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Property/DIY

Pocket doors - costs, pros, cons, general thoughts

22 replies

Feezles · 13/03/2018 12:01

We're hoping to refit our ensuite bathroom in the next few months. One thing that absolutely has to change is the door. At the moment, it opens into the bathroom, which makes an already-small room feel positively titchy.

The cheapest option would absolutely be to reverse the door so it opened out into the bedroom, and this may still be what we do - but that isn't ideal either as DH will 100% leave it open all the time so I'd be forever closing it, walking round it and being annoyed about it blocking light from our bedroom window.

So, I've been looking at pocket sliding doors - the ones that slide back into a stud wall cavity. I'm pretty sure we could fit one in - we have a long enough stretch of stud wall next to the doorway. DH is quite resistant to the idea though - he thinks it will be very expensive.

So - can anyone tell me how much fitting one is likely to cost, even just a ballpark? We would be able to take the plasterboard down on the bathroom side to expose the studwork, if that would help.

Also - if anyone has one of these, I would love to know what you think about it!

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wowfudge · 13/03/2018 12:04

You can also have a sliding door which doesn't require a pocket.

Feezles · 13/03/2018 12:09

I know, wowfudge - but we don't have the space for one of those. There will be things on either side of the wall that can't really be moved to make room. Sorry, I should have said that.

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Motherof3Dragons · 13/03/2018 14:25

How about bi-fold doors? You can get nice-looking ones these days.

Elvisola · 13/03/2018 14:28

I just had one put into a refitted kitchen. The door was always open before and it drove me mad as it was always in the way.

It cost ÂŁ400 including labour etc and it's brilliant. Slides beautifully and saves loads of space that was wasted hiding behind the open door.

Feezles · 13/03/2018 14:55

Motherof3Dragons That's another good idea! I'll definitely look into that! Do you have one?

Elvisola That's great - thanks for the info! Did they have to take any of the wall down to fit it? It's also a possibility for our new kitchen, but I'm not pushing it with DH yet. I'm hoping I can persuade him on the bathroom and he'll love it so much it becomes a no-brainer for the kitchen tooSmile

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Motherof3Dragons · 13/03/2018 15:28

My dad had them for an ensuite in one of his bedrooms. And my grandparents had one between kitchen and lounge.

bastedyoungturkey · 13/03/2018 15:32

We’ve put one in in between our living room and dining room. Bit of a different situation as it was an archway before and we wanted to divide the two rooms up, but DP did it with help from my Dad. He watched a YouTube video and went from there, we’re really pleased with it.

Kismett · 13/03/2018 15:32

We have a similar situation with our ensuite except the door opens into the bedroom, and is still always in the way. I'd do a pocket door in a heartbeat if we had the space for one. I hope you get one, it will make life better!

Elvisola · 13/03/2018 16:05

They didn't have to remove any walls, they just built a stud wall over the existing wall with enough space between the two to hide the door behind.

I couldn't imagine it at all when the builder was telling me what they would do - it made more sense watching them do it.

Troels · 14/03/2018 10:17

We put on on our ensuite. It's a pocket door that goes into the wall, I love it. We used to have bifolds and hated them. It's much tidier than a slider that doesn't go into the wall and looks more finished.
Dh installed it, he had to re build the stud wall anyway as it was crooked, so figured he'd do a pocket door at the same time.

Feezles · 15/03/2018 09:35

Kismett Ha! Yes, I am sure it would - just need to convince DH.

Elvisola Yes that makes sense. I'm not sure it would work like that for us, as it would mean stealing space from the ensuite, which is already tiny, but I can see how that would be a much simpler way to do it.

Troels Good know, I'm glad you're pleased with them - and thanks for the feedback on bifolds, very useful!

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InTheRoseGarden · 15/03/2018 10:09

We're having one fitted to our en suite as part of a loft conversion. The mechanism is sold by Eclisse. Not quite finished so I can't tell you whether it's any good yet but it was a good way to save space.

Feezles · 15/03/2018 11:34

Ooh, sounds good, InTheRoseGarden - did it add much to your costs? I would love a review from you when it is finished.

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MacaroniPenguin · 15/03/2018 12:31

We were wondering about these. If they go into the actual cavity between the walls do they let draughts in, or is the cavity all sealed in first? When we took our skirtings off in winter our house turned freezing! I worry opening up a cavity wall would have the same effect.

InTheRoseGarden · 15/03/2018 12:40

I can't think that you would ever fit one in a cavity wall. Internal walls aren't usually wooden stud partition walls. Ours is and it sits on top of the floorboards (or plywood flooring actually). In which case there's no link to the outside for a draft to come through.

InTheRoseGarden · 15/03/2018 12:41

That should say "Internal walls are usually wooden stud partition walls"

InTheRoseGarden · 15/03/2018 12:43

And it should really say wood or metal partition walls...

MacaroniPenguin · 15/03/2018 12:48

Ah that makes sense, thank you IntheRoseGarden.

Pradaqueen · 15/03/2018 13:57

Op - I had a similar issue with my ensuite door. Opening inwards would've been inconvenient and outwards interfering with the door into the bedroom. I fitted two 'half' doors. When closed they look like a large Victorian panel door but because they open outwards into the bedroom, the half door projection is not as intrusive. They have a roller catch to secure when closed. Try todd's doors to see if they still do something similar. From memory it was the Knightsbridge range of solid doors.

namechangedtoday15 · 15/03/2018 14:43

We have one fitted between our kitchen and (small) ensuite. The stud wall that the door disappears into has to be thicker than a standard stud wall so you will need to steal space from somewhere.

I look ours - it's a standard size oak panelled door to match the other doors downstairs and you wouldn't know from looking at it that it's a pocket door.

If your issues are with shutting the door (as well as it getting in the way when it's left open) you might need to look elsewhere Grin. It's been in a year or so and I can count on one hard the times it's been shut by H and/or children Grin

namechangedtoday15 · 15/03/2018 14:45

Sorry, meant kitchen and utility!!! We dont have an ensuite off the kitchen Blush

Feezles · 15/03/2018 14:59

Thanks, namechanged - I don't mind the door being open (the current inward swinging one almost always is), I just mind it getting in my waySmile.

I don't mind losing a bit of space to make the stud wider, but I think that what Elvisola was describing was a bit different, a whole extra wall to sandwich the . I could be wrong about that, but if not, that could mean losing about 20cm off the room and that would be too much. Making a single stud wall a bit wider to accommodate would be doable though - so good to know it is possible, thank you.

And I was wondering about your kitchen with ensuite - sounds very poshSmile

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