Pocket Doors

A mini-guide for choosing the right sliding pocket door

How to understand the difference between the different models, to correctly calculate the dimensions of the door opening and the overall dimensions. How to choose and identify the type of frame on the basis of the door, the opening and walls. The box contains detailed information on each topic.

What is the difference between an exposed sliding door and a sliding pocket door?

Unlike traditional hinged doors, sliding pocket doors allow to regain the space usually taken up by the radius of the door swinging and help create a wider and more welcoming environment, offering greater furnishing options. Removing the hinged doors, the home wins back more space that can be essential for rooms which are small in size, benefiting of a more refined interior decoration.

There are two types of sliding doors:

In the former case, the door opens by sliding alongside the wall, while in the latter case the door opens by sliding inside it, running into a system commonly known as the ‘frame’. The frame of a sliding pocket door is a metal pocket that allows the door to slide inside the wall concealing from sight. Both solutions solve a space problem but, compared to the exposed sliding door version, the sliding pocket door frees the space on the wall where the door slides, opening up to greater furnishing possibilities. Depending on the type of frame adopted, several different opening solutions can be obtained.

A sliding pocket door system: what it is and how it works

The details of the metal structure are specially designed for both solid wall and stud wall

The frame for a sliding pocket door is a metal structure enabling the door to disappear inside a wall (either solid or stud wall). The frame is made up of a pocket that replace the wall section where the door is going to enter, a sliding system (track and runners) located in the upper part that allows the door panel to slide and a vertical metal door stop that accomodate the closing door.

To qualify as a premium-quality product, the frame necessarily needs to comply with specific reliability and durability requirements.

• Sturdiness: the frame must be as sturdy as the wall and it has to be inspectable at any time to allow its maintenance without knocking the wall down.

• Smooth and fluid sliding movement of the door: the runners and the track ensure the maximum smoothness to the sliding movement and can be easily replaced if they get damaged.

• Guarantee of a steady and indeformable internal passage, resistant to lateral pressures, with no deflection of the pocket's metal sheet and, thus, no risk of hindering or damaging the door.

• Guarantee of a crack-resistant plaster finish: being an integral part of the wall, the frame does not alter the appearance and consistency of the wall.

• Easy installation and maintenance: a frame that is easy to assemble and to install even by non-expert personnel guarantees and safeguards the product over time. This is possible thanks to a maintenance free track fully extractable which enables to retrofit accessories after the installation with no need of masonry.

 

Always aiming at the best possible quality, in 30+ years of research Aria Viva has developed a product boasting the following features:
 

Calculating the dimensions of a sliding pocket door system

To properly calculate the sizes of a sliding pocket door system, it is first necessary to understand the difference between "door opening" (or passage size) and "maximum overall dimensions".

The door opening, or passage size, refers to the actual dimensions of the door hole in height and width, between the jambs (if present) and from the finished floor level to the top beam. A standard sliding pocket door has the same sizes of a corresponding hinged door. It is also possible to build customized solutions for very large or very small passage sizes.

The maximum overall dimensions refers instead to the total space required to install a sliding pocket door system. In width this size sums up the dimensions of the door opening and the pocket while in height it is given by the length from the finished floor level to the upper edge of the architrave.

While in a new construction you typically have the freedom to choose the door size you want, in renovation projects you may find some constraints and the overall dimensions is the obligatory starting point to choose the size of your door.

Types of frames for sliding pocket doors

Choosing the correct frame model is not difficult, but certain key factors must be taken into account. These include: the type of door, the type of opening and the type of wall.

• Type of door: is the door going to be fitted with jambs or not (the so-called flush-to-the-wall doors).
  The jambs and architraves refer to all those elements that cover the wall edges around the doorway. In traditional doors, they normally protrudes from the door and the walls around the door panel. If instead there is no edgings, we refer to modern doors without jambs and architraves flush-to-the-wall. Each of these solutions requires a specific frame.

 

• Regarding the construction material of the walls. Aria Viva has developed specific systems for both solid walls and stud walls. This section introduces the main differences between a frame for solid walls and and a frame for stud walls. A frame for solid wall is made up of a metal sheet layer and looks like a metal structure supporting the plaster mesh. On the other hand, the version for stud wall has an open structure, resembling a metal framework (U-shaped guides and C-shaped uprights), on which the plasterboard slabs are placed.