Bifold doors are often hard to close from the fully open position. Some need a pull from the inside back of the lead door to close them. The cure I’ve come up with is a simple in. diameter rubber bumper placed near the bottom hinge on the pivot door. The bumper prevents the doors from coming too close to each other, allowing their normal operation.
—David Graper, Painesuille, OH
Edited and illustrated by Charles Miller
From Fine Homebuilding #7
A pro painter evaluates a variety of drywall sanders and dust collection systems for quality of finish, user fatigue, and more.
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Dig into cutting-edge approaches and decades of proven solutions with total access to our experts and tradespeople.
Start Free Trial NowGet instant access to the latest developments in green building, research, and reports from the field.
Start Free Trial Now
View Comments
Agreed that bi-fold doors are hard to open when you place the knob where you show it in your drawing. The proper placement for the knob should be in the middle of that door and not on it's side rail. That's where the instructions for bi-fold doors that I have always used say to place it and then the hard to open problem doesn't exist and no bumper would be required. I have 3 in my own house all with the knob in the center and have never had any problem closing them. Just another idea.
Both in my residence and all the units I have replaced in rental properties, all have a pull centered on the 'pivot' door. They all operale smoothly.
If someone attempts to open the doors fully, not being familiar with the bumper, placement of the bumper where it is shown will create so much leverage that the center hinges may be pulled from the door. Too risky IMO.
Apparently Ladella and I came to the same conclusion when reading this suggestion. The siderails on most door panels are not made of wood that is tough enough to withstand the shear load that will be applied to the hinges' screws from such a configuration. Compounding this will be the "close enough" alignment usually done when the doors are installed.