Super Small bedroom door options

[alamont]

Hi everybody, I am in the process of re-doing all the interior trim in our 1908 Chicago two-flat. I'm at the point where everything is done,  but i've still got to order the doors and I've hit a bit of a bump. Most of the doorways in the house have a reasonable amount of space for them to swing open. However, the bedrooms are SUPER small. One of them is 7'x8'. The house is a "workers" two-flat, and was built for carpenters, tradesmen, etc. who were rebuilding after the Chicago Fire. So these small bedrooms are made to hold single beds. Now we want to put Full beds in them and there's no room for the doors to swing into the bedrooms. We'd prefer not to switch the hinges and have doors swinging into the living room and kitchen.

So... The question is, are there bi-fold doors made for this type of application? I've seen lots of closet style bi-folds, with the tracks, but we'd like them to appear as traditionally victorian as possible when closed. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. BTW the doors are all going to be stain-grade fir.

alamont

 

[tjbnwi]

Rolling door(s);

http://www.hafele.com/us/products/barn-door-hardware.asp

Their Chicago location;

http://www.hafele.com/us/news-and-events/showroom-events/chicago-hardware-showroom-hafele.asp

You don't list the width of the opening, but anything that folds into it will take space.

Tom

 

[Holzhacker]

It is possible to buy / order nice bifold doors (1 3/8" or 1 3/4") instead of just the cheap junk that the big box stores sell. I've mounted regular hinges on such bifolds and mounted them as a door. You'll need to install a tension spring or hinges in the center to keep the center closed but also allow it to open.
I would also suggest you think long term about what you are doing with these 'bedrooms'. Chicago has minimum requirements for bedrooms sizes. Under NC or major rehab, 70sqft is the minimum required size to be considered a legal bedroom. If vintage and unaltered, the bedrooms only need to meet what was required during the original build. A lot of people doing rehabs in these older buildings get into trouble because they think the bedrooms are automatically grandfathered in. This isn't necessarily the case depending on how much and what type of rehab you do.

 

[alamont]

Wow. Thanks for the quick responses!

I've seen the barn door sliding option, but it may be a bit more modern (or retro? who knows) than we want to go. I looked into nicer bi-fold doors based on Holzhacker's suggestion, and it looks like our lumber yard is a reseller for a custom door place that can make traditional doors in half widths. So that might be the way to go.

Thanks for the heads up about the Chicago requirements. We're only changing the doors and moldings, so hopefully everything is still up to code.

thanks
alamont

 

[richard.selwyn]

Without seeing the job its hard to say, but on several occasions I have fitted double doors to save space. Once or twice I have just cut the existing door down the middle, (with a TS55) then added a closing strip to hide the gap and an extra set of  hinges, double handles etc. If your doors already have all the ironmongery fitted it can be a bit more of a pain, but I've done those too.
Regards,
Richard