You can actually take a set of bifold doors and make them into "french doors".

Barn doors! They come in many styles that aren't necessarily too "barn-y."

As it happens, I had a barn door installed between the kitchen and mudroom ~ 10 years ago, because the conventional swing-out door was always getting in the way. The space savings has been great. I ordered the hardware myself from manufacturer Johnson, and I custom ordered the door so I could finish it to match my kitchen woodwork. I remember the contractor having a hard time installing it, though. A REALLY hard time.

I want something I can do myself. No one around here will come unless you have a big job.

The current space when the bi-folds are open is 36 3/4". The width of the whole opening without the doors is 48 1/4". So I lose a foot of access with these doors.

I don't have a enough wall space to slide one, though, in this area. On one side I have no room. On the other I have 35" , which is all behind the bathroom door when that is open. That also means little clearance (4", which doesn't take into account the doorknob for the bathroom door ) for fitting a sliding door and it's projecting track hardware. To have a barn door work it would need to be 2 overlapping doors. No way that would fit behind the open bathroom door.

So I think that idea is out, much as I'd like one.

suedonim75, how do you make bifold doors into french doors?

We redid a closet that was built in the early 50's that had drawers on the bottom and slider doors. We tore out the drawers and all the framing and were left with a big hole in the wall. I really did not want a slider and looked at bi-folds but given the size of the closet, that would have been more expensive than we wanted to invest.

I ended up buying two hollow core doors and made french doors. The doors were just a tiny bit too wide, so we cut them down a bit on the table saw. On the walls where they're mounted we just added some 1/2" board to the existing studs. Because the doors are hollow core they weigh nothing so we just used some good sized hinges to mount them, and put magnetic latches at the top to hold them closed.

I think if you wanted to convert your bi-folds to french doors, all you'd need to do is put some braces at the top, middle and bottom, then do as we did with our doors, but you'd probably need heavier hinges since the doors might be heavier than hollow core.

Our house came with hollow core doors, the builder’s 6 panel pre-painted white kind. I have never liked the way they look, but it’s more trouble than it’s worth to replace all the doors with something nicer. I’d feel like I needed to replace the basic painted moldings too. So if I did French doors I would opt to use the same style door as the others I have in this room.

Until I started this thread I didn’t know French doors were just 2 doors that opened in the middle. I thought they were always a pair of doors with panes of glass in them. That means that the main doors that open into my bedroom are French doors, just made with the same 6 panel doors. One has a strip of wood added to where it contacts the other door, and the latch that goes into a socket in the top framing. So making the closet doors in the same style would match.

I’d feel like I should frame all sides of the opening though. I see that it could be done simpler. Neetsiepie, I get how you mounted them on the sides. But I’m not sure how you “put some braces at the top, middle and bottom.”

we just redid a closet and installed a pocket door- takes no room and looks great

Newgardenelf, did you do the work yourself? Anything I can do myself is a plus. I believe I DO have room on one side for a pocket door. It would be a big one,though.

Around here I would not be able to get a contractor to take the job unless there are several jobs. When I needed ceiling fans installed (no junction boxes in place), for instance, I had to add things to the job to get anyone interested.

linnea-

Pocket doors are a nice solution for your problem, but bear in mind that you will have to tear out the existing wall completely to be able to install the necessary framing and hardware. And then, of course, sheetrocking and painting. You will also have to relocate any wiring or switches/receptacles located in this area. I'm not trying to discourage you; you just need to be prepared for the amount of work involved.

Installing barn doors doesn't involve all this re-work as the hardware is surface-mounted.

Yes, pocket doors are a nice idea, but not really practical. Apart from the tear-up issue, the space is too wide. I looked into one ~ 10 years ago for between my kitchen and mudroom. But switches on either side made it unrealistic. The barn door for that application worked perfectly.

And barn doors won't work for this closet, as I described in my second post.

I'm back to considering french doors. Again, I'd have to do them myself. With no framing around the door, though, that would not be easy.

linnea-

Sorry, it sounded like you were still considering a pocket door based on what you said in your post just preceding mine.

I thought about it: briefly! My SIL had them installed in her house. Looks wonderful. But she had many done and added to a major job, so it was worthwhile for the contractor to come. It WAS very expensive, though.

Yes...much more expensive to have them done as a remodel rather than as part of a new build.

