I can't find a 33 inch wide bifold door to replace my kitchen door, so I'm going to cut it in half & put in two vertical bits to make good the cut sides.
Door gear - where can I buy it, or does anyone have a DIY solution?
A company called Hendersons makes a few options.
It's possible that you might destroy the structure and therefore the strength of the door by cutting it down the middle.
Homebase might be worth checking.
Andrew
If the current door is a panel type and has a solid stile down the middle, you could make your own. Since the kits are really light weight stuff (AFAICT) this is preferable. Even plain fire doors might not be suitable as they may well be fireproof material in the middle.
Essentially you would split the door in half lengthways. Hang the second half on the first. Since the second half is only half the weight and half the size of the original you can get away with (say 4-6) surface hinges rather than 'real' recessed ones. The surface hinges will also compensate slightly for the width that it lost ripping the door in half.
Remove and make good all existing latch, locks, knobs etc. Put a knob on the 'outer' side of the door near the middle hinge. Put a finger plate on the 'inner side' near the middle hinge. Add magnetic, spring, or roller ball catch(s) (or whatever) near the middle hinge at the top of the door.
Some types of latches locks etc are easily homemade from bits of wood or metal.
I'd be surprised if a mag catch was much use, unless you use your own large magnet. Try one from a microwave magnetron, that should keep the kids out :)
If you have an electric plane it should be easy enough to cut the door a bit smaller and glue on a piece of 2x2, then plane it all. This would work for doors where the central upright is in 2 sections.
NT
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