How To Install Bifold Doors In A Closet

It seems every house built since the 1950s has closets with sliding doors. Space-saving, sure, but not the best-looking—and certainly not very revealing when you lot're trying to come across (or reach) the goods in the middle of the cupboard where the doors overlap each other.

Heavy bifold doors with a sturdy track, on the other hand, move effortlessly away from the middle of the closet to give you a full moving picture of the contents inside. And considering bifolds come up in a wide array of profiles, they bring character to a evidently opening. Replacing those hollow-core builder's specials with a pair of weighty solid folders isn't a huge deal; the whole assembly and installation will take y'all a mere Sabbatum afternoon. Follow our stride-by-step guide to DIY bifold doors and yous'll be rewarded with a wide-bending view when information technology's time to option out the day's duds.

Step ane

Bifold Doors Overview

Bifold doors are much like whatever doors, but continued into pairs with hinges and hung on a track. What makes them look skilful and work well are a solid, heavy construction and sturdy and carefully adjusted hardware.

The heft of the doors is what keeps them from shuddering when you open them. And then it's best to wait for solid–core or solid–wood doors, which will feel more substantial than hollow–core doors. (Solid doors are also easier to trim if any part of your door opening is out of square.) And so, in order to handle the weight of these heavier doors, you'll need a track that includes a wheeled mechanism, which allows the doors to glide smoothly rather than shimmy forth the rail.

The nigh difficult—and sometimes most frustrating—part of the installation is attaching and adjusting all the hardware. The rail, the pivots, the hinges all have to be assembled only so, and it's worth taking the time to double–bank check every measurement and position to be sure each piece is in the correct place and facing the correct style.

Stride ii

Mount the hinges

Stop or pigment the doors before starting. Label the doors to show the order they'll be installed and which sides face out.

Take a jamb side door and mark its inner edge eleven inches from the lesser, 7 inches from the top, and centered between the two. Place the door on border with the marks facing upwardly.

Have the lower half of a hinge and align its bottom with the bottom mark, its knuckles facing dorsum and affluent to the edge. Use a self?centering bit to drill pilot holes through the hinge holes. Screw on the swivel plate. Attach the tiptop and middle hinges, on their marks.

Place the leading (inner) door on edge, facing back-to-back with the starting time door. Align the doors evenly confronting a square, then put the hinges together. Screw the hinge plates to the leading door. Echo on the 2nd pair of doors.

Step 3

Attach the track hardware

Fasten the pivot plates (the pins that fit into the track and the floor subclass), and the locking arms (the hooks that slide along the rails) to the top and bottom of each set of doors. The pin plates proceed the tops and bottoms of the jamb–side doors, and the locking arm on the tops of the leading doors.

Each kit requires its hardware to be uniquely positioned, and then check the diagrams that come with yours for exact measurements and placements. These volition tell you, for case, non merely how far a pivot plate should be from the door edges around information technology but likewise where its pin should exist in relation to the door's edges. Adhering to all the given dimensions ensures that no piece goes on backward.

Step iv

Install the track

Use a hacksaw to cut the track to length to fit the cupboard opening. Slide the hanging hardware into the track—the pocket-size stops in the center, and so effectually them the rail hangers with wheels, and finally the pin socket on the outside.

Attach the track to the door header with the screws provided. Position the track one inch in from the front border of the header. This volition requite you lot enough room to hide the track with trim without limiting the door activity.

Tip:Don't tighten the hardware onto the runway. It will be easier to hang the doors later if the pieces are loose.

Step five

Position the floor bracket

Use the measurements supplied by the manufacturer to position the floor bracket next to the door jamb.

Hang a plumb bob from the center of the track higher up the floor bracket to align the pin hole in the bracket front to back. This will ensure that the doors are plumb when installed. Outline the bracket in pencil to marker its exact location.

Spiral the subclass in identify, then remove the screws and set the bracket and screws aside.

Step 6

Hang the doors

Bring the doors to the track and elevator the jamb side to claw the pin of the elevation pin plate into the pin socket. Make sure the pivot is all the way in, so button the lever on the side of the socket to lock it in identify.

Slot the pin from the runway hanger into the locking arm on the leading door. Twist the arm to lock it into place. With the doors closed, swing them forward enough to catch the flooring bracket in the bottom pivot pin.

Step 7

Attach the floor bracket

Swing the doors back into place and align the floor subclass with the pencil marks. Utilize a flexible bit extender to spiral down the bracket.

Hang the other set of doors. Shut both sets and adjust them along the track to even up the reveal around them. And then, using the wrench provided with the hardware, tighten the pivot sockets on the ends of the rails and the small stops in the center.

Tip: Ask a helper to requite you a hand in lifting and holding the doors, which can be unwieldy.

Step 8

Adhere the door aligner

From inside the closet and with the doors closed, mount the door aligners betwixt the 2 leading doors, 6 inches upwardly from the floor. The aligners catch when the doors are closed, keeping the door faces flush with each other.

From outside the closet, cheque the alignment. Conform the track hardware as necessary to keep the reveal effectually the doors even.

Step 9

Install the door pulls

For apartment doors, measure 36 inches from the flooring on each leading door. Then mark the center, side-to-side, at that height. For paneled doors, notice the center of the middle rail instead. Hold a straightedge diagonally from corner to corner on the rail, describe a line in the middle, then switch to the other diagonal and cantankerous the line. The 10 marks the rail'southward center.

Drill iii/xvi?inch holes at each marker and screw on door pulls.

Cut a piece of 1x2 stock the width of the closet opening to conceal the track. Prime number the trim and permit it dry. Use a ane/xvi?inch chip to drill pilot holes through the underside of the trim into the header. Spiral the trim to the header with 2½?inch trim screws. Fill up the screw holes, so paint the trim to friction match the casing.

Source: https://www.thisoldhouse.com/doors/21016678/how-to-install-bifold-doors

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