Designer and Founder - DIYGirlfriend
Pocket doors are a great solution for smaller homes, where you can’t afford to lose space with a traditional door. Pocket doors are most used for small bathrooms or closets.
The sink placement in a bathroom can limit the amount of space you have for a hinged door. Often there isn’t enough room to open and enter the room. This is where the pocket door can save the day.
Closets can also present the same problem or can just add more space to the closet area and allow you to have complete visibility. A traditional door can limit the room you have to install closet organization systems.
Pocket doors are simple! The slide on a track that is hidden in the wall allowing the door to fit in a built-in pocket in the wall. These doors are easy to slide open and shut with a latch and can be lockable as well.
In this DIYG tutorial will show you how to install your own pocket door. We are building our pocket door so that we can eliminate an entry door and a closet door from swinging into each other. This will reduce damage to the doors and allow for easy entry into the room.
Let’s get started.
Measure your door opening and current door to determine what size pocket door kit you will need. You’ll need twice the width of the door opening for the pocket door and frame.
You can find these items in any local home improvement store. At the bottom of this article we have provided some links to make locating these items easier.
DIYG Tip:
Prior to doing any demo or work on the wall, examine the wall to determine if you need to hire a professional to compensate for any of the following:
DIYG Tip: The new header will be longer than the old one because the header for a pocket door needs to run the full length of the pocket door frame.
DIYG Tip: Make sure and use a level to ensure the slider is level so the pocket door will slide evenly and easily. This is one of the most common mistakes when installing a pocket door and can cause the door to rub against the door frame.
DIYG Tip: Make sure and use a level to ensure the slider is level so the pocket door will slide evenly and easily. This is one of the most common mistakes when installing a pocket door and can cause the door to rub against the door frame.
DIYG Tip: Try to use as large of pieces as you are comfortable to carry, hold and screw up. This will lessen the amount of drywall joints you will need to tape, mud and sand.
DIYG Tip:
DIYG Tip: Make sure you have a drop cloth on the floor to protect the floor from any spillage