We're putting one in our master bath but I'm not sure I'd want one in a 'public' area. Most of the hardware I've looked at has some type of gap between the door and wall/trim (the smallest gap I've been quoted so far is 3/8th of an inch). I think a pocket door might provide more privacy.

I have a narrow hallway with a bathroom door that opens out. For years I have not been able to put runners/rugs in the hall because of the door. I had planned to put a pocket door in but recently was told that because of the light switch wiring it was not possible and the suggestion was made that I install a barn door which I did. I did not know that there will be a gap once the barn door was installed, the gap it’s too large to ignore. You can clearly see a person sitting on the toilet or standing at the sink, aaagh!. I tried the weatherstrip as suggested here but it did not work so then I came up with the idea of attaching “L” shaped trim. I have attached photos and it works perfectly!You have to attach the trim on both sides of the door frame and the bolts for the tracks had to be turned around so that they will not catch on the trim.

"I went to work in an office that had a pocket door that never worked right because someone had driven nails into it at some point and it was never the same after" (palimpsest) Yes. This happened to us when DH nailed the baseboard on the wall between the laundry and kitchen. The door came off track. When we renovate I will replace or remove. However, this was builder grade. On our extension I added three pocket doors. The one I had put in for the powder room is a solid core door, not thinner than most doors, as I wanted as much sound-dampening as possible with such a device. We used Johnson Hardware - not the home depot variety which runs $ 40 or so, but commercial grade. Look at the Johnson site under 1500 Commercial Grade and you will also find non-standard size frames (door max thickness 1 3/4"). Use a good carpenter.

Yes... well not me... my hubby... but we pick them out together, and we choose which planks go in which order together, and I do all of the finish work like any staining or Waterlox. If we are doing any painting (like we did on the cabinetry, which hubby also built in our garage) then I do any painting if it's done by brush, but hubby does all painting with the spray gun. He's particularly good with the spray gun, but I'm much better with a brush than he is. But yeah... the wood was all joined together and my 7 foot Long Island was sticking out past 10 feet before we held our breath and he pulled the trigger on the saw to make the cuts for the waterfall edge on the island. We had never done anything quite like that before and we'd paid a premium for boards that were long enough for this purpose. We figured if the cut was messed up we would use the edge meant for the waterfall for some other purpose one day and then we'd just end up with a wood top and cabinet panels for both sides instead of just one side. (The side closest to my sink is a cabinetry panel with an electric outlet and a towel bar for dish towels.) He must've measured the thing a gazillion times before he made the cut, LOL! But it came out perfectly and we were very pleased. There are some minor mistakes in other areas of the countertop, but most anybody would be hard pressed to notice them, but that waterfall cut went just perfectly. Whew! LOL!