Building as a 2x6 wall allows electrical boxes to be on the pocket (with some loss of floor space).

You are going to have some minor repairs on the DR wall from new screws to attach it to new framing for the pocket.

Just curious - how would they cut out the existing studs in the pocket area without tearing out the DR sheetrock in the process?

Even harder?

The success in this will be greatly affected by the type of lath which your plaster walls are based upon.
If you have wood lath, even the demo of the kitchen side may cause irreparable damage to the other side.
If you have button board or rock lath, there is still a likelihood of damage, but the risk is substantially reduced.
You can determine this by removing a section of base or casing and removing a small area of plaster, which can than be easily patched.

You open up one side of the wall, put the new studs in as needed, then fasten the wall wall to the new studs with long enough drywall screws to reach at least 1 inch into the stud.

You then carefully remove the old studs without putting any force on the plaster.
Sometimes they need to be cut into short sections.

If you have wood lath you may need to go back and add more new studs to catch the ends of the wood lath.
Some construction glue and screws does the job.

If you have expanded metal or gypsum board lath it is usually easier (no extra new studs).

There is always the possibility of the plaster having cracks that weaken it.
This could cause it to crack, or even fall.

One of the biggest things is NO HAMMERING.

During removal or installation of the wall and studs.

Power nail drivers are fine (the one quick blow that sinks the nail is does not set up a lot of vibration).

The new studs go in BEFORE the old ones are removed, that way the plaster is never without support.

Cutting as many nails as possible with a Sawzall before removing the old studs (and even cutting them into shorter pieces) lowers the forces needed to pull the old studs.

Just remember you cannot pry against the back side of the plaster getting the old studs out.

It is slow and careful work.

More than once I have had to cut the old studs into 18 inch sections, then go so far as to cut them vertically leaving a thin section attached to eh wood lath.

If you cut this section thin enough the nails are shortened and lose much of their holding power, making the thin strips easy to pull off the back of the plaster.

Often there is no reason to use a full size stud to captures the ends of the wood lath.
A piece of 1x lumber 1.5 inches wide is adequate since there are already 2x supporting members present.

You can turn the studs flat to create the pocket.

Thanks all---we do have wood lathe, so it sounds like this may be tricky to do without damaging the other side of the wall....this is very helpful background to help understand what the different contractors are proposing, though (and which to believe!) We may decide to stick with the swinging door at this juncture. Thanks!

You'll find that any method used, which mitigates the potential of damage to the dining room wall, will be expensive, may be the deciding factor and you'll be hard pressed to find a contractor who can legitimately say there will be no damage to the dining room side.

This is the method that I have employed on several occasions, and keep in mind that these are full 2" x 4" stud walls.

I used a 2x4 pocket door jamb amended to fit.

The plaster and lath is carefully removed about 10" up from the floor. Metal brackets are attached to the studs at the bottom plate to add additional vibration damping, and the plaster and lathing removal is then completed.
Metal brackets are added at the top plates.

The nails are cut and the diagonal bracing is carefully removed.

With the depth of cut set at 2-7/8" I use a beam saw to cut the studs for the top of the header height.(The wall may not be "load bering" but it's still weight loaded).
Using a 4" grinder with a masonry blade, the plaster which has penetrated the lath is removed adjacent to the studs to allow clear passage of the table of a cordless skill saw to pass unobstructed.

The DEWALT that I use is 1-1/8" table edge to blade.

The studs affected are then ripped from the header cut to the bottom. The metal brackets are removed, individually, and using a sawzall blade with least kerf, the cut is completed.

This DOES NOT affect the lath attachment on the opposing side.

The nails attaching the bottom plate to the floor joists are removed and the bottom plate is attached in the 1-1/8" area that will remain.
The bottom plate is cut and removed and depending upon the height of your existing door, filler is added or additional floor sheeting removed for the placement of the new jamb.
If it's your decision to retain the aesthetics of a cased opening, the jamb will need to be amended to fit.
The header and framing is set and the amended jamb is installed.
With the jamb set, square and aligned, pre-drill the horizontal 1x slats in the jamb and attach to the dining room studs, further stabilizing them.
A flat 2x4 is added to the side of the top plates on the kitchen side. A 2x4 is ripped to create a 5-1/2" wall thickness for the bottom plate and nailed in place.
2x6's are then ripped, installed and they are similarly attached to the jamb.
The rock lath secured with screws and the gypsum plaster applied.

You can build a 2x4 wall along side the existing wall and don't even need to peel the SR/plaster from the kitchen side. I'd never do pocket walls with those flimsy wall kits as they bend even encased in the steal. Inevitably the door stays open for so long that someone comes and screws something through the wall into the door and wonders why they can't open it or the door gets gouged up by something. The double wall eliminates many of the things noted in other posts. There are plenty of great hardware sets available to hold just about any weight of door.

Any pictures of the existing conditions?

If you frame a wall to 2x6 dimensions using 2x lumber planed slightly and installed flat on 12 inch centers on each side of the pocket you can have a solid wall and mount electrical boxes in the pocket area.

Johnson Hardware 111 PD is good for residential solid panel doors.

I have not used the framed out kits at all.
They have always looked flimsy.

This post made me laugh. We just got rid of 2 pocket doors and replaced with regular swing doors. We had one in our kitchen and one in our bedroom. We hated the pocket doors, they are a total pain in the neck to us. Make sure you like them before you install them. They may seem neat to some. But for us...using them continuously (like in a bathroom) they were just a pain. I hated grabbing the latch and moving them shut. And then locking them was a nuisance.

I'm with Jey

demo the kitchen side of the wall, install a pocket door kit with the thin studs on the kitchen side, or just install a new wall 2x4s on flat by where the pocket door goes and the pocket door kit. no reason to mess with the header for the door at all (unless existing is inadqeuate) since the existing framing is already supporting fine.

You do lose floor space that way probably 4 inches but your dining room won't be disturbed. The added benefit to doing it that way is that your dining room electrical outlets won't need to be touched.

I did a pocket door in my kitchen with johnson stud kit and pocket door kit, it works well, but rubs slightly that can't seem to be fixed basically the pocket needs to be bigger. I do love the concept where it is, as the swinging door took a lot of space.

that way your dining room

Sorry for the confusion. I said no kit and leave the existing wall alone. You can run the pocket wall as long (wall to wall) or as short as you like as long as you make both sides equal or can detail it out so it doesn't look like a mistake. The only thing you need to remove on the kitchen side is the trim, the existing door jamb and casing in the DR. 2x anything on the flat will rub. The kits will rub and there is nowhere to install anything.

{{!gwi}}