How to Install a Pocket Door

Kennith Bogan

What is a pocket door? And how do you install a pocket door? Find out the recommendations and tricks for installing a pocket door to save floor place from a traditional hinged door swing. An great resolution for modest spaces or awkward door parts.

For much more modest place alternatives, consider these: Guidelines to make a modest place truly feel open up, our Foldable Craft Desk, and a Tiny place research or business station.

How to Install a pocket door from Remodelaholic

In advance of we display you how to install a pocket door — let’s respond to the most common dilemma:

What is a pocket door?

A pocket door is a sliding door on a keep track of within the wall. Where a sliding barn door and the barn door hardware are on the exterior of the wall, a pocket door and pocket door hardware are set up within the wall and totally concealed.

Concealed pocket doors are fantastic alternatives for modest spaces and fifty percent bogs, given that they save the floor place from a traditional hinged door swing, though nonetheless presenting much more privacy than a barn door. Pocket doors are also totally concealed when open up, so they don’t need any adjustment to your wall decor both.

Connected Reading through: Diy Barn Doorways and Barn Doorway Hardware

How To Install A Pocket Door by Remodelaholic

For our pocket door install, we experienced a fifty percent bath at the conclusion of a hallway, with the door swinging out. We wanted a pocket door! You can see previously mentioned how the door opened up into the hall and, with children, it was just normally open up. Across the hall was our bedroom doorway, so it was blocked and the pics on the wall were only fifty percent obvious.

Not the glance and truly feel we were going for (primarily with our new board and batten wainscoting around the dwelling) and it was bad for the strolling targeted traffic flow, so a pocket door was the way to go for us. I Really recommend a prebuilt pocket door kit and here’s how the method goes:

How To Install A Pocket Doorway

*Try to remember, right before starting off any task that affects the construction of your dwelling be positive to check with with a structural engineer or architect!*

Update March 2019: We set up yet another pocket door in our recent dwelling and designed a movie to display you the method! Check out it out more than on our YouTube channel:

Materials and instruments for pocket door body set up

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Stage one: Decide on the area

This nice blank wall with no electrical or plumbing within designed the excellent spot for a pocket door.

Choosing the right wall for a pocket door. Remodelaholic.

Stage 2: Take out the current door

Ahh… the difference it tends to make to take off the door!  The fantastic factor about installing a pocket door is that when you take off the current door, you can see specifically how the place will truly feel when you are finished: nice and open up, no door blocking your path!  Pocket door installation with Remodelaholic

Stage 3: Hold drop cloths

In advance of starting off any demo, put up some drop cloths to consist of all. the. dust. (This drop cloth is hung in the home that shares the wall the pocket door is going into.)

Pocket door installation process by Remodelaholic

Stage 4: Take out drywall

The pocket door will go in the wall that is in between the fifty percent bath and our learn rest room shower, so we lower out the drywall on the fifty percent bath side very carefully (We even saved it in one particular piece and reinstalled it! NO squander!). We scored the walls deeply at all the corners, then lower by the other sections and used a crowbar to gently pop the nails out of the back again of the drywall (you can also use a reciprocating saw to lower the nails to get you begun).

Removing drywall to install a pocket door on Remodelaholic

Below is the substantial piece of drywall at the time removed…

Remove drywall to install a pocket door by Remodelaholic

Stage 5: Take out studs

Following, we eliminated the studs and header where the pocket door kit will go.  (We did not establish a non permanent wall simply because this dwelling has two parallel walls in 3 feet on both side. If you do not have individuals supporting walls, you may well want to construct a non permanent wall right before getting rid of the studs. Talk to a contractor, if wanted.)

Removal of studs and header to install a pocket door on Remodelaholic  Removing studs to install a pocket door, by Remodelaholic.

We used a reciprocating saw to lower the nails so that the studs could be reused.

Remove studs but use them again later in a pocket door install. Remodelaholic

Stage 6: Create a door body

Justin begun with a new header, and established the jack and king studs in spot.  (Jack indicates the one particular supporting the header and the king is the full top stud that sits exterior the header.)

Pocket door installation, install a new header and jack and king studs on Remodelaholic.

Stage seven: Incorporate the pocket door kit

Now that the door framing is in spot, the easy component is introducing the pocket door kit. In essence, it is a slot (pocket) with place for the door to slide into and a keep track of on major.

Pocket door kit installation by Remodelaholic  how to install a pocketdoor kit by Remodelaholic.

Use shims to make certain it sits in the right spot.

Using shims to ensure a proper fit for a pocket door, by Remodelaholic.  How to use shims to ensure a proper fit for a pocket door by Remodelaholic

Stage eight: Prepare the current door, if wanted.

Incorporate the keep track of hardware to the current door making use of the guidance that occur with the pocket door kit. Also take out the outdated door knob and hinges and install a take care of plug, if you want one particular.

 Pocket door kit installation by Remodelaholic  Using a pocket door kit by Remodelaholic

Stage 9: Hold the door

And the remaining effects?  Pocket door perfection… well, nearly!

Pocket Door Installation by Remodelaholic

It arrived at perfection when we set up all the door trim and a nice coat of black paint to match the other doors!

Pocket door kit installation on Remodelaholic

Glimpse how open up and unobstructed the place is now! I hung new spouse and children shots when all the wainscoting and trim was up… love it!)

Installing A Pocket Door, Tutorial From Remodelaholic

If you want to see the very first article about the one/2 bath check it out below!

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And come across much more fantastic door tutorials, these kinds of as:

How To Install A Pocket Door, a Tutorial From Remodelaholic

Revealed Aug 22 2012 // Up to date Apr twenty 2020

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