Pocket door recommendations

[Halo Jones]

Hi All,

We are looking at next years big project - moving our ground floor bathroom as part of reconfiguring our ground floor. To comply with building regs disabled accessibility rules we are going to have to fit a pocket door. There are lots of brands out there but very little reviews. We are looking at either Eclisse or Portman at the moment but wondered if there were any recommendations out there?

I don't mind paying a bit extra for peace of mind as the last thing I want is the door getting stuck in the wall!

Should say that we want to use one of our own doors and a self closing mechanism is a must!

Also the pocket door wall will have the weight of the shower tiles on them. I have never used the metal stud work before so not sure how strong/flexible it will be.

Thanks,

H.

 

[tjbnwi]

It would help to know where you're located.

I use Johnson or Hafele.

Tom

 

[Halo Jones]

Apologies. First post and I didn't realise it was an international forum! I'm in Scotland, United Kingdom. I think I may be able to get Hafele components in the UK but not sure about Johnson. I was hoping to get a complete kit - ie metal studwork and roller mechanisms in one go.

 

[w802h]

I did a couple pocket doors this Fall.  My strategy was to get the best track/trolley combo I could find.  I got an upgraded Johnson product and am unfamiliar with the other brand Tom suggested, but I'm also sure it's great like all his ideas.

This track came without studs.  The second part was to build the beefiest wall I could for a given thickness.  In the first case, I used 3/4" Advantec scribed and pocket screwed to the subfloor, header, studs at the back of the pocket, and a 7/8" x 1.5" piece of spruce at the opening.  For the second job, I had more room and used 2x6 spruce framing on the flat.  (I was told that kids would regularly slam into this wall.)  I thought both of these options were stronger than the metal backed studs available with some kits.

 

[antss]

The self closing option is going to limit your choice.  In fact I don't know of one offhand.

 

[tjbnwi]

Tom

 

[Gregor]

I have built several DIY (from scratch) pocket doors into my place, fit into metal stud drywall.

I did the wall with two layers: first 22mm OSB onto the studs, then normal drywall sheets for the surface. This gives the wall way more stability (so kids running/kicking against it are no issue), also enables to hang up stuff on it using standard wood screws (just keep documentation where you put cables and pipes in the wall).

For the pockets I pu in a piece of solid wood (to mount the rail for the doors) in the top of the doorway which is then securely fixed with screws through the OSB from the outside. Edges of the pocket walls (at the opening) have been additionally stabilized against flexing by adding 30mm (inner size) steel U profiles (3mm thick) covering both the OSB and the drywall sheet ends.

The door leafs itself are made of a frame of solid wood with a filling of an HPL sheet. In the bottom of the door leaf is a dado for these, the surroundings of the leaf in the frame are closed with bristle seals.
This together gives a reasonable (for a sliding door) sealing against air movement and noise. Added something similar to this so the door is flush with the pocket when fully open and springs out at a slight push.

Surely one can buy a complete kit, but they havn't been that hard to DIY. Only thing to remember: to install the rail and test everything (positioning of the leaf open and closed) before actually closing the pocket makes life easier

The Haefle system looks promisiong with the auto-close, will most likely upgrade my rails to it should I ever need to replace the current ones (no indication for this so far, after >5 years of daily use).

 

[dalep]

Hello

I used the Eclisse system to separate my lounge / dinning room

Its pretty easy to assemble, The frame will take the weight of the tiles no problem, once fitted and plasterboarded, its strong as an ox

The door track can be removed for maintenance from the pocket by removing a couple of screws, it then slides out of the door opening

I used my own glazed oak doors and have had no problems

Hope this helps

Dale

 

[southrider]

Last year we replaced 2 16 year old inexpensive pocket door systems in our home with new tracks and ball bearing rollers. It made a world of difference.

Then in March our home flooded, and my wife was determined that we would somehow do away with them for good.

We ended up ripping out the pocket door hardware, replacing it with conventional framing, and mounting barn door hardware on the interior of the hallway.

We liked it so much that we then ripped out an existing inward opening conventional door to the bathroom and mounting a barn door kit on the exterior of the bathroom.

They work SO much better than pocket doors, and just DON'T destabilize the wall.

I'm sure if you spent enough time & money a pocket door system could be made to work reliably AND have stable walls.We just decided it wasn't worth the effort and cost.

Plus we like the look!

 

[jeh]

I used the Johnson kit but built a wall parallel the existing wall with the recommended pocket door gap specified in the instructions. This kept the wall a full strength. I have seen the kit that comes with everything you need, but it looks like one big compromise. My installation worked perfectly. I've never really liked the appearance of a barn door in a house. The whole installation looks out of place to me except on a barn.