Is it possible to retrofit a pocket door without tearing out the parallel wall. In other words, can I do the installation fully from the jamb? We have open doorways from the dining room and hall into the kitchen and need to keep the dogs in the kitchen area. I'm thinking of half-height pocket doors if the job can be done without major surgery on the adjacent walls.
TIA
Cap'n 321
Never say never, but I dont' see any way that wouldn't be about 10x the work of ripping off the drywall.
Pocket door kits replace the normal wall studs with thin steel reinforced stud-lets turned sideways in order to get clearance for the door. And the bottom plate has to be cut back as well.
They really aren't that hard to install, but it starts with demo-ing the wall.
How about using baby gates...that's what I've done on occasion. The good ones will keep most dogs corraled.
HTH,
Paul
Uh... "half-height" doors? These things hang from the top so me thinks you'll be impeding the people and letting the animals have the run of the place.
Personally, I wouldn't want dogs in my kitchen in the first place, so whadda I know.
I looked long and hard at this question once. I had to replace the track in a bathroom pocket door.
I decided that it can't be done, and ended uo cutting out a section of drywall.
-Zz
I've trained mine to make a mean omelet. :=)
Why not go with folding doors? You can build as nice as you like. Design so that entire door units can be easily removed.
Another option I have though of using my self was a small slender cabinet on one side joining a pedestal on the other. Well weighted this would work and allow you to design something really nice also.
From joneakes.com:
Can I repair a pocket door without opening the wall? Episode #05-167
Try removing the trim around the door. That will usually either expose the track at the top, or removing the stops or trim down the sides may allow the door to swing out and lift off of the tracks. Although the track is installed during construction, the doors are usually hung just before the trim is applied.
Hope that helps,
--James
I suppose it is *theoretically*possible*, **IF** you have the right tools. But those would be some *very* exotic tools.
I've done it by taking taking off the wall 'skin' from _one_ side of the space where the door was to go; vertically sawing out 'most' of the existing studs (and, admittedly, this was 2x6 internal construction, not 2x4); then adding in the 'skinny steel' ones that come with the pocket door package, while building in the header that holds the track; and finally re-skinning that 'opened up' side of the wall.
"half-height pocket doors"
Huh?? Half-height? To keep a dog out/in?
Go to the hardware store or lumber yard and take a gander at a pocket door assembly and the hardware. Read the directions and re-think the whole idea.
All the pocket doors I've seen are suspended from the top. So, half an 80" door would fall about 40" from the floor.
I don't see such an installation keeping any floor-bound pets in or out.
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