What should you consider before buying a pocket door kit?

Pocket doors are a popular feature of many modern homes and businesses, and have developed from a simple design concept which first emerged in the Victorian era. Today, they represent an innovative solution to opening up space and providing flexible areas within a property, so it is no surprise that they are increasingly seen as a smart design feature. Choosing and installing a pocket door system is not a difficult process, but there are a few things to consider, mainly based around what you need the pocket door to do, the type of finish that you want and the size restrictions of your property.

In this guide we will go through the various considerations you need to make before taking the plunge and choosing your pocket door system.

What type of property is it? 

This will have a major bearing on the process you use for installing your pocket door. Most modern buildings have stud walls, either timber or metal. It is quite easy to install a pocket door frame within a stud wall construction, and in a new-build construction this is even easier. But older properties may have solid walls, using either brick or stone, which presents some problems. In this case you may need to construct a ‘false’ stud wall adjacent to the solid wall. It is also worth considering that in older properties your walls may not be straight, which poses problems in terms of whether a pocket door can be accommodated and can it run smoothly?

What type of project are you preparing for?

Another important question is what type of project the pocket door is for. If you are renovating an existing home, for example, are you working with load-bearing walls? You need to be very careful creating the wall pocket cavity in existing walls, so get professional advice on any structural work you may need to do. This should also include whether there are electrical wires or plumbing pipework in an existing wall, and will they cause an obstruction or a safety issue? Creating new rooms and dividing existing rooms is also a popular use for pocket doors, but be mindful of building regulations in terms of room size. There is a legal requirement for how small a bedroom can be, for example. You also need to consider practical issues such as whether people can pass easily from one room to another, and whether there is sufficient natural light in these newly created rooms.

Do you have enough wall space?

Perhaps the most fundamental issue when considering a pocket door installation, is whether you have enough wall space. In simple terms, you need roughly twice the width of the door itself in wall space, as the entire pocket door needs to be accommodated in the wall pocket when it is fully open, in addition to the wall space needed for the door. Of course, if you have double doors you need another door’s width either side of the doors. Regardless of the type of door you are considering, you also need to allow a few inches either side of the door to accommodate the steel framework and to allow the door free and unobstructed movement. So before you do anything else you need to measure all this out carefully.

Do you have the right wall thickness?

Most internal walls are now stud walls, which are great for installing a pocket door, but there are still things to think about, such as whether the thickness of the cavity space is sufficient to accommodate the pocket door frame. You need to physically check and measure this space. Metal stud walls are usually more consistent and reliable in terms of measurements, while timber stud walls may show some variation in how lengths have been cut or finished. At the Pocket Door Shop we offer a wide range of pocket thicknesses for our frames, ranging from 70mm to 100mm. These are designed to suit the common stud sizes found in modern UK construction, so it should be relatively easy to find the pocket door frame you need, but remember to allow for plasterboard also. This needs to be attached either side of the pocket and stud to finish off the wall.  

What aesthetic style do you want?

Pocket doors are flexible in the sense that they can work in any kind of home, but different pocket doors do work with different kinds of interior design. Classic pocket doors have traditional architrave and hence work best in more traditional homes, while flush pocket doors are flawless and sleek, and work better in contemporary spaces where minimalism is the key.

What accessories do you need?

You might think pocket door accessories are an afterthought, but they do play into early considerations about practical use of a pocket door. Features such as soft-close/anti-slam, touch latch, self-close and double-door co-ordination are important elements of an overall pocket door design and play a big part in how practical and feasible a pocket door will be, particularly if a user has accessibility or mobility issues. So accessories can be integral to whether you go ahead with a pocket door installation and need to be considered at an early stage.

As you can see, there are lots of considerations when choosing pocket door systems, so bear all this in mind as you browse our range at Pocket Door Shop.