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Building a Home Design Dilemma Windows

pocket door questions

13 days ago

We are going to have 2 pocket doors in our new home. But, I have a couple questions that this group might be able to help with as I’m getting conflicting info.

If the opening calls for a 30”x84” door, do I need to get a door that is slightly larger to allow for the 3/4” that remains in the pocket when the door is closed? At only 30” wide I’d hate to sacrifice that 3/4” but maybe I’m overthinking it.

The other door will have an arched opening (drywalling an arch around the frame - could be a nightmare, I know) and the opening is 32x84. Is the peak of the arch generally the 84” and it arches from there?

Sorry for what are likely basic questions.

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Comments (7)

PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
13 days ago
The pocket door hardware manufacturer may have door size recommendations.
PRO
JAN MOYER
13 days ago
last modified: 13 days ago
A 30" Inch pocket door goes into a 60 inch plus one inch rough in/ opening. Why the arch??! unless it is opening to something quite special? The arch is the high point....84 of your door?

You may want to create a template : )

You watched too much Instagram?

A bit of overkill in my book : ) but you may have a different concept
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We just finished our build, and we put in four pocket doors and I love them. We did use solid core & Johnson Hardware. They don't seem to make that much noise. We put in two 36" in our bathroom (one from the bedroom, the other into the toilet room).. these doors are wide enough that they stay partially pulled out of the wall by 4-5 inches, so they are easy to grab when you need to close them. I did put locks on three of them and the latch to pull the door out of the wall (when it's pushed flush into the wall) seems a little flimsy, put no problems so far. The other two doors are both in the laundry room and stay closed most of the time. One of those is a full view, frosted glass door. I was afraid the weight would be too heavy, but it moves very smoothly. I think as long as you use Johnson Hardware, especially with solid core doors, you won't have any problems. The little plastic guides at the bottom haven't scratched our doors yet. Good Luck!
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Unfortunately, with single doors, the method of removal often requires removal of the casing trim on both sides to allow adequate clearance. My parent's house has two single pocket doors and one set of doubles. They are, quite frankly, enormous -- each one is nearly 9 feet high and 4 feet wide, made of solid, clear, American Chestnut. All I can say is make sure you have a LOT of very strong help when you remove one of these doors. Also, be EXTREMELY careful in what you use to remove the old finish. You could loosen the old glues in a heart beat, leaving you with a partially or fully disassembled jigsaw puzzle.
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I have 4 of them in my new house - 3 in the master bath and one on powder room. The master bath ones are no problem (though we haven't finished the bath, so I don't have actual experience using them!). The one on the PR did solve the problem (that we had in old house) of hitting the closet door across the narrow hallway, not being able to get in/out of PR when someone getting/putting away a coat. But I goofed and put the pocket door on the PR instead of the coat closet. Not a good idea with kids who are always leaving the door partially open, so I can see the toilet from the kitchen! I should have put it on the closet instead. It's fallen off the track a couple of times, probably b/c we have it adjusted to the very end of the hanging bolts b/c the builder hung it too high (he put all the doors on the ground floor 1" off the subfloor, we were able to change the swinging doors but not the pocket door). I would say it would work in your DD's situation as long as this is the master bath and not the main bath that guests/kids would use (and use a lot, and leave open to a public area).
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Comments (21)
There's very little in between pricewise. Johnson hardware for pocket doors is very good and sturdy but doesn't give a very finished profile, or a least it's hard to trim out, especially if you want a flush look to the ceiling look. Also this is going to be a very heavy, long door. Johnson is heavy enough but "finishing" the track would be hard. I know a couple people who have pocket doors that are useless because they used cheap hardware and you can either get the door open and closed with a lot of binding and screeching, or they are stuck in the pockets. And you have to demo the wall and start over to fix it. So most people don't fix it. I don't think Rocky's guests would get a charge out of trying to get dressed with the door open. I've found the same thing with the latches and locks. There are literally no choices between $12 and about $400. So yes it's an expensive door, but this is not something that can be worked on or upgraded like a swinging door, You either do it correctly at the beginning, or redo it later. Modernist barn door hardware will be this expensive, too.
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Frank the Tank
Original Author
13 days ago
Jan - Maybe too much instagram, maybe too much having grown up money and the desire to waste it on things I think are aesthetically pleasing. Either way, very much appreciate the replies here. Very helpful!
PRO
HALLETT & Co.
13 days ago
A 30” door is used and yes the opening ends up slightly less than 30”. For a real shock measure the opening for a hinged door- with the door at 90° you lose 1 1/2”.
millworkman
12 days ago
last modified: 12 days ago
Custom they always use a wider door stile on the side that goes in the pocket to help hide the gap when the door is closed. But using stock doors just wider will make the balance of the door look odd in the opening if you go wider overall.
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
12 days ago
Who is doing the install? That is who you ask and I have no clue about the arched opening is odd and whay pocket door there at all. We need context and you need to get a good installer .
PRO
Minardi
12 days ago
Skip the arch. You are likely to end up with some pp mongrelized atrocity from your average carpenter. It takes some higher end skills to make that look like anything, and actually work.

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