Metal-Marc
Well-known member
Also, Burritos and other Mexican delicacies are not popular in Oregon. A sealed door is not needed.
Bathroom pocket or barn door?
- Thread starter bluedog225
- Start date
Metal-Marc
Well-known member
Embrace the open bathroom concept.
housewolf
Well-known member
IMO; a barn door is better than a swinging door in a tight spot. Nothing (even a barn door) is worse than an open or partially open door blocking a lav, toilet, or tub. It’s a problem in small spaces. I have a barn door in our guestroom (finished room over detached garage) and it kind of fits in with the design. The “gap” is less than 1/4” and there is an exhaust fan in the bathroom. I have a shower valve in the wall where a pocket door would be. A pocket door would be my first choice, we have one in our laundry room & no problems there. Here’s a pic of the room over the garage. I did all the work myself, with what I was left from a tornado. I would (should) have put dormers in the roof to get more headroom in the bathroom but all my “stuff” was in the garage covered with tarps. I needed to get a roof on quick and building out that space was pretty far down my to do list.
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Innovate1
Well-known member
I agree with the majority here that a pocket door is the way to go. I think barn doors are a fad and it takes a bit of space and limits what can be placed on that wall to very thin things - that may not be a consideration for this particular spot as the toilet paper roll can go on the other side. You don't have to upgrade much to get decent tracks and rollers. We went with basic Johnson ball bearing hardware as I recall and 20 years later they work fine. I see now there are a bunch of variations and a warning on their web site about Chinese knockoffs. If you do heavy doors you may need to move up a bit more.
As for working on pocket doors that is something I don't understand very well. The finish carpenter we used seemed to be used to knocking out basic work with no knowledge of anything out of the ordinary. He framed them in with the top jamb going all the way across and the side pieces going under that. My very limited understanding is that at least one of the top pieces should be screwed in and removable (fitting in after that side pieces) so the rollers can be accessed. Presumably that would require the door to be a bit off the floor so it could be let down to clear the top casing to get the door out if needed. It's not something I have had to mess with and hope I never do but if really needed I suppose I could use and oscillating saw to cut the upper jambs at the ends for removal and cut new pieces to replace them. Then again I could have all this wrong...
As for working on pocket doors that is something I don't understand very well. The finish carpenter we used seemed to be used to knocking out basic work with no knowledge of anything out of the ordinary. He framed them in with the top jamb going all the way across and the side pieces going under that. My very limited understanding is that at least one of the top pieces should be screwed in and removable (fitting in after that side pieces) so the rollers can be accessed. Presumably that would require the door to be a bit off the floor so it could be let down to clear the top casing to get the door out if needed. It's not something I have had to mess with and hope I never do but if really needed I suppose I could use and oscillating saw to cut the upper jambs at the ends for removal and cut new pieces to replace them. Then again I could have all this wrong...
scfoxman
Active member
Soft close/open is definitely a nice to have on any bedroom or adjacent for a pocket door. I've used this German brand and it was really high quality, combined with the pop out door pull posted earlier
www.dkhardware.com
Hafele 940.82.563 Sliding Door Hardware, Slido Classic 80-P, set 80 kg 33 3/8 - 38" 80-P with soft and self closing mechanism on both sides Steel Plastic
Buy Hafele 940.82.563 Sliding Door Hardware, Slido Classic 80-P, set 80 kg 33 3/8 - 38" 80-P with soft and self closing mechanism on both sides Steel Plastic online at DKHardware.com. Our Architectural Hardware category offers a great selection of Sliding Folding And Movable Walls products at...
chris142
Well-known member
We have a sliding door on our front bathroom as the area is too small for a swinging door. All it takes is 1 person to shut it too fast and it falls off the rails up in the wall.
That leads to an afternoon of frustration trying to get it back on track.