If you do a search, you can find how to convert bi-fold doors: how to turn bifold doors into french doors

Thank you. Micheletx, looks like all the examples of converting have the opening framed, so you have something to attach the door hinges to. When the first person mentioned "converting" I thought that meant something more than bracing a pair of bi-folds and making them function like one door. I thought there was some magic that I wasn't quite grasping. ;)

None of my bi-fold door closets are framed. They are just drywall at the sides and top, with the pivoting hardware at top and bottom. As a matter of fact, I've never seen a bi-fold closet framed. Maybe it's a regional thing, and here they are not done that way. If they were framed I would just buy some new doors and hang them. The doors of the style I have in this house are not expensive.

I was about to say, I have not heard of those kind of pivot hinges.

On second thought... I have a couple of very narrow closets (like for linens in the bathroom) that have that kind. Those doors are hollow core cheap ones that are only about 14" wide. I have always assumed they wouldn't bear the weight of a full size door, though. We replaced one cheap door with a solid door and since have had to replace those hinges several times.

What kind of load capacity are they capable of?

Though I wouldn't go for a solid door in my bedroom, as none of the others nearby are.

There are all kinds of pivot hinges, including heavy duty ones. Weight is not an issue if you buy any decent brand. And you are likely to find the weight capacity listed on the package, unless it's some no-name brand.

As far as your other hinges, I don't know if you have had cheap hardware or poor quality jambs, but decent hinges should typically not break or wear out. What is causing you to replace hinges?

they make shutter panels for sliding glass doors, im sure you could swing it for a closet as well. Hunter d\Douglas , Lowes and other companies sell them. Im putting them in my lake house.

kudzu, there are no jambs. The pivot base is screwed right into the top and bottom of the door opening on the problem door; thus into the wood under the drywall at the top, and into the wood floor at the bottom. I just went and checked it. The base is secure top and bottom. It's the metal pivot going into the door that is wobbling. The door starts tilting at the top, where it starts hitting the side of the door opening at the top.

When the people installing the doors installed them, I guess they didn't know that a solid door needed more. I ordered the doors custom made so I could stain them to match my kitchen, and they did say they'd never seen anything like them.

Last time he replaced them, my husband just went to Menard's and bought them, so I don't know if they were labeled for load capacity. Said if these failed, we were out of options.

That's got to be it. Thank you so much for telling me about this! These are just too flimsy for the load of the solid wood oak door we bought.

The door is tilting again. What kind of load capacity should I be looking for? Should I just weigh the door when we take it off? Can you get a variety of ones with different loads at a common home improvement store, or is this something I will need to order?

Star-doors, thank you very much for the idea of using pivot hinges for the bedroom closet project. I think this could be the answer, as it means I don't need to frame the closet.

There is carpeting on the floor, but I'm sure I can figure something out for that. After all, the bifolds have an attachment to the floor too.

Since I need a pair of doors, I would have to put some kind of stop in the center on the upper frame. What do people normally do for that?

Take the doors off and put some sort of a curtain in. You can always put the doors back on if you don't like it....

I'm not sure if you can get a heavy enough pivot hinge at a big box store. You might have to order online at a specialty hardware store. It's essential for this or any other hinge to be able to seat directly against wood. Having any type of hinge rest on sheetrock or carpet, regardless of the fact that it seems securely screwed into the wood underneath, is a recipe for failure.

Thanks. So you think the upper pivot support on the problem door having to go through sheet rock first is problem?

For the double bedroom doors, I didn't mean rest on the carpet. I meant there was likely already a hole there for me to mount the base onto the wood subfloor.

Though that doesn't solve the problem for the upper support screws having to pass through sheetrock.

Since I can't see the whole installation or how well it was done, I can't tell you if the mounting on sheetrock is the only problem, but it is a significant issue. Sheetrock is easy to dent and, over time, mechanical force from moving the door is going to cause the sheetrock to dent and the base of the hinge to loosen. I bet that if you take off the door and uninstall the hinge you will see damage to the sheetrock under the base of the hinge. Driving the screws deeper would possibly solve it for a while...until use damaged it again. You talked about wobble at the top and I think that has to do with the whole hinge not being supported properly rather than that the pivot itself is defective (although, over time, this poor installation could have caused abnormal wear).