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Pocket door removal??

Duey | Posted in Construction Techniques on March 9, 2004 09:58am

     I was recently asked to remove three pocket doors that the homeowners no longer want. They are all in 2×4 interior walls. They would just like me to take out the doors, install new oak jambs and casing, and leave the opening size the same on two of them. On the other one, same procedure, only make opening about 12″ wider.

     My question is this; can I remove just the door(and jambs), put a new 2×4 in on the door side of opening to secure drywall to, and then just go ahead and install jambs and casing??  Or do I have to open up the wall? I know on the door that needs to be enlarged, I will have to remove part of the guts in the wall, but I am trying to avoid disturbing the wall past where the casing will cover.

      Also, what is the best way to fix the top of the door opening without disturbing the wall above the door? If anyone has done this and can give me any advice I’d be grateful. Thanks in advance!!

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  1. charliesco | Mar 10, 2004 01:27am | #1

    Having removed many pocket doors I have yet to find a universal answer. A lot depends on what's in the wall. The header "usually" runs across the total width of the door opening and the combined width of the door(s), i.e. 6" opening and 2- three foot doors equals a 12' header. so I don't worry about just filling the area where the track used to be with a piece of ripped 2X. Yes I've filled the gap left by the doors between the walls with a ripped 2X, however this still leaves a gap behind the walls that is only supported by 2X2's or less. If the wall seems "springy" I would suggest removing at least on side of the wall to strengthen it by adding the necessary lumber. If the "springyness" is acceptable then leave it alone and move along. The only problem I see after that is if you add new hinged doors that are heavy, you have no King or Jack studs to support them. This could be a problem in the long run. If you really want to do it right you should remove one wall and reinforce the exisitng lumber and add King and Jack studs. I've lost quite a few jobs by teling the HO that "to do the job right.....blah, blah... but that will cost...$$$$$". Good luck.

    Life is it's own reward

    1. robcustom | Mar 10, 2004 04:04am | #2

      i agree but, the jamb the door closes into should be hiding a jack/king (wouldnt it be great if you could hinge that side)

    2. DanH | Mar 10, 2004 04:24am | #3

      To solve the problem of "springy" walls, you could insert (horizontally) a couple of 2xs ripped to the right width so they exactly filled in the space, then drive drywall screws into them from each side. Just a few holes to spackle.

      1. User avater
        Sphere | Mar 10, 2004 04:04pm | #4

        or just do most azzhole trimmers do..have the door in the pocket and use long nails on the casing..it'll stiffen the wall real good!

        View Image

        Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

        Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations. 

        1. Duey | Mar 10, 2004 06:17pm | #5

                Thanks for your answers so far. Two of the doors will have no door put back on. They just want a cased opening. The third one (28"), will have a prehung door reinstalled with the latch side on the side of the pocket opening.I understand the point made about strengthening the wall better on that side; my problem with this door is that there are walls running perpendicular to the pocket area, just a few inches from the edge of the door opening, on both the front side and backside.

                   Would there be another way to stiffen that side in case of someone slamming the door? Or would the perpendicular walls add enough support?? Thanks again in advance!

          1. DanH | Mar 10, 2004 08:09pm | #6

            The perpendicular walls should add a lot of stiffness, assuming that the framing is halfway reasonable in the area. Probably the most important thing to do is to firmly bond the two sides of the opening together, vs just filling in the opening, so that you get the full benefit of whatever inherent stiffness there is.

          2. DanH | Mar 10, 2004 08:11pm | #7

            And, in the case of that one opening, if the framing looks real flimsy, it shouldn't be too much work to rip off one side back to the corner and reframe.

        2. PaulParadis | Mar 12, 2004 07:24am | #8

          Don't forget the cabinet guys screwing the cabinets with nice long screws...holds the doors real good too.We become by effort primarily what we end up becoming

           - Zig Ziglar

          1. DanH | Mar 12, 2004 05:48pm | #10

            > Don't forget the cabinet guys screwing the cabinets with nice long

            > screws...holds the doors real good too.

            In the building where I work they were replacing the tables in the meeting rooms. I didn't see it happen, but you could tell from the "leftovers", before they fixed them:

            Furniture guy assembled one table in a room, and decided to assemble a second identical table upside-down on top of the first. The tables are your typical laminate over hardboard things with metal legs. Well, apparently there were SHORT screws used in some places to hold the legs, and LONG screws used in others, where the mounting brackets were thicker. Supposedly.

            The guy got done assembling the table, lifted it off of the first one, and ripped a big chunk out of the center of the first table, where a LONG screw inserted in a SHORT hole had gone all the way through one table and into the other.

            So, two table tops wrecked with one screw.

  2. User avater
    JeffBuck | Mar 12, 2004 08:11am | #9

    are these the new(er) style pocket doors that come in kit form ...

    or ....

    old and possibly valuable to the originality of the house kinda pocket doors?

    Reason I ask ... many years ago .... the home I grew up in needed to lose a front room .. formal sitting room at the time ... and gain a first floor bedroom.

    The 100 or so year old pocket doors were simply rolled into the pockets .. and the jambs were sealed.

    About 15 years ago ... long after the bedroom was no longer needed ...

    the downstairs was remodeled to former glory and the dusty doors were rolled back into service after the jambs were stripped and repaired.

    My parents now have the historic charm of antique pocket doors original to the +100 yr old home to close off the draft from the hall when needed.

    I'd hate to see some detail like that lost if it could be worked around.

    Jeff

    Buck Construction   Pittsburgh,PA

         Artistry in Carpentry                

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