Modern Pocket Door Installation Issues - Heads Up
so in the past few years, including yesterday, i have been called to houses to repair pocket doors that have been improperly installed. the issue very often is that the modern doors slip out of the trolley holder that connects them up top. more often than not, this happens because the locking mechanism on the trolly had not been latched by the $25/hr (read effectively $8.00 an hour after benefits) help left to do work way above their pay grade. there may be little a homeowner can do about this if they are busy working or doing other things when the help close the wall or frame (or better still installs the door after the frame). but there is something you can demand:
Look at pocket doors in the old houses. notice how some of the wood work on the old doors is less than perfect and there are gaps around the doors, where they roll out of the wall (in some cases). also notice that they have stop molding on the frame, on both sides of the doors (and maybe the stop has been closed in tightening the gap around the wall). there is a reason for the stop molding : so the frame opening around the doors can be left a little wider; the stop closes the gap and can be moved and removed, as needed, without taking the frame apart. In the case of single doors, which can not be rolled to the center for removal, they can be taken out by removing the stop. to prevent issues such as doors that cannot be removed for service, demand that the frame is built first and the pocket doors installed last and stop molding put around them to hide the gaps around the edge of the closed door (demand it; the customer tells them in this case; that is the way it was done in the old days and that is how it should be done now).
Four times a year we get calls to service doors with the frames built in around them after the door was hung. this includes yesterday. in manhattan a year ago i had to cut a hole in the wall to remount the trolley. Just south of Ft. Green Park some time back i had a call from a woman who needed to close and lock the door but it had fallen off the mount and could not easily be pulled out of the wall and to get the door out or access the mounts i would have had to rip the entire frame out, which was so over built and tightly built around the rolling mechanism that there was no hope of sliding a knife up to the mechanism to slip it on and lock it (i declined the job because i did not have two days to put the mess, which would have included drywall, back together). a restaurant on Mahattan Ave in Greenpoint had this happen and i declined the job because i would have had to open the wall in their busy kitchen (for an other wise 10 minute fix). and yesterday, i got called to bed stuy (thank you john hancock) and the same thing compounded by additional stupidity: not only did they build the frame around the door but the door fell down because they trimmed it at the top, leaving the tenons exposed and the tenons slipped out of the mortises leaving the top rail hung to the to the trollys and the rest of the door on the ground.
The last time i read the installation instructions for johnson pocket door hardware, i do not think they addressed the issue of how close the frame should be to the door and that the door should be installed after the frame, with stop molding. i am considering contacting them to advise them of this, to prevent all of you headaches. but i often wonder, why would i do that if they current stock of “trades” people are unwilling or unable to read directions (and they should be in other languages but i bet johnson is not; stanley maybe).
andriywww1990
in General Discussion 4 years and 4 months ago
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laurenpacker123 | 4 years and 4 months ago
I am the homeowner doorsbythetinkerswagon speaks of that he recently came to the rescue of! I was sure he was going to have to rip out half the wall to remove the door to fix it. Fortunately he was exactly the man for the job and was able to remove the frame, repair the door, and put it back in place perfectly. I know he had to do a lot to make it happen but by looking at it, you could never tell how much was done. I am very grateful and would highly recommend him for anything requiring a real pro who knows how these old houses are truly put together.
andriywww1990 | 4 years and 4 months ago
so johnson hardware wrote me back. they say they tell customers to install the “trim” with screws so the trim and doors can be removed later. I explained to them, this is ok if the “trim” is stop molding but if the “trim” includes the door frame, that is a different animal and most people do not want screws in their casement and and door frames.
i do not think it will help anyway. the people doing the installation are not being supervised and someone is not reading the directions.
andriywww1990 | 4 years and 4 months ago
so i wrote to johnson hardware the other day and told them that it would be good to put a comment in their instructions stating that the frames should be fitted first and the doors put in after with stop in case they must be removed for service later.
hkapstein | 4 years and 4 months ago
Funny you mention it, I just had to deal with this situation. I was able to get it out by removing the mouldings, althought it was still a pain because there was a countertop installed in front of the trim. I got it done, but the moulding was slightly damaged as it couldn’t be pulled off parallel to the nails. Was able to fix it up with wood filler. You would think people would recognize the need to remove the door sometime.