Pocket Doors: mini-guide to help you choose the right one

How to understand the difference between the different models (single, double, classic or flush pocket door), to correctly calculate the dimensions of the door opening and the overall dimensions; how to choose and identify the type of frame on the basis of the door, the opening and walls.

The box contains detailed information on each topic.

Understanding sliding doors from A to Z

Which is the difference between a barn door and a pocket door?

Unlike traditional hinged doors, sliding doors allow to regain the space occupied by the radius of the door opening and help to create a larger and more welcoming environment, offering greater furnishing options. Eliminating the hinged doors, the home regains more space that can be essential for environments of reduced dimensions, benefiting of a more refined interior decoration.

There are two types of sliding doors:

• barn doors
• pocket doors

In the former case, a barn door opens by sliding along the wall, while in the latter case the door opens by sliding inside the wall through an appropriate system commonly known as the ‘frame’. The frame of a sliding pocket door refers to a metal box that allows the door to slide inside the wall concealed from sight. Both solutions solve a space problem but, compared to the external sliding version, the sliding pocket door frees the space on the wall where the door slides, opening up greater furnishing possibilities. Depending on the type of frame adopted, several different opening solutions can be obtained.

HOW TO INSTALL A POCKET DOOR

FAQ

GLOSSARY

A sliding door system: what it is and how it works

The details of the pocket door hardware, a metal structure specially designed for stud wall

The frame for pocket doors is a metal structure enabling the door to disappear inside a wall. The frame is made up of a box inside the wall, a sliding system (track) located in the upper part that allows the door panel to slide inside the wall and a vertical metal door stop that receives the closing door.

To qualify as a premium-quality product, the frame necessarily needs to comply with specific reliability and durability requirements.

• Sturdiness: the frame must be as sturdy as the wall and it can be inspected to allow its maintenance without knocking the wall down.

• Smooth and light sliding of the door: the runners and the track ensure smooth and light movements and can be easily replaceable if they get damaged.

• Guarantee of a sliding internal passage without flexes of the metal sheet making up the frame eliminating problems in the door sliding.

• Guarantee of a crack-resistant plaster solution: being an integral part of the wall, the counterframe does not alter the appearance and consistency of the wall.

• Easy installation and maintenance: a frame that is easy to assemble and to install even by non-expert personnel guarantees and safeguards the product over time. This is possible thanks to a maintenance free track fully extractable which enables to retrofit accessories after the installation without having to break into wall.

To this aim, in over 30 years of research ECLISSE has developed a product boasting the following characteristics:

Types of frames for sliding pocket doors

Choosing the correct counterframe model is not difficult, however, certain key factors must be taken into account.
These include: the type of door, the opening and the construction material of the walls.

• Regarding the type of door: whether the door is fitted with jambs or not (the so-called flush-with-wall doors). The jambs and architraves refer to all those elements that cover the walls around the door panel, actually called frame. In traditional doors, it normally protrudes from the door and the walls around the door panel. If instead there is no frame, we refer to modern doors without jambs and architraves flush with the wall. In the third case, when all jambs and architraves around the door panel are integrated and flush with the wall, we refer to traditional contemporary doors.
  Each of these solutions requires a specific counterframe.

• Regarding the type of opening: sliding pocket doors can be suitable for different contexts and, though they are highly appreciated for their space-saving function, are an excellent solution to discretely separate rooms, walk-in wardrobes, storerooms and service rooms. Moreover, especially with the larger-size versions, they add a modern and design concept to the setting, transforming it into a wide open space. Special striking solutions can be combined with sliding pocket door solutions. Some examples include curved doors or telescopic doors, which allow to create an opening up to 13 ft wide. It is also possible to have folding doors or hybrid solutions, where half the door slides away into the wall and the other half is hinged and swings open. Each of these solutions requires the installation of a dedicated sliding pocket door systems.

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References