Sliding closet doors come in a variety of styles and materials. One great advantage of sliding doors is that the do not take up floor space by protruding into the room. The doors only move from one end of the closet to the other. Unlike regular and bi-fold doors, they do not interfere with movement in the room when the closet is open. Does this Spark an idea?
Types
Most manufacturers sell sliding doors as a complete kit that consumers can purchase at home improvement stores. Sliding closet doors may be made of wood, metal or glass. Many combine two materials like metal and glass for durability and style. Mirrored sliding doors are popular with many homeowners because they create an illusion of more space in small rooms. Their full-length mirrors also make it easier to get dressed.
Function
Sliding closet doors are also called bypass doors. Each door operates on a track that the consumer or builder installs. One door always slides on the front track, while the other door uses the rear track. Therefore, the doors can easily pass each other on their individual tracks. Opening the closet merely requires pushing one door towards the opposite end of the closet frame. The two doors can also be positioned in front of each other, allowing access to both ends of the closet. However, this blocks access to the middle section of the closet until one of the doors returns to its normal closed position.
Features
Basic sliding doors cost slightly more than swinging doors. These doors need two sets of tracks, along with stops and clips that make the doors less likely to slip off their tracks. Typical sliding door sets range in sizes from 3 feet by 80 inches to 6 feet by 80 inches. Consumers who live in homes that do not have prebuilt closets within these dimensions will usually need to special order their sliding doors from the distributor of retail outlet. Rough openings for an existing closet may not match the dimensions of the standard sized doors that retail building supply stores sell.
Considerations
Plain wood sliding doors are the most versatile because you can trim them to fit a non-standard closet door opening. A sliding door that is not made entirely of wood will be difficult to install correctly if your measurements are not precise. Measuring the opening for metal and glass sliding doors is essential since these materials will not be easy to alter once you have purchased them. Some sliding door manufacturers sell decorative trim kits that can help to disguise off square installations.
Warning
Installing sliding closet doors requires intermediate carpentry skills. The most important step in changing an existing closet door is to accurately measure the rough opening and calculate the space needed for the sliding door hardware. If your current opening is not large enough or is too large for minor adjustments, you may need to reframe the opening. This is not a basic do-it-yourself project.
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