I need to make a 4′, or maybe a little wider, pocket door that slides one way only. The customer also wants 10 or 15 lite glass doors. I am thinking of buying two doors and ripping one stile on each door and biscuiting and gluing the doors together. For the hardware I want to use standard Johnson pocket door hardware, buy two units – basically for the track and wheels – and make the length I need. This unit is then going to be installed on the outside of an existing wall due to plumbing in the wall. I wasn’t planning on using the flimsy pocket door framing but instead frame a 2x wall on the one side. I was just wondering what everyone thought and any ideas or advice would be appreciated.
Desautels Construction
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for a glass pocket door, spray paint the inside off the wall cavity black, or get some black plastic laminate, and affix that inside somehow so you can't see inside the wall through the glass. Of course, you won't see inside when the door is fully open or shut, only while it's halfway open. Do it or you WILL fix it later.
great tip, thanks
Pocket doors ought to be outlawed. I know you're just trying to please a customer with this project, but you're asking for problems. Most common problems encountered with pocket doors is clearance within pocket when doors twist or warp. A 4/0 door that is a glue up of 2 2/0 doors is most likely not stay perfectly straight. Once you rip the stiles on the doors no manufacturer is going to warrant the product. There is a lot of potential for loss for you on this set-up. A more traditional Bi-swing of Bifold set-up would give you more predictable results.
If you are bound and determined to go ahead with the pocket door arrangement, don't use 2 pieces of track. That will only add to your problems. L.E. Johnson makes tracks long enough to accommodate that width. Good Luck
Pete
I did this on a house last year, but it was an 8' rough opening between the dining room and front parlor, so I used four 2' glass french doors, two per side; one pair sliding left, the other pair sliding right. Used biscuits to join each pair together at glue-up. I was able to order the required Johnson track separately and used two rollers per each component (8 sets of rollers for the four doors). 14 months later, no complaints. These are heavy and hard to push even with the rollers well greased, so alert the customer in advance.
I HAVE BEEN IN THE DOOR BUS FOR OVER 20 YRS. I WOULD ORDER OR HAVE MADE A 4/0 DOOR W/ 20 LIGHTS; 4W X 5H. THIS WAY YOU WILL HAVE A TRADITIONAL APPEARANCE AND YOUR CUSTOMER WILL THINK YOU KNOW YOUR STUFF. IF YOU JOIN 2/DOORS AS YOU SUGGESTED..... YOU WILL HAVE NO WARRANTY IF THEY DO TWIST OR WARP. LOOSE COMPONENTS ARE AVAILABLE FROM JOHNSON FOR YOU TO USE IN A JOB FRAMED SYSTEM. YOU MAY ALSO WANT TO CONSIDER A 1 3/4" THICK DOOR SINCE IT IS GOING TO BE 4/0 WIDE. THE NEW DOORS WITH ENGINEERED STILES HARDLY EVER WARP. ALSO..... I WOULD MAKE SURE THE DOOR YOU ORDER IS A STICK GLAZED UNIT AND NOT ONE OF THOSE NEW LAMINATED FRENCH DOORS. THEY ARE A PAIN TO REGLAZE IF THERE IS ANY BROKEN GLASS.
Thanks for the input guys. I am still on the fence about trying this. I am waiting for a price on the custom door option but I think it wll be a budget buster, knowing this client the way I do. I gave him an estimate for this with the qualification that I wasn't even sure that i could do it thinking that the price would change his mind. I'm doing a $100,000 addition for him and was shocked when he approached me with the desire to go ahead with it. This guy balks about anything that is extra. But thats all another story that i might get into another time. Any way I've checked out the Johnson hardware. I also called Morgan and found out that the doors that they are making now have no dowels or tenons. I was told that they are using a new glue and rely solely on the cope and stick. The stiles and rails are wood and not composite. I am considering using two 2/2 doors and ripping one stile on each so that when I glue them up I will have a third proportional stile in the middle. Since I will not be ripping into anything that would weaken the integrity of the joint I think that it might last. I do realize that there won't be any warranty from the manufacturer but over the years I have hung plenty of french doors and never had a warping problem yet. This will probably be the one.
Just another thought to consider... You might think about splining the top and bottom rails with a length of aluminum or steel morticed into the top and bottom edges of the doors. Biscuits and glue are a good idea too but I'd feel better knowing something else was helping support and maintain the alignment of the set-up you propose. Do the biscuits and glue after you have the mortices cut, clamp, then lay in your splines (predrilled and countersunk) and attach with the appropriate screws. If you wanted to plan ahead, you could install T-nuts behind the spline through which you could attach the hardware for your rollers. Like I said, just something else to consider... Good luck and let us know how it turned out.
Thanks homewright, I did consider the metal spline and havn't counted them out yet , but i don't want to give myself any aggravation with the hardware.
Paul, I am definitly upgrading the hardware i was going to use johnson do you have a site or address for Lawrence. I'd like to check it out.
Don't think they have a web site. 815-625-0360 is the phone. Talk to your local lumberyard.
Make sure you upgrade the track/rollers to ballbearing. Lawrence has a nice system.