Replies

1. 
   doodabug | Jul 10, 2005 06:49pm | #1

   I think most problems are in the hardware or the installation of the hardware.

2. 
   billyg | Jul 10, 2005 07:31pm | #2

   Johnson pocket door and bifold hardware is good.  Search on this forum and you will find lots of discussion.

   http://www.johnsonhardware.com

   Billy

3. 
   AdamGreisz | Jul 10, 2005 08:46pm | #3

   Another hardware company that I would recommend is Hafele. Their pocket door system is the best I have seen. http://www.hafeleonline.com/usa/

   The main problem that I have encountered with pocket doors is not the hardware but the width of the pocket. Many frames are using 3/4" framing members  which leaves a 2" pocket. This might work fine for a 1 3/8" door but I have seen the 1 x 4's bow and contact the door. Once this happens it is hard to correct. Sometimes I am asked to use 1 3/4" doors for the interior. I will only hang these in pockets that I create myself.

   I recommend putting these pockets in a 2 x 6" wall for 1 3/4" doors and a 5" minimum for 1 3/8" doors. This leaves 2 1/2" pocket. I use a 5 1/2" metal channel (for steel studs) as a bottom track (a 5" wall requires (2) angles or if available (2) 1 1/2"channels). I rip a piece to 2 1/2" and attach it to the header. Then I add 2 x4" timberstrand studs screwed to the metal channel and nailed to the ripped header. This leaves a 2 1/2" pocket. I find that the engineered lumber moves much less then conventional wood.

   I love the hafele hardware, particularly the hawa symmetric series. On a pair of doors if one is opened the other moves as well. A small belt connects them just below the guides. The hardware has adjustable stops including a positive stop in the closed position. Definitely a Cadillac and priced accordingly.

   If the doors are 1 3/8" it is hard to recommend going to this trouble and cost but for thicker heavier doors it is the only way.

   I recommend the Johnson steel/ plywood pocket door kit over the prefabbed 1 x 4" versions. Many of the companies that manufacture these will allow you to specify which hardware  they use for the track. Never use a two wheel setup. Minimum that I would recommend is three wheel, but if four is available I would order that. Stanley has many nice packages designed for different weight doors.

   We have put a lot of time into creating minimum standards for pocket doors at the company I work for after having some callbacks. We even created a worksheet to define proper RO sizes.

    

   Adam Greisz

   Owen Roberts Group

   10634 East Riverside Drive # 100

   Bothell, WA 98011

   http://www.owenrobertsgroup.com

1. 
   basswood | Jul 11, 2005 02:27am | #5

   You da man!Thank's for the great info. Sounds like you have the experience I lack (but needed), for this project.

1. 
   DougU | Jul 11, 2005 06:35am | #6

   Basswood

   I'll second what Adam said about the Hafle hardware. There isn't anything like it. Given the choice(and even when I'm not) that's all I use.

   Doug

2. 
   Piffin | Jul 11, 2005 07:00am | #7

   Johnson has several different setups for different doors too. I've enever used the Stanley, but if they are as cheap as the entry doors I've seen from them, forget it. I've used fifty some Johnsons and never had a problem ( except for the time I finished nailing all that fancy raised panel wainscoting before remebering there was a door pocket. Thank God it was paint grade!) I have never used Haefele either but if their pocket h=rdware is as good as the rest of their stuff, it is the cream of the crop. 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

1. 
   AdamGreisz | Jul 11, 2005 06:22pm | #8

   Reminds me of when I marked the pocket on the wall to remind myself as I was installing the base. Worked my way around the room, finished nailing the base, looked up at my marks and... you know the rest. Cost me a stain grade door panel. Also reminds me of my framing dayz, similar situation with plumbing pipes and shear walls. Live and learn.

   After writing about the plumbing fiasco it reminded me of another lesson learned that day. The house was ready for drywall and we were picking up after the mechanical subs. I had carefully marked all mechanical items on a six sheet plywood interior shearwall. Started shear nailing with my trusty Hitachi framer. Got on a roll and quickly nailed right through my markings. Since I wanted to know if I had hit the pipe I used my catspaw and pulled the nail. Big mistake... Water starts shooting out of the hole and onto some freshly laid hardwoods. I quickly plug the hole with my finger and stand there with water streaming down my arm as my helper runs  and finds the plumber.  Damage was minimal but a valuable lesson was learned. Lucky the plumber was onsite.

   Adam Greisz<!----><!---->

   Owen Roberts Group<!---->

   <!----><!----><!---->10634 East Riverside Drive # 100<!----><!----><!---->

   <!----><!---->Bothell<!---->, <!---->WA<!----> <!---->98011<!----><!---->

   http://www.owenrobertsgroup.com<!---->

   Edited 7/11/2005 11:59 am ET by Adam Greisz

1. 
   Piffin | Jul 12, 2005 06:09am | #9

   Remember that last lesson next time you find a foreign body impaled in your body parts. EMT training says stabilize and transpoort. Pull it out in field and red stuff leaks out the hole faster. 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

1. 
   AdamGreisz | Jul 12, 2005 07:28am | #10

   Been there done that. I have been the supervisor to four framing gun accidents. First one started with me standing ten feet away from two apprentices working together on building a four foot pony wall. A famous Hitachi double bounce brought the safety into contact with the bosses son's hand in midair. Shot a 3 1/4" straight into hand, nail was buried to head and did not come out of other side. Kid holding the gun almost pukes and went into shock immediately (probably worried about his job). Sat him down and directed help to ice the wound and take boy to hospital. End result he was fine. Each time this accident has happened on my site it has been a Hitachi nailgun. Every time I have sent injured party to emergency room. My safety class recommends proper procedure as calling 911 and waiting until medics arrive. Seems to me that I can have them at a hospital faster than I can get medics onsite. Of course I assess each accident independently.

    

    

   Adam Greisz<!----><!---->

   Owen Roberts Group<!---->

   <!----><!----><!---->10634 East Riverside Drive # 100<!----><!----><!---->

   <!----><!---->Bothell<!---->, <!---->WA<!----> <!---->98011<!----><!---->

   http://www.owenrobertsgroup.com<!---->

   Edited 7/12/2005 12:30 am ET by Adam Greisz

2. 
   Piffin | Jul 13, 2005 03:16am | #11

   LOL, I never supervise shooting someone else, I just hurt my own self. 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

3. 
   DLightbourn | Jul 13, 2005 04:18am | #12

   "LOL, I never supervise shooting someone else, I just hurt my own self."Great line Uncle Piff!

4. 
   joeh | Jul 11, 2005 12:24am | #4

   Just fixed (I hope) a Stanley that developed a knock after a short time.

   One of those cheesey metal and finger jointed studs that make up the walls warped. Humidity here is about 0% now, might have something to do with it. One stud decided to warp, in of course so the door hit it about 15" in.

   Tried shoving a framing square in to bend it out, no go. Finally had a brain fart and drilled a hole through the wall from the other side & got a long punch through and bent it out that way.

    A 1 3/4" door in that Stanley kit is just too close for anything but perfect. A  1 3/8" door would be a no problem install.

   I would also say the nylon wheels on the Stanley door kit aren't happy with a heavy door.

   On the other hand, Stanley is available locally, anything else is an order it.

   Joe H