Sliding Closet Doors

Get Advice On How To Build Sliding Closet Doors For Home Interior.

Sliding doors are generally perceived to be the type of portals installed in a modern home interior for aesthetical effect more than function, so much so that sliding glass doors, known as Arcadia doors, are often captured on film during dramatic entrances and exits. It is not so. Shoji screens in Japan, which feature a sliding door panel of white paper supported by a latticed screen, are used to economize on space. Likewise, sliding closet doors leave more floor space compared to a conventional wardrobe door. One popular type are pocket doors, made up of panels that glide all the way to an unseen compartment in the adjacent wall. Another are bypass doors in which panels move to either side so that they overlap with each other.

Both the pocket door and bypass door are space-saving as they are constructed to slide sideways in a linear direction rather than swing forward or back just like hinged flush doors. Other than sliding closet doors, bypass and pocket entries are ideal for use in toilets and shower rooms, laundry rooms and walk-in storage cabinets, even home offices. These kinds of openings may be single door, wherein one panel is fixed and only the other is moving, or double door, wherein both panels are movable. The panels are attached to wheel ball bearings that glide through a steel roller system held in place by a concealed track. The carrier track is built into a door frame usually made of PVC, wood, aluminum, or the strongest option, steel.

The primary guideline on how to install a sliding doorway for wardrobe use is to choose whether the door panels should be mounted on floor tracks or hanging from overhead tracks. In a top hung gear system, the panels are suspended from a two-hanger trolley at the top of the door. Since the trolley carries the weight of the door, it becomes lighter and easier to slide. These hangers can only bear so much weight, thus, installing bottom rolling gear is the only way to use heavier panels. The full weight of the panels do not rest on the bottom wheels and track so the door is heavier and harder to move. Common surface materials for panels include glass, fiberglass, mirrored, steel, vinyl, wood veneer, faux wood grain, and as popular as ever, wood.

The pocket and bypass variety were used heavily for sitting rooms and hideaways in classic Victorian homes. In terms of door facing, raised panels had been the preference, boasting the Old World European tradition of ornate hand-carving, but have since been matched by flat panels, exhibiting cleaner lines and a more streamlined look. These days, many such doors are to be found in upscale homes and hotels, opening out to a patio, balcony, lanai, veranda, backyard, garden or swimming pool area, which only fuels the impression of lavishness associated with sliding doorways. In reality, sliding closet doors combine form and function, adding architectural detail while recognizing that living space should be used more efficiently as more people populate the globe.