DEAR TIM: I have a large archway between my home office and
my dining room. I need to close off my office occasionally but do not want
traditional swinging doors. I love pocket doors and want to add them. How much
of a project is it to add these doors? Would the walls have to be completely
torn out on either side of the opening to do the job? Karma T., Yulee, FL
DEAR KARMA: Pockets doors, in my opinion, are one of the top
ten most overlooked items when many architects and builders plan a home. Even I
underused this wonderful door option in my own home. If I had the chance to
rebuild my home today, there are a minimum of 10 other rooms that would have
pocket doors instead of the current swinging doors.
Pocket doors are wonderful for many reasons, but I love the fact that they
disappear into a wall. You can pick up an average of ten square feet of floor
space when you use a pocket door instead of a traditional hinged swinging door.
Modern high-quality pocket door hardware and frames allow these doors to remain
trouble free for the life of the home.
Pocket doors are easily added to a new home or one being remodeled, but
installing one or two in an existing home is a little bit of work. Several years
ago, I added a pocket door in my own home to separate the breakfast room from a
hallway leading to our laundry room. My family and I endured the mess, but the
final result has made everyone happy.
I had to do some demolition work to create the opening for my pocket door.
You are correct in assuming that each side of your opening will have to be
demolished since you want two pocket doors that will meet in the middle of the
archway. The amount of wall space that needs to be opened up to create the
pocket hideaway for each door is slightly greater than the overall width of each
of the pocket doors.
But before you start swinging a sledgehammer or pounding a pry bar behind the
existing trim, slow down and investigate what might be behind and above the
wall. There can be all sorts of surprises behind the plaster, drywall or
paneling. Plumbing waterlines and drain pipes, heating and cooling ducts, pipes
and low voltage cables, and all sorts of electric and communication cables can
be living comfortably where you want the pockets to take up residence. This is
not to say all of these things can't be relocated, you simply should investigate
and see what might be in your way.
Would you like to buy the exact pocket door frame I have in my own home? You
know, the pocket door frames that are perhaps the best in the world? All
you have to do is
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Here for Tim's Favorite Pocket Door Frame
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The underside and top of walls often yield clues as to what is inside of
them. If you can see pipes, cables, ducts and other things that extend from a
floor up or down into the wall cavity, then you will undoubtedly have some extra
work ahead of you to accomplish your goal. Rest assured though it will be worth
it in the long run.
Furthermore, the wall might be a bearing wall. While this is a significant
challenge, it is often possible to install a large beam over the opening that
will carry the load above and transfer it just beyond the reach of the
pockets.
For years of trouble-free life, be sure to get the absolute best pocket door
frames. Look for ones that have metal wrapped studs that will not warp. The
wheeled trucks that latch to the door and ride back and forth in the track must
be ones that cannot jump out of the track. Certain pocket door frames and
hardware come with this guarantee.
Be sure the rough opening is square and plumb and the top of the rough
opening is absolutely level. This will ensure that the pocket doors will glide
smoothly in and out of the pockets and that the doors will meet perfectly when
they are closed.
It is vitally important that the rough opening is perfect
before the pocket door frames are installed. The last vertical studs that create
the opening can be plumb but the overall opening can be twisted or in a helix.
If this happens, the doors will never meet properly or they might rub when they
are slid back into the pockets.
To ensure the rough opening is perfect and not twisted, extend strings
diagonally from opposite corners on one side of the opening to create a giant
letter X. If the strings just touch each other the opening is perfect and in the
same plane. If there is a gap greater than one eighth inch between the strings,
you need to adjust one or both of the vertical studs that create the large rough
opening. Once the opening is confirmed to be in the same plane and not twisted,
you can install the pocket door frames.
