Pocket doors

Stenwold · 4 March 2021 at 11:25AM

I'm currently planning some building work in my house house - knocking the kitchen into the dining area and also converting part of the garage into the same area.

I'm thinking of putting a stud wall in to separate the lounge area, but installing pocket doors so I've got the option to open it all out when I'm hosting (here's hoping!!). Has anyone had pocket doors installed before? I want to make sure they aren't style over substance and are actually sturdy when closed. Also, how thick does the stud wall have to be?

Thanks

Jeepers_Creepers · 4 March 2021 at 12:12PM

I've only ever seen them once - in a new-build a couple of houses down from us.

It was a spontaneous decision by the homeowner, but they fortunately had a chippy who was both skilled enough and also actually excited by the prospect of doing something a bit unusual - it was done 'bespoke'.

It works an absolute treat and really is the ideal solution where you want doors to 'disappear' to leave a clean opening. No need to keep walls free for folding or swinging doors.

Rosa_Damascena · 4 March 2021 at 12:16PM

I had a pocket door to my en-suite as a space-saver on installation, and plan to have the same in my new build.

Again I had a skilled carpenter and I think the sliding door mechanism came to about £200 on top of the door cost itself.

Swasterix · 4 March 2021 at 12:38PM

I have double pocket doors between our front and back living rooms. I used the Eclisse frame/mechanism and fitted myself. They’ve been in for 18 months or so, and can not fault them at all. Mechanism is still perfect and it’s great to be able to open up the two rooms without having the doors swinging in the way.

The frame etc. wasn’t cheap, but made things a lot easier. It was around £600 (cheaper for a single), plus doors, plus plasterboard. I’m a DIYer and fitted myself with relative ease. Obviously you could build the frame yourself (or pay somebody to do it), but figured the extra money was worth it to remove the margin for error.

Bought the mechanism from doorsuppliesonline. I do remember the guy there was ultra helpful with any queries I had before placing my order.

Swasterix · 4 March 2021 at 12:49PM

Ps. There was another thread about this a little while ago. Might be some further info for you there;

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/76916139#Comment_76916139

Pps. My wall is 120mm thick.

Rosa_Damascena · 4 March 2021 at 12:55PM

Swasterix said:

I have double pocket doors between our front and back living rooms. I used the Eclisse frame/mechanism and fitted myself. They’ve been in for 18 months or so, and can not fault them at all. Mechanism is still perfect and it’s great to be able to open up the two rooms without having the doors swinging in the way.

The frame etc. wasn’t cheap, but made things a lot easier. It was around £600 (cheaper for a single), plus doors, plus plasterboard. I’m a DIYer and fitted myself with relative ease. Obviously you could build the frame yourself (or pay somebody to do it), but figured the extra money was worth it to remove the margin for error.

Bought the mechanism from doorsuppliesonline. I do remember the guy there was ultra helpful with any queries I had before placing my order.

This looks good but it is expensive. Mine was a single door wood and glass door from Howdens that I think was c£250, but its very rarely used so its not surprising no snags have emerged.

The options appear to be wood and glass (pricey!) only; I had planned to get UPVC to match my new windows, would that be incompatible with this frame I wonder? These doors WILL be used all the time.

Swasterix · 4 March 2021 at 1:19PM

Rosa_Damascena said:

Swasterix said:

I have double pocket doors between our front and back living rooms. I used the Eclisse frame/mechanism and fitted myself. They’ve been in for 18 months or so, and can not fault them at all. Mechanism is still perfect and it’s great to be able to open up the two rooms without having the doors swinging in the way.

The frame etc. wasn’t cheap, but made things a lot easier. It was around £600 (cheaper for a single), plus doors, plus plasterboard. I’m a DIYer and fitted myself with relative ease. Obviously you could build the frame yourself (or pay somebody to do it), but figured the extra money was worth it to remove the margin for error.

Bought the mechanism from doorsuppliesonline. I do remember the guy there was ultra helpful with any queries I had before placing my order.

This looks good but it is expensive. Mine was a single door wood and glass door from Howdens that I think was c£250, but its very rarely used so its not surprising no snags have emerged.

The options appear to be wood and glass (pricey!) only; I had planned to get UPVC to match my new windows, would that be incompatible with this frame I wonder? These doors WILL be used all the time.

Agreed, but then they are guaranteed for 15 years so figured it’s nothing really given it’s a permanent fixture and if something goes wrong it would be a total PITA to fix.

As far as I know you can hang pretty much any door on them, provided it’s not too thick. I went for these, and it really does look good and works great.