double pocket door

NailedIt

In the near future I have to build a double pocket door. I don't want to spend a fortune on a custom order, but if there are any who've done this, I'd appreciate the commentary.

I have a 5' opening (r.o. 5-1) that is where my laundry equipment is located. I was going to install bi-fold doors, but the family (women in the family) don't want them. So... I have decided to build a double pocket door that slides into one side of the opening. I had intended to buy (2) pre-hung kits and pull (1) side off each, the opposite, and attach them together. I'd have to extend the track of the one that would slide all the way across to the far jamb and block off the other track so it wouldn't fall out. I'd cable the two doors so that you only have to pull on one to open and close them. Does this sound reasonable or is there a better way? I figure the cost of the frames and hardware, plus (2) hollow-core door slabs to be under $150. My labor is all-you-can eat for one low price, $0.

ralphfravel

I recently installed a pocket door in a new laundry room and have been very happy with it. I don't have an answer for your 5' double door question, but I was wondering why you need such a big door for a laundry room? I used a 36" door and it works very well for everything we want to carry in and out of the room. A larger door would have taken away from wall space inside the laundry room which has been used for cabinets, hanging racks and nice pictures to brighten the area up. In any event, I highly recommend the pocket door hardware by Johnson... easy to use, good instructions and very high quality. http://www.johnsonhardware.com/

Have fun.

Meetre

Like ralphfravel said, you will be losing a lot of wall with pocket doors in them (can give troubles hanging cabinets, pictures, tough to get electrical through, etc.) Plus, with a 5-0ish r/o, you will have to open the walls to get two doors to fit(pocket doors go into the wall as far as they come out of it, plus a bit for the frame). for a 5-0 opening, you need to 2-6 doors, plus around 2-8 on each side for the pocket door frames, meaning you need a r/o of 10-4ish to make it work. Depending on the area in your home, that can be a LOT of demo work, moving electrical, may even find an air duct or water pipe in the way that would need to be moved.

DangerMouse

X2 on this. Johnson's is the best by far.

DM

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vsheetz

I recently installed a pocket door for the first time - after researching went with a Johnson kit. It was a great choice, worked out very well.

NailedIt

Filling in the back-story blanks:

I obtained structural, plumbing, and electrical permits. The lower 1/3 of our 2800sqft home was taken down to the studs. I re-worked the layout to include a master bdrm. suite downstairs. The suite is appx. 450 sqft. master bath is newly plumbed under the slab. The laundry room has been taken down from a 13x10 room to a 3x5 closet adjoined to a 5x10 powder room. The double pocket door is for this closet. It will function as a bi-pass pocket door so both doors slide into a single pocket. I haven't found any hardware(frame) that is specifically for this type of installation, but I've got a pretty good idea of how to get it done joining (2) pocket frames and adding some track. The rough opening including the pocket is 7'-9". I've added a secondary wall for the door so plumbing and electrical are unaffected other than I had to move the boxes into the new wall.

I've installed many pocket door frames btw, they're generally not very popular in custom homes but the framing sub usually installs the frames.