Pocket door for bathroom?

[StatesOfMatter]

I have a small (just over 4m2) bathroom and looking to update it. Thinking about a pocket door to have a touch more space in the room.

Anyone got one or looked into it and can offer pros and cons?

[randomsabreuse]

Had one in previous house.

Pros, meant usable en suite in marginally too small space - previous owners had no door on said en suite🤮.

Get a soft close track and get a good carpenter/joiner to fit it. Ours was from ironmongery direct

Make sure they don't have screws pointing into the pocket, ours for scratched which was tedious.

Can rattle when shut if you've got a through draught (bedroom window open plus vents in bathroom).

Gives more flex on door sizes - the door can be larger than the aperture.

We never fitted a lock (en suite). Would be awkward to lock .

Would absolutely do it again for an awkward room, but you do need 2 door widths in a straight line if that makes sense, as the door needs somewhere to go when open.

[Africa2go]

Don't have one for a bathroom but have one for a utility room (into kitchen). Fitted a standard 1930s panelled door into the mechanism so it doesn't look like a pocket door, it matches all the other doors, but so useful that is disappears into the wall. Means we get to use all the space in the utility room which is very small, and have shelves / cupboards on all the walls without having to allow for the door opening and having to manoeuvre around it. Highly recommend.

[BillyAndTheSillies]

We have pocket doors on our downstairs toilet and en-suite. They're a great space saver, biggest bonus is that there are two doors in the house that the kids can't charge through and slam.

Only negative is we can't put anything on the walls where the pocket is because it's hollow. Maybe something light could be hung but DH is a building surveyor and too sensible for my liking!

[BillyAndTheSillies]

Similar to PP, we have had them made exactly the same as the other 30's doors in the house so when all the doors are shut you'd never know apart from the door knob is flush. We have a locking mechanism inside the handle that just twists but don't use it very often.

[Smidge001]

Con : Pocket doors aren't very soundproof in my experience.

[happywearingmymaskallday]

We have one I'm now totally in love with the idea and looking at installing two more only yesterday I was eyeing up our spare bedroom wall can we fit one one there? It's looks like a normal door because it is but we choose an external door, its solid oak so heavy and thicker which makes it feel more substantial when you slide it across. We didn't buy the sliding mechanism that the door company offered us my DH who knows about this sort of thing bought a more expensive sliding mechanism, its self closing and is not particularly noisy well least not that I've noticed. You can easily get a lock for them but obviously it has to be in unlockable from both sides.

[HasaDigaEebowai]

Whether you can have one will depend on your walls of course. Unless you mean a barn door that slides over the wall rather than inside the wall?

[rwalker]

There not air tight like a shut door someone has a crap and stinks your house out .

[happywearingmymaskallday]

rwalker that doesn't happen in our house when closed the door very slightly goes into another "pocket' it doesn't stop at a frame like a conventional door I suspect the new door is a better seal/fit than the previous conventional door ever was.
From what I understand and Id be the first to admit I'm not a builder it doesn't need to depend upon your wall, we errected another wall to create the "pocket" for it to slide into, so its like a sandwich existing wall door pocket and new wall.

[NachoNachoMan]

Only thing I can add is that the handle has to be a finger pull rather than normal handle. We have a couple - the doors are the same type as our other doors bar the handle - it bugs me but I don't think it's overly obvious.

[Africa2go]

Ours doesn't have a finger pull - It's actually the same knob as I have on all my kitchen cabinets so doesn't look out of place. You just have to have it closer to the edge of the door than you normally would so the main part of the door slides into the pocket. It is quite close to the door frame on the right, but much easier to open than a finger pull I think.

[Smallgoon]

I have one for my pantry/utility space, but wouldn't get one for a bathroom personally.

[NachoNachoMan]

@Africa2go

Ours doesn't have a finger pull - It's actually the same knob as I have on all my kitchen cabinets so doesn't look out of place. You just have to have it closer to the edge of the door than you normally would so the main part of the door slides into the pocket. It is quite close to the door frame on the right, but much easier to open than a finger pull I think.

That is interesting... one of our pocket doors is on the utility, off the kitchen. Something to consider for when we eventually change the kitchen!

[newbathroomforme]

We have on of these on our bathroom pocket door it was quite expensive but you only have to buy one as it works from both side I think it looks fab.

[WombatChocolate]

Think it’s okay for an en-suite but not so good for a downstairs loo or main bathroom. There definitely feels like less privacy when you’re behind a pocket door....noise, smells, feeling secure etc. That probably doesn’t matter so much in an en-suite as presumably the only other people are those you share the bedroom with, but for visitors who might use your loo, pocket doors are not great, or for teens despertate for privacy etc.

If you do get one, have a good one and pay enough for it to be well_ fitted and no rattley and threatening to come off itt’s tracks, or having gaps anywhere. There are. Good ones about but I’ve also been in lots of houses with perhaps rather shoddy installations of downstairs loos that include a rickety pocket door.

[happywearingmymaskallday]

"There definitely feels like less privacy when you’re behind a pocket door....noise, smells, feeling secure etc."
and
"If you do get one, have a good one and pay enough for it to be well_ fitted and no rattley and threatening to come off itt’s tracks, or having gaps anywhere. There are. Good ones about but I’ve also been in lots of houses with perhaps rather shoddy installations of downstairs loos that include a rickety pocket door."
Ours was expensive and it doesn't rattle, there's no smells or less privacy and it definitely doesn't threaten to come off its tracks as its built into the wall, the top of the door is in a pocket as well as the sides, and there's no gaps. It's has been fitted so carefully that your almost hermetically sealed onto the bathroom when its shut. This is why you have to have a lock you can undo from both sides because if say you became unwell in the bathroom and couldn't unlock the door there is no way you could kick it in as shut its in a "pocket" on three sides.

[StatesOfMatter]

Thanks all for your replies. If sounds as if there are good pocket doors and bad pocket doors! As it is a bathroom I would want a good one so will have to look at budget now.

In general (and thinking of selling eventually) it sounds like they are generally a good thing and when done well?

[minipie]

We have a pocket door on our en suite. Our builder said you definitely want to go with an expensive mechanism - not just because it’s less likely to rattle etc but also less likely to break in future. If they break or stick it’s a PITA to fix as you have to partly dismantle the wall!

I agree that it works for an en suite but I would feel slightly odd about it on a more “public” bathroom as they do feel less fully closed than a standard door.

You can definitely have a lock, we do, it’s a recessed handle with an inbuilt lock.

You will lose a few cm of space because you have to have a pocket wall (thicker than normal wall) for it to slide into.