Pocket doors are sliding doors but they are different from the other kinds of sliding doors. Here the door slides inside a pocket that is built into the wall. Pocket doors not only provides more room space with more floor space but it also gives a lot of wall space that is occupied by the swinging doors. A space-saver really. It was one of the types of doors that was used in the 1800's but they wore off as it caused a lot of problems such as the squeaky noise, the door jumping off the track etc. But with new and improvised pocket doors or pocket door installation kits available in the markets, they are back and quite a popular choice amongst those who live in small apartments or condos and even in the houses. Basically amongst all those who want to save up all the space possible.
All said and done about pocket doors and it's viability, if you are choosing a pocket door over the usual ones, you might be interested too know about pocket door installation and things like costs, right? So let's jump onto the instructions that will help you understand what goes into installation of a pocket door. May seem a tad difficult but is not really as difficult as it may seem. Pocket doors are more easy to be installed in the new houses as it wouldn't require any alterations in the wall in order to fix the pocket into the wall, the measurements could be checked in advance and it could be fixed accordingly. If you are looking to replace the old one with a new pocket door then a portion of the wall would be required to be removed.
How to Install A Pocket Door?
As mentioned earlier, pocket door installation process is much easier in new houses as the door framing will be already open in a new house. Those looking to replace a door with a pocket door should consider installing a pocket door only during a major renovation or remodeling of the house. As the framing should be able to keep the sliding doors in both open and closed positions, it is important to note that the opening needs to be large enough in order to adjust the width of two doors.
Pocket door installation kits including the pocket doors provide the measurements for the frame opening for the set of doors to be installed. If the measurements are not given in the kit then you can calculate it yourself, the formula is double the width of the door plus an extra one inch. The top of the door also needs to be framed and check if the framing is level.
The next step after framing the opening of the door involves installing the tracks or rails and the header. You'd require a hacksaw to cut the parts to fit. Cut the tracks to fit and also take the header. Using the brackets in the kit install the header and the tracks. Once they are fixed, one of the two sets of stiffeners needs to be attached to the header and the second set of stiffeners needs to be attached at the center of the pocket framing. Once that's done, the door bumpers should be installed at the back of the pocket.
As painting the pocket doors after the installation process will be very difficult and will not yield good results, it is important to paint them at this stage. When the paint on the door dries off, it's ready to be mounted into the pocket. For this, first place the doorplates on top of the door and then slide the hangers on the rail or track. One after the other hanging each door at a time slide them into the pocket. Check if the pocket doors are well set into the tracks and if they slide into the wall smoothly. Over the frame opening install the drywall using construction adhesive. The installation process will be complete when you finally install the door casings.
Pocket door installation cost if done by a carpenter could range between $400 to $450 and if you have a little carpentry experience and essential tools, you can do it yourself at a very reasonable cost, the only expenses being purchasing the kit.
