plate alignment

If the locking hooks don’t pass cleanly through the keep plate after height adjustment, the keep plate itself is adjustable:

“If they are not aligned correctly, the keep plate can be adjusted by removing the screws, moving it up or down until correct, and re-fitting the screws. The locking hooks should now pass through the keep plate holes cleanly.”

This covers the common questions: how to fix a misaligned sliding door, how to adjust an aluminium sliding door on rollers, and how to adjust the strike plate without stripping the sash out of the frame.

Shop Aluminium Sliding Patio Doors

1800mm Aluminium Patio Door

How to adjust aluminium French doors

The aluminium French doors we supply are the Smart system fabricated by ATT, with a U-value of 1.5 W/m²K, 28mm warm-edge double-glazed toughened units and a high-security multi-point locking system (product spec).

1: Frame and toe-and-heel come first

Per the ATT Heritage fitting instructions, if the door isn’t operating correctly:

“The doors can be lifted and lowered by slightly loosening the screws in the hinges (frame side). This should be the last option as normally ill-fitting doors are due to the frame not being fit square, or toe and heeling not performed correctly.”

So before reaching for the hinges:

1. Check the frame is square. Diagonal measurements should be equal. The cill should be level (max 2mm deviation per ATT).
2. Check the glass packers are correct (see the toe-and-heel diagram in the fitting instructions).

2: Hinge adjustment

Once frame and toe-and-heel are confirmed:

• Loosen the frame-side hinge screws slightly to lift or lower the door
• Adjust evenly across hinges to keep the door square
• Retighten and cycle the door

3: Compression and weather sealing

If you feel a draught on one side, the most likely cause is uneven compression — not a fault with the door. Even compression around the gasket comes from a square frame, correctly packed glass and balanced hinges. Run a sheet of paper around the gasket to feel for even compression.

How to adjust internal aluminium French doors

The internal aluminium French doors we supply are the Smart Systems Aluspace range — slimmer profiles, 6mm toughened safety glass supplied separately for on-site glazing, and a latch (rather than multi-point locking) since they’re internal.

The same toe-and-heel principle applies: packers must be correctly positioned to keep sashes square, and frame-side hinge screws can be loosened slightly to lift or lower a door as a last resort. Slimline versions need a narrow backset latch or magnetic latch (product example).

How to adjust external aluminium doors

The external aluminium doors category covers the full ATT Heritage range — French doors, residential entrance doors, sidelites and combinations. Adjustment principles match the Heritage French door section above. Where a single residential door is fitted as part of a combined frame with a sidelite, check the coupler bar fixings as well as the door hinges if the sash isn’t sitting cleanly (ATT sidelite fitting instructions).

Heritage Anthracite Grey Aluminium External Doorset

Common problems and the fixes that last

Door type	Symptom	Likely cause	What to adjust	Notes
Visofold 1000 bifold	Scraping at threshold near lock edge	Panel drop or debris in bottom track	Clean tracks, toe-and-heel, lift top hinge bolt (5mm Allen)	Don’t over-tighten compression to mask a drop
Visofold 1000 bifold	Latch misses keep by a few mm	Lateral hinge or strike position	Lateral hinge adjuster (5mm); loosen and slide keep face plate	Spread adjustment across all hinges
ATT sliding patio	Heavy slide, clicks over track	Dirt in track or flat-spotted rollers	Track cleaning + dry PTFE; raise rollers via stile access holes	Don’t over-adjust rollers (ATT warning)
ATT sliding patio	Won’t hook shut	Sash too low or keep plate misaligned	Raise rollers, then move keep plate up/down	Recheck gaps at head and jambs after each turn
ATT Heritage French doors	Draught on one side	Uneven compression or frame not square	Verify frame square first, check toe-and-heel, then loosen frame-side hinge screws	Frame fit is the usual culprit
Any ATT aluminium door	Water ingress at corner	Misalignment creating gaps; failed cill seal	Height, lateral, gasket check; reseal cill if needed	Don’t seal the gap between cill top and frame underside — it’s a drainage path

Summary and key takeaways

If you came here wondering how to adjust aluminium doors, the pattern is clear. Frame first, toe-and-heel next, hardware last.

• Bifold basics (Visofold 1000): 5mm Allen key, ±4mm at the hinge bolt, 5mm lateral and 2mm height per hinge, ±5mm at the roller. Toe-and-heel any dropped panel with silicone-secured packers.
• Sliding patio basics: clean the track with dry PTFE, raise the bottom rollers through the access holes (clockwise to raise), adjust the keep plate up or down by removing its screws. Don’t over-adjust rollers.
• French and external doors (Heritage): verify the frame is square, check toe-and-heel, then loosen frame-side hinge screws to lift or lower as a last resort.
• Locks last. Get the gaps right first, then bring latches and hooks to the keep.
• Track maintenance matters. Clear debris from top and bottom tracks and drainage slots regularly.

What this means if you bought from DoorsDirect2U

• We’re supply-only. Doors arrive with full ATT Fabrications fitting instructions. You or your fitter handle the on-site adjustments.
• Made-to-measure available on most aluminium lines via the made-to-measure quote service — direct from the manufacturer.
• Free mainland UK delivery with VAT-inclusive pricing.
• Warranty: 10 years on aluminium colour-fastness; 1 year on hardware and double-glazed units. Lead time typically 3 to 4 weeks for mainland UK (5 to 6 weeks for some remote postcodes).
• Standard colours: White, Anthracite Grey, Black and Dual Colour (Anthracite Grey outside / White inside).

If a door is dropping repeatedly within the hardware warranty period or you’re unsure which system you have, share your order number and a photo of the hinge side or roller access port — we can confirm the system and route any warranty issue back to ATT Fabrications.