Can Pocket Doors Be Used with Self Closers

The true beauty of the pocket door is its adaptability to suit your home or business. Fundamentally it provides great space-saving benefits which opens up many home or business improvement possibilities simply by creating new space, but the pocket door can also be accessorised to enhance its practicality, and this is where you can find new benefits which specifically help you. One of these is the self-closing mechanism, so in answer to the question, yes, pocket doors can be used with self-closers, and here’s how:

The self-closing pocket door

One of the most popular accessories to be added retrospectively to a pocket door is the self-closing mechanism. It provides many benefits to the user and its specifications include:

• It is a bracket system fitted to the back of the door and hence is completely invisible from the other side.
• It allows the door to be closed with no physical input from you.
• The closing speed of the door can be adjusted to suit the people and activities taking place in your home.
• The self-closing mechanism can be used in conjunction with other pocket door accessories, such as the soft-close/anti-slam mechanism.
• The self-closing mechanism can be fitted to a single door only. However, if you have double pocket doors installed, you can fit a self-closing mechanism on each door.
• The self-closing mechanism can be fitted retrospectively.
• The self-closing mechanism is not suitable to be fitted on flush door systems or glass pocket door systems.

Why do I need an automatic self-closing pocket door?    

• Convenience and practicality – if you have your hands full and can’t reach round to close the pocket door, you know it will be shutting automatically once you have passed through it.
• Children – guard against the inconsistency of young children by adding a self-close mechanism. Kids will frequently leave the door open, so this ensures it is shut at all times that you need it to be.
• Inclusivity – a self-closing door supports the elderly as well as disabled people and people with limited mobility, as it removes the need for physical input and makes a property more accessible.
• Damage prevention – because you are touching the door much less and there is less human contact, the door system will avoid the kind of wear and tear damage that comes with frequent handling.
• Fire safety – commercial buildings and some residential properties may need fire doors to be kept shut. A self-closing door ensures compliance with fire regulations and insurance stipulations. However, you should check with your insurance and building safety authorities to ensure the fire door systems you have installed are adequate.
• Energy management – ensuring that all doors are closed should improve the environmental performance of your home or workplace, this is because closed doors prevent temperature instability, ie. they prevent warmed air escaping and cold air entering. This means that heating systems and air conditioning systems are running more efficiently and using less energy replacing this ‘ambient’ air.
• Hygiene and virus transmission – self-closing doors remove the need for excessive handling of door handles, one of the most common ‘touchpoint’ features. So there is a reduced likelihood of bacteria and viruses being picked up and transmitted.
• Privacy – self-closing doors allow people to control their privacy and hence they are comfortable that they are not on public view for any longer than they wish to be, or where they might not be aware of it.
• Security – automatically shutting a pocket door can help to prevent unauthorised access to certain areas of the home or workplace.
• Reducing noise pollution – the operation of closing a pocket door will immediately reduce noise levels from other areas. This makes for a more comfortable working environment, but may also mean excessive noise levels are under control from an environmental, health and safety point of view.

So a self-closing pocket door can bring huge practical benefits to your home or workplace, while also maintaining the aesthetic appeal of the pocket door. Because the self-closing mechanism is a bracket fitted to the back of the door it cannot be seen, even when retro-fitted after the installation of the pocket door.

The self-close mechanism is easy to install and the closing speed can be adjusted after installation and without removing the door and the jambs. This ensures that the self-closing mechanism can maximise the appeal of the pocket door as well as its practical uses. And because it is compatible with other pocket door accessories, you can start to create a bespoke pocket door system which suits all your everyday needs.