The house I live in had the garage converted to a room. The previous owners raised the floor to the bottom of the threshold between the garage and the house. Their remodel included three pocket doors. When I removed the threshold, the floor is about 5/8 of an inch below the adjoining room. The easy solution is to lay down 5/8 inch plywood, and this is what I intend to do – as soon as I can figure out how to trim the bottoms of the pocket doors without removing them. I have come up with all kinds of ideas that scare me when I think of doing the job. Does anyone have any suggestions how I can trim the doors in a way that they will look good when I finish?
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Replies
Your going to have to pull the trim and take them out. There are some high quality tracks out there. I'd look into it. The regular ones are just some cheap.
My .02
John
Costa Mesa,CA
You should be able to take off the header trim and casing from one side. See if there are some puttied over screw holes in the head piece.Unlock the hangers, Take a long thin flat tipped screw driver and push the hangers out of the keepers on top of the door. If dogs run free, then what must be,
Must be, and that is all.
True love can make a blade of grass
Stand up straight and tall.
In harmony with the cosmic sea,
True love needs no company,
It can cure the soul, it can make it whole,
If dogs run free.
What's the big deal about taking out a pocket door? pull one side of the stop from pocket opening and head jamb - two pieces - pull the bottom guide, tilt the door and remove from track. Trim the bottom, seal it again and put everything back. 30 minutes or so. While you're at it, make sure the rollers are all aligned [if not pivot mounted type] before you put the doors back so they will roll as smoothly as possible.
Now if you had asked about dutch doors in a pocket slider... :)
Hey, you ever get those glass pocket doors set? If dogs run free, then what must be,
Must be, and that is all.
True love can make a blade of grass
Stand up straight and tall.
In harmony with the cosmic sea,
True love needs no company,
It can cure the soul, it can make it whole,
If dogs run free.
I think you'll have to remove the doors to cut them off and look good.
I install all my pocket doors so that all you have to do is take off the top piece of casing and the top 1/2 jamb of the same side(usually the hidden side such as the inside of a bathroom or inside of a closet) unhook the rollers and take the door off. I don't know that I've ever had to take the vertical jamb off to get a pocket door out.
Doug
"...take off the top piece of casing and the top 1/2 jamb of the same side..."Why take off casing? That's not in the way of the door.What's a 1/2 jamb? I don't know that term.Thanks,
BruceT
Half of the split jamb that cases the head and one side of a single door?Sometimes that pesky head casing does get in the way, depends. If dogs run free, then what must be,
Must be, and that is all.
True love can make a blade of grass
Stand up straight and tall.
In harmony with the cosmic sea,
True love needs no company,
It can cure the soul, it can make it whole,
If dogs run free.
"Half of the split jamb that cases the head and one side of a single door?Sometimes that pesky head casing does get in the way, depends."Aha! What you and Doug call casing is what I call stop, because I use 1 3/8" door-stop to close the gap on both sides of the door opening and track. To me, casing is what frames the doorway and covers where the drywall meets the jamb.
BruceT
That description threw me as well. I use the same terminology as you do.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
No, I meant casing.
I case out the jamb just like I would any other door. I don't nail the split jamb on the inside(by inside I mean the side that's least exposed to the common area) I counter sink some screws and use those mushroom plugs to hide the screws. I nail the casing to that split jamb but I don't pin the corners. If I have to take the door off all I have to do is take those two screws off the split jamb and pull the piece(with the casing attached) off and that exposes the track and the rollers for me to release thus allowing me to take the door off. I don't use any door stop on a pocket door, no need for it and it serves no purpose.
Clear as mud huh!
Doug
You must have different pocket doors than we have out West. No part of the jamb is removable on the pockets we get. The bumper at the back of the pocket stops the door about 5/16 proud of the split jamb and the opening is about 2", so we nail stop on both sides of the door to bring the gap down to 1/8" or so and leave the door edge flush. To remove the door, you pull off the stop on one side [just attached with 3d finish nails] and out it comes.
BruceT
Bruce
We probably get the same doors that you do but we can make the jamb any size that we want.
I personally think door stop on a pocket door looks like shid. JMHO
I leave my door sit back(inside the pocket) about 5/16" and MAKE my own removable split/casing. We have the bumper on the back side of the pocket just as you do. The door doesn't have to be clear of the jambs in order for it to come out, once you release the rollers from the door it will pivot out of the opening.
On a pocket door that I framed the other day someone installed it for a 2' 6" door when it was supposed to be for a 2' 4" door, I had to add a two inch block to the back side of the door and I can still get the door in and out of the pocket.
Just a different way to hang them is all, one isn't anymore right then the other. I just prefer the cleaner look of a pocket door without the stop.
Doug
I've heard about stop on pocket doors, but thought it only happened in far away places, like New York City<G>I like to set the slab an eighth proud of the jamb, can't see the edges, don't scrape knuckles when going for the pull, and when the door gets slammed in the hole, it doesn't bounce behind the keepers...and I've put a 2/6 in a 3/0 hole... hadda timberlock the stop on... If dogs run free, then what must be,
Must be, and that is all.
True love can make a blade of grass
Stand up straight and tall.
In harmony with the cosmic sea,
True love needs no company,
It can cure the soul, it can make it whole,
If dogs run free.
Removing the doors isnt a big deal. Like someone else said you only need to remove the stop moulding.
As far as trimming them in place, how about making a jig to hold the saw of your choice in place while you move the door across the blade?
Edited 5/10/2008 2:38 pm ET by MSA1