That leads to an afternoon of frustration trying to get it back on track.
trashmanssd
Well-known member
I have had a bunch of pocket doors installed during different renovations at my house. I love pocket doors. No door in the way when it's open (especially on doors that are almost always open). Also every door I replace now I am going as close as I can to 36". Some spots don't have the room for a 36" door. It makes moving furniture way easier, also with a 36" pocket door you can leave the door out a little and still have lots of room getting in and out and its easy to grab the door that way and not need to use the hidden handles.
JohnX14
Well-known member
I agree - no way I'd put a barn door on a bathroom. I also agree they are way over-used. People seem to want to find a place to install one. And I see hundreds of new houses/ renovations in my day job.
With that said, I put one in my own house in my basement office, which provides access to the electrical panel. I actually put a double door about 6' wide, but they both slide open in the same direction. Of course these are only opened rarely, and don't remain open. Just to work on the panel, or 'whatever'. I did the same in my sister's basement. There are other places where I think they look and function well, but it's one out of 20 that I see...fwiw.
With that said, I put one in my own house in my basement office, which provides access to the electrical panel. I actually put a double door about 6' wide, but they both slide open in the same direction. Of course these are only opened rarely, and don't remain open. Just to work on the panel, or 'whatever'. I did the same in my sister's basement. There are other places where I think they look and function well, but it's one out of 20 that I see...fwiw.
kyrbz
Well-known member
A hotel I stayed at in Japan recently had a sliding door done a little differently that what you usually see. Not quite a pocket door, not quite a barn door, but kind of a hybrid of the two.
rsanter
Well-known member
Issues
The barn door blocks access or use of the wall
The pocket door also limits use of the wall in a different way
Which suits you more?
Bathroom door in an open area? No way
Bathroom door in a master bathroom? Maybe
I installed a modern barn door for the master bathroom in my girlfriends house. It slides over the wall with the shower plumbing so it was this or a double thick wall (this was a remodel to move the door and remove the swing door.
For her this had worked very well.
Limited privacy issues to begin with plus the door overlaps the trim 2" on each side
The barn door blocks access or use of the wall
The pocket door also limits use of the wall in a different way
Which suits you more?
Bathroom door in an open area? No way
Bathroom door in a master bathroom? Maybe
I installed a modern barn door for the master bathroom in my girlfriends house. It slides over the wall with the shower plumbing so it was this or a double thick wall (this was a remodel to move the door and remove the swing door.
For her this had worked very well.
Limited privacy issues to begin with plus the door overlaps the trim 2" on each side
I like Napoleon Bonaparte, or rather his quote "If you want a thing done well, do it yourself." When I had to install a pocket door, I came across a video on YouTube with step-by-step instructions: "
Innovate1
Well-known member
My general guide is that I am just a weekend warrior for most of these things so the person that does it as their job should be as good/knowledgeable as me. I don't consider myself an expert craftsman (far from it) but have had quite a bit of experience starting with helping my dad and doing lots of different things. Overall I consider myself pretty handy. But as I get older (just retired) I don't really want to do everything. I have tempered my guide a bit to just wanting them to be competent and maybe near to my level.
We hired a guy to put trim boards on the sides of the stairs. He is widely regarded as a very good craftsman in the area and charges a bit more than typical. He did some things pretty well, especially fitting around other trim that was there. But he did some things that didn't really make any sense like spending a huge amount of time painting and sanding and polishing the finish until it was nearly perfect. Then nailing them in place and touching up the holes and caulking them making the difference in finish obvious - he could have spent a lot less time making the finish perfect. And the project took weeks to finish. I don't recall his exact cost or hours - a little high on expected hours and lots of away time. We were thinking it would be done quickly - not so much time he wasn't working on it. Don't plan to use him again. Basic grip is he didn't balance his time on needed tasks focusing too much on some so he didn't efficiently use the time (again, not an expert on this myself so willing to give some slack on this but he was over the top).
nadogail
Well-known member
Try somebody else next time.