Pocket doors

[David WE Roberts]

Sounds like something for a garment to add extra security......

We need a sliding door which slides inside a stud wall. Has anyone installed one and/or can recommend one?

Cheers

Dave R

[andrew]

We use the Eclisse ones. We're very happy with them - they are easy to install, and really solid once they're in. We looked at quite a few options at trade shows, and they stood out as the best, although I can't remember exactly why now.

've bought them from Ironmongery Direct also do them. Only thing to watch out for is to get the right lock for the door thickness, or it's really fiddly to get the mechanism to engage. A

[Steve Firth]

We have two. The mechanisms were made by Scrigno - reckoned to be the best design. Doors were made by a local supplier. The other option is Eclisse. I actually have one of these (unused) in the garage. The door fitter refused to use it saying that they are inferior. The door manufacturer said they are OK but Srigno is better.

No complaints with the ones we have. The action is smooth and when closed they look like traditional doors.

[Tim+]

Unless they're motorised and make a Star Trekky hissy squeak I can't see the point. ;-)

Tim

[fred]

In article , David WE Roberts writes

You can DIY them, after all it is just a thin rigid frame on which to hang some wall board. I did this for a 2 door 2m+ opening after I found that the hefty price for the kits didn't even include the doors, not even the bits to make the opening apertures look tidy. Definitely non trivial but doable.

[Brian Gaff]

Ah, you must have heard the statement, I opened the door in my dressing gown.

Brian

[David WE Roberts]

If you can point me towards a supplier...;-)

[David WE Roberts]

You still need the tracks for the door to run on, of course. I assume the challenge is to create a stud wall 1" thick either side of the

2" gap to take the door and track? If you clad with 12.5mm plasterboard that just leaves you with 12.5mm stud structure. So 18mm OSB is a bit wide. 50mm metal studding is the same depth as 2*2 wood, giving a depth of 62.5mm if only clad on one side.

So deeper than a 100mm/4" wall unless there is a rigid structure 12.5mm deep on which to fix your plasterboard. The door I just measured is 40mm thick, so that gives you 100mm -40 = 60mm to play with for a skin tight fit.

30mm for each wall - 18mm OSB and 9.5mm plasterboard? Only gives you 2.5mm either side.

No - 4"/100mm wall does not include the plasterboard so you have 25mm each side not including the plasterboard. Still a challenge to build a wall 1" thick. You can get 50mm metal stud designed to have 12.5mm plasterboard either side but I'm not sure how practical it is to only clad one side in plasterboard - not much sound/thermal insulation or fire prevention.

Hmmm....

O.K. - how did you do it? :-)

Cheers

Dave R

[fred]

In article , David WE Roberts writes

Tee hee, you're thinking the right way :-)

Let's not dwell on the mistakes I made, lets go with how I would do it next time . . .

Old story is that I tried to build the frame in 20mm aluminium angle to keep the partition thickness down but it was too floppy and needed stiffening.

I did 12mm PB + 20mm angle, 8mm frame gap + 40mm door + repeat frame =

120mm which is a match for a regular partition using 100x50 (actually 95x48 true size for PAR frame) with 12mm PB.

Today I would use 25mm dexion tubing (rectangular hollow section (with push-in joints) and use 8mm PB to get the thickness right (but you glue in double panels in the frame gaps to make a good heavy 16mm PB panel).

This gives 8mm PB + 25mm frame + 7mm frame to door gap + 40mm door + repeat frame = 120mm.

The 7 or 8mm frame to door gap seems large and it is but you apply cosmetic framing (like architrave) using light planed timber to close the finished gap to 4mm or so later. Gaps around the sliding door gear at the top I closed with 2 long lengths off brush strip hidden in the top architrave.

If you decide to roll your own , give me a shout and I will give you the outline design and any tips I have.

My estimate for DIY for a single pocket door frame would be:

U-channel sliding door gear 60quid

4 x 3m dexion tube (7.50 ea + plugs say 15quid) = 45quid

Tot 105.00

Door and socket handles extra but that's the same as the retail kits.

Dexion prices from here (no relationship):

[David WE Roberts]