It's hard to imagine our life without doors. Their purpose is to freely let us through the walls, limiting this opportunity for outsiders if desired: people, animals, smells or bad weather. Present in every home, these guards of comfort and safety, as if in payment for their work, often limit the useful area of \u200b\u200bthe room due to the opening radius, and the wider the opening blocked by the door, the greater these losses. Recently, the principle of “free planning” has been actively used in construction, when the room inside is an empty box, without load-bearing walls and other partitions. This method is beneficial both to the developer (due to the reduction of the deadline for the completion of the object) and the end user, allowing you to equip an apartment or office to your taste and color. At the same time, the question of rational and aesthetic zoning of the premises inevitably arises.
Apartment for people, not for doors
An excellent solution in this case would be the installation of partitions, sliding doors, roller shutters or accordion doors, allowing, in addition to the lightness and functionality of the design, significantlyincrease usable area. In turn, for standard small-sized apartments, in conditions of limited free space, this method of dividing rooms can almost become a panacea. In addition, installing glass sliding doors with a mirrored base will visually expand the space, and thanks to the reflective effect, it will make the room brighter.
How does it work?
In a sliding system (also called compartment doors), a roller door slides along one or two rails fixed along the wall, hiding behind one of its sides when opened. At the same time, both for the installation of a single-leaf sliding door, and in the case of two door leaves, the installation technology remains the same and depends only on the length of the guides and the availability of space for placing door leaves. A widespread option is when the door goes inside the wall, into the so-called door pocket or pencil case. This method, despite the additional complexity of installation, allows you to ensure the integrity of the design of the room and protects the surface of the door from accidental damage.
Advantages over competitors
In addition to saving space, a big plus of slider mechanisms, before the same accordion door, is the ability to use a leaf similar to conventional swing doors, with their huge range (both in appearance and in material). In this aspect, only a rotary door can compete with a slider system, howeverit is much more expensive and more difficult to install, and it also takes up more space when opened.
If the walls, floor and doorway have an ideal geometry, then the process of installing do-it-yourself sliding interior doors, in a certain sense, is even simpler than traditional installation, which is explained by large tolerances when mating surfaces. As mentioned above, two methods of arranging doors are used: along and inside the wall. Let's dwell on each of these options, having de alt with the installation process step by step.
Sliding door installation instructions along the wall
The first step is to free the opening from the old door (if installed), including trim and box. Regardless of the method of installation, the pre-installation phase requires that the walls be perfectly aligned around the doorway.
Preparing the doorway
The opening for the door must have a clear geometry: the side slopes correspond to the vertical, and its upper part must be parallel to the floor and the horizon (use a tape measure, a building level and a plumb line to check). The permissible difference both horizontally and vertically is no more than 5 mm along the entire length of the opening. Then, with the help of self-tapping screws or liquid nails, additional strips are attached, on which door trims are mounted. The resulting size of the opening must be completely, without gaps, overlapped by the hinged door leaf, taking into account the roller mechanism. The height is selected so that, after installation, the distance between the bottom of the door and the floor is 5-6 mm, which is important to improvesoundproofing.
Using the long rule, you need to make sure that the wall (towards the opening of the door) is in the same plane as the opening being blocked.
Placing rails and assembling the slider system
Now we start installing the sliding door mechanism, which is a kit consisting of a metal profile, a pair of roller carriages, a lower guide, movement limiters and fasteners. The choice of a quality sliding system is very important for the smooth and durable operation of the entire door unit.
In the case of moving the door along the wall, as a rule, one (upper) guide rail is used, the length of which should be at least twice the width of the door leaf (and it is better to exceed it by 100-150 mm). Manufacturers offer profiles in 2, 3, 4 and 6 meter lengths, which are often provided with notches that determine the required size of the guide to fit one or another standard door width.
- At a distance of 60 mm, parallel to the upper slope of the opening, brackets for fastening the profile are installed on the wall, the role of which can be performed by a remote gasket, which is a pine beam with a cross section of 50x70 mm, equal in length to the guide profile. It is necessary to fasten the supporting elements securely, as they will hold the entire structure. In order to avoid distortion and jamming of the door, it is extremely important to perfectly maintain the horizontal level of the brackets (remote laying) and their strict parallelism to the floor.
- The guide profile is attached to the bottom with screwstimber at a distance of 5-10 mm from the plane of the wall (platband).
- At the upper end of the door leaf, using self-tapping screws, rollers for sliding doors are installed. They are placed on both sides at a distance of 100-110 mm from the edges to the axis of attachment of the moving part.
- The bottom guide gives the door additional stability and, depending on the configuration, it can look like a C-bracket or a brand. In the second case, using a milling cutter or drill and a chisel, it is necessary to select a groove along the entire length of the lower end of the door, a couple of millimeters greater than the thickness of the guide flag.
Hanging and finishing the door
- After that, the movement limiter and rubber shock absorber are installed in the aluminum guide, which can move freely along the rail and is rigidly fixed after hanging the door leaf.
- Then, if there is free space along the wall, the roller carriages are brought inside the profile, holding the door attached to them in a hanging position. Installation is completed by installing a reciprocal shock absorber and a plug. Before hanging, it is necessary to thoroughly clean the guide from debris and other foreign objects that prevent the free movement of the carriages.
- When space is limited, the profile is attached to the spacer (brackets)immediately together with the door leaf and movement limiters. In this case, for high-quality fixation of the structure, it is better to work with an assistant, achieving perfect observance of the horizon and uniform indentation from the wall along the entire length of the profile (for which it is convenient to use a template made of wooden blocks prepared in advance).
- After that, they check the ease of sliding of the door along the wall, and in case of uneven progress or slight skew, using the adjusting screws located on the roller carriages, they fine-tune the position of the door leaf to the ideal state. To avoid loosening of the fasteners (after adjusting the door), it is recommended to treat the trim screws with adhesive or sealant.
- The next step is to install the lower guide bracket, placing it in the middle of the door stroke so that in any position of the door leaf the guide is always engaged with it. In any case, the attachment point must be outside the doorway (next to the slope towards which the door opens).
- Now you can install handles, a lock (if necessary) and a decorative bar that closes the slider mechanism, which must be removable to allow maintenance and adjustment of roller carriages.
Hide the doors in the wall
For the second installation method (using a "door pocket"), let's get acquainted with the instructions for installing sliding doors into the wall, which differs from the first option only in an additional, albeit very serious, volumeconstruction works. The fastening of the slider mechanism itself is similar to the process above.
First, you need to decide on the principle of forming a "door pocket", and here, depending on a number of factors, there are two options:
- The structure is created on the site of a large doorway, at least twice the width of the installed door (allowing you to place a door leaf and a pencil case in it). In this case, a hollow frame is formed on both sides of the door, imitating a blank wall from the outside.
- An existing wall of sufficient width is used as one side of the "door pocket" design. But this does not at all mean saving materials and simplifying installation, since, in order to create a visual integrity of the wall, the frame will have to be mounted over its entire area both above the door frame and in the direction where there will be no pencil case.
The first way to form a "secret shelter" for installing sliding interior doors with your own hands is preferable, as it allows you to make the frame less massive, indistinguishable in thickness from an ordinary wall, and is most often used in new buildings, especially in conditions of "free planning "".
To break - not to build, or the nuances of expanding the doorway
If you are an adherent of the principle of beauty, which requires sacrifice, you will have to work hard expanding the doorway to the desired width. The main thing is to pay attention to some important aspects:
- Capital is a wall or just a partition. In the first case, you need toadditional measures to strengthen the bearing capacity of the expandable opening (but it is safer to use the option of a pencil case attached to the wall).
- To avoid additional problems, make sure that there are no electrical, plumbing or other services inside the wall to be removed (check the house plan, use a wire detector if necessary).
- Determine if you will need an electrical, network or antenna socket on the wall with a door pocket, if so, then you need to prepare the wiring in advance.
Arrangement of a door case with your own hands
The material for creating the frame can be galvanized building profiles or a wooden beam of the appropriate size, which are attached along the perimeter of the future "door pocket" in two parallel rows. When using an existing wall, one row will be required, but it will have to be mounted over its entire area, minus the doorway. The technology of erecting a false wall frame is similar to the creation of a plasterboard partition and involves the installation of vertical racks with a pitch of 400-600 mm, fastened together by jumpers in order to increase the rigidity of the structure. For not very heavy doors (up to eighty kilograms), if it is necessary to form the upper part of the opening, a timber with a side width of about 50 mm is used, and with a higher load, the frame is made welded (which is hardly justