It can be tough to install a bifold-door pivot foot over a carpeted floor — especially when the carpet is plush and the pad is thick. Even though the foot is affixed to the jamb, the horizontal leg doesn’t have the solid bearing necessary to support the weight of a door. So people usually put a little block of wood under the foot, hoping that it will stay put and not be too noticeable.
The drawing shows the method I’ve developed to eliminate the little block of wood. First I secure the foot plate to the jamb at the correct height with a screw driven partway into the oblong hole in the vertical leg. Then I swing the foot out of the way, and drive another screw through the carpet and into the subfloor where the end of the foot will bear on the screw’s head. I adjust this screw until its depth is right, then I run the screws into the side jamb on the vertical leg. The foot now has solid bearing, and the depth screw is practically invisible.
—Glenn J. Coldey, Colwyn, PA
Edited and illustrated by Charles Miller
From Fine Homebuilding #70
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Glen - You are a genius!!! Russell
This is a way to solve the issue.
I would instead cut a piece of metal conduit or pipe to an appropriate length and use that directly under the horizontal leg of the pivot foot, making sure to run the screw through the conduit. Then attach the vertical leg of the pivot foot to the jamb.
I would expect that over a period of time and abuse that spacer screw will snap, or the pivot foot bracket will distort and slip off the screw.