How To Repair A Pocket Door That Is Off Track

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A pocket door is the perfect solution for closing off an open section of your dwelling or part or adding a quick style to motility from room to room where a wall currently exists.^[ane] These doors disappear into the wall when opened, rather than taking up infinite in one room or the other. With the right tools and know-how, you can install pocket doors yourself, avoid the hassle of hiring a contractor, and take a hand in the design of your own home.

1
Purchase a pocket door kit at a hardware shop. This kit should comprise the door, split studs that permit the door to retract into the wall, a rails on which the door runs into the wall, and door hardware. Most are nether $100.
- You may be able to find pocket doors at lumberyards, likewise. Regardless of where you go, y'all should easily find kits for doors that are 1 1/8 inches to one 3/4 inches thick past six feet (one.8 m) 8 inches high. If your door is not a standard size, talk to a professional virtually getting the job washed.
ii
Cheque the wall. The concluding thing you want to do is to tear a pigsty into your wall only to find that it's not feasible to put a door at that place. Before you become well-nigh drilling and tearing down, bank check for the post-obit things:^[2]
- Cheque if in that location'due south enough room in the wall. Y'all demand just over twice the width of the door (and then it can hide).
- Check if the wall is load-bearing or just a sectionalisation. If it is load bearing, you'll need a new header and a ways of temporary support while the door is being worked on.
- Check for wiring or plumbing. A wall with pipes in it is not a expert place to put a door. Wiring can be easily detected with a cheap voltage sensor.
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3
Remove the existing door, if applicative. If yous're replacing a door with a pocket door, y'all'll need to get rid of the existing door. Start with removing the molding and, with a reciprocating saw blade, cut the shims. When the nails are cut, you can remove the door frame.^[3]
- Door jambs aren't nailed against the studs in the wall – they're just spaced with wooden shims.
4

Remove the drywall on one side of the wall. Practice this slowly to brand certain you haven't missed any obstacles within the wall.^[4] Remove the drywall a few inches to a higher place where the header will be, but don't get all the style to the ceiling – that only means more work later.
5
Cut the exposed studs carefully. This makes room for the new framing. You lot may find this step easier if yous utilize a combination of a circular saw and a small hand saw; yous do not want to accidentally damage the wall you did not cut away. The goal is to leave large enough holes in the studs to allow the pocket door to pass through.
- A standard pocket door is one.75 inches (four.four cm) broad. To make this stride fifty-fifty easier, look for a pocket door kit that comes with split up studs.
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1
Brand a new header, if necessary. It'southward possible that your door will require a header of a different summit.^[v] The height of your header is determined by whether or not you need a new soleplate. If the floor roofing above the subfloor is minimal, the split-stud brackets can exist secured direct to the flooring. To determine the header top for most standard kits, figure the length of the new door, plus 3 1/4" and the height of the soleplate, if any. Once the appropriate length is determined, install a new stud this length from the existing stud on the opposing side. Nail the new header in place (or screw) and then cut and fit the soleplate to the floor.
- To adjust the header, use a reciprocating saw to remove the partition header currently in place. Then, cut away the studs, simply like in the above, to make space for the framing.
- Cut the nails that are between the studs and the soleplate and and then determine the height of your desired header before cutting the stud tops to length. Otherwise, you may end up with a frame that is not to size.
two
Install the slider track. Your pocket door kit should incorporate the rails on which the door slides into the wall. Install the slider track using the directions that come up with your pocket door kit, screwing the brackets into the studs. If you are as well installing pre-split studs, y'all can install them after you install the slider track.^[6]
- If you need to cutting the track to length, use the mark on it that corresponds to your door size. Most, if not all, kits come up with these markers. Use a hacksaw on the aqueduct and a handsaw on the nailers.
- Brand sure your track is level. If it's non, it won't slide easily in and out of its pocket.
3

Place the hardware and the door into the slider runway. Brand sure that the door is sliding hands and stays level. Mountain hangers on the top of the door – this is how the door will slide. Then, slide the wheeled carriages into the rail. Claw the hangers onto the carriages. Once information technology's all gear up, arrange the assembly until the door hangs plumb and is in place.

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ane

Replace the drywall y'all removed at the get-go of the project with new drywall. For this office, yous'll demand panel adhesive and screws. Yet, don't move onto taping and mudding just however – there's even so a bit more than work to be done.^[7]
2

Install the latch hardware. The pocket door kit should accept come with door latch hardware. Some of this will exist attached to the door and some will be attached to the wall. Follow the instructions that came with the pocket door kit. Make sure the door is nevertheless sliding easily on the track and that the latches line upward as needed.
3
Terminate installing the drywall. At this betoken, you can record and mud the drywall. Apply plenty of drywall compound, aiming for multiple coats over every seam. Embed tape in it, and so go rid of any excess compound. Permit it to dry, sand it, and then apply the adjacent layers of compound using the same method as necessary.
- When you are finished, sand the drywall to make information technology finished and smooth.
iv
Paint or otherwise decorate the wall equally yous see fit. The hard function is done – all you accept to do now is return the wall to its original (or new and improved) state.
- Do this before you lot install the door trim, unless you lot want the door trim painted, too. This way if your lines aren't perfectly straight, the trim volition cover them right upwards.
v
Install the door trim. The trim hardware should take come in your pocket door kit. Install it according to the pocket door kit instructions. Boom or screw it to the jamb and the door studs.^[8]
- That's it! Your pocket door is officially ready for use and looks like it was installed professionally.
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Add New Question

Question

Where does the door guide go?

When the door is open up, place door guides at the bottom of the frame. Pull the door out a little bit so you don't position guides too close to the door, leaving an eighth inch gap on both sides of the door to prevent rubbing or scarring of the finish.
Question

Are in that location tracks both at the elevation and bottom of the pocket doors?

There are only tracks on the top of pocket doors, but like sliding closet doors. Sliding closet doors usually come with a minor guide for the bottom that you screw to the floor where the 2 doors overlap. This keeps them from swinging in and out. Pocket doors sometimes have a similar U-shaped guide, or 2 wedges you screw down on either side of the door to keep it swinging into the doorjambs and ruining your pigment job.
Question

Should I wait until the ceramic floor is finished before installing the pocket door?

Yes.
Question

The door I purchased is xiii" on the peak and 12" on the lesser. Is this normal?

No, it should be the same on the top and bottom.
Question

Can I supercede an existing 6 panel pocket door with a drinking glass pane door to permit light in?

As long as the hanging hardware and framing above the door is strong plenty for the added weight of the door, then you can do this. If y'all're not sure though, get a carpenter to come and help.

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If you do not desire to become to the problem of reframing a wall, consider installing an open pocket door. This door functions similarly to a pocket door, but is attached to the outside of an interior wall instead of sliding into the wall.
Steps to install a pocket door during new construction are slightly dissimilar, but should be easier. The primary difference is that you tin can plan ahead, so you should not need to cutting away any studs.

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Things You lot'll Need

Pocket door kit
Circular saw
Handsaw
Hacksaw
Sander
Additional tools as required by specifics of pocket door installation kit

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Commodity Summary X

To install a pocket door, commencement by removing the existing door and the drywall on one side of the wall. Then cut the exposed studs to brand room for the new framing. Next, install the slider runway using the runway that came in your pocket door kit. Be sure to screw the brackets into the studs! And so put the hardware and door into the slider rails. Replace the drywall, but hold off on taping and mudding it until later on you install the latch hardware. One time that's done, install the door trim that came in the kit. If you want to learn how to cheque your walls to meet if yous tin install a pocket door, keep reading!

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