There are times when a standard door just won’t do the trick. Maybe the space is tight or maybe a swinging door will block a useful portion of the room. In these cases a pocket door might be the solution. A pocket door slides into a wall recess, essentially disappearing when it’s open. You might consider a single or a double set, in which the doors meet in the middle. A double set can allow you to increase your sense of living space by combining two rooms with a wide opening; at the same time, you can divide the rooms as you like, simply by pulling the doors closed.
We’ll describe the installation of a single door, and note a few extra things to remember with double doors at the end.
Whether you’re installing a new wall or retrofitting an old wall for the door, you’re going to need a little more than double the width of the door for each door. As for wall thickness, it is possible to fit a pocket door in a standard 2×4 wall, but a thicker wall can’t hurt.
Begin by purchasing the best kit you can afford. These vary: some include the door, track and some framing hardware, others consist of ready-made units or adjustable units. Also, get a very flat door. Warping can make a pocket door useless. Hollow or filled doors are light (and therefore easy on the hardware) and won’t warp.
More next time.