Kitchen pocket doors?

[Gemz1806]

Hello! I'm looking for advice on pocket doors? Do you have one? Was it a good idea and how does it look?? I'd love photos!! Also welcome to tales of the problems. We could have a normal door but a pocket one would work better. It's the door from the sitting room, straight into the kitchen. I'm concerned with a normal door it be constantly closing it to get to where I'm heading. But at the same time I'm also concerned of the cost, is it worth it?? Thanks in advance!

If cost is a concern could you have a sliding door that's outside the wall? My parents had one into the kitchen and it slid down the side of a unit rather than a blank wall.

I'd want a door that closes tightly , to keep kitchen smells and noises out of the living room. Would a pocket door do this?

We have two pocket doors (one from hallway into kitchen, one from kitchen into utility). You can get a good deal by the way you engineer what the door closes into but maybe it won't be as good as a traditional door.

Smells is an issue yeah! thats why we thought a door would be better than a big gap, also we want to make the sitting room cosy at night, we have the bliss of an open fire! . I do burn a candle while cooking and find that help massively for the smells. we could build a shallow wall in the sitting room to slide the door into. I'm just a bit worried about war and tear? also should it be glazed or not? i"d love to see photos of actual house and not just pintrest!! as good as it is, it feels like every photo is a photo shot!!

We have a pocket door from the kitchen into the utility. It’s glazed, no issues with wear and tear a year down the line. I’ll try to remember to take a photo tomorrow and post it for you.

SherlocksDeerstalker that wold be amazing! from looking on pintrest as much I don't think it's a difficult thing to do? But then it makes me wonder why it's not done more often? I've never seen one in a house i've been in. thats what makes me worry. it seams to make so much sense, but why does no one else do it?

Ive also bookmarked this post www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/2886651-french-sliding-doors-between-kitchen-and-dining-room

dynevoran posted pictures of her doors which I'm using for inspiration

We have one between kitchen and utility. Its brilliant. So, so useful. Its the exact same door as we have throughout the house (1930s oak panelled door) with a little knob (that matches the kitchen units). When its closed you wouldn't know its a pocket door.

We also wanted a tight fit as we didn't want to hear noise of washing machine etc. It "clicks" into place when you shut it so it doesn't move, but its probably very slightly 'sealed' than a convential hinged door.

I think they're very common in the States but houses are built with them, rather than try to accommodate them at a later date like here, which is what makes it more expensive than just sticking with a normal door.

Love pocket doors. I wanted one between kitchen and utility as well, but our builder talked me out of it. The problem isn't so much the cost although they're of course more finnicky to fit than a standard door, but if anything goes wrong with the sliding mechanism it's a fairly major job to make it right.

Mine's still being built but I've saved some oak panelled doors that I'm planning to use with a sliding 'barn door' kit, as a compromise.

We've got them between family room and utility and between bedroom and ensuite. Very pleased with both. You can use any door you like so we ended up getting fairly heavy solid doors (think we might have had to specify the weight bracket of the door when ordering the pocket door kit). Certainly keeps noise of washing machine to a minimum. There are brushes down the opening of the pocket like insulation which helps and a rubber seal on the closing part of the frame.

Do you have enough room to create the pocket? You essentially need an opening about twice the size of a normal doorway and then the pocket is created out of the kit you buy and then studwork and plasterboarded. This can affect what you can use the wall either side for as you can't put long screws into the plasterboard as they'd interfere with where the door slid into.

Only other disadvantage we found is painting them because the brushes rub against the wood of the door. I managed to tape the brushes back, but it was a bit of a fiddle. Don't be persuaded by your joiner to put off painting the doors until they've been hung!

Hope that's not too garbled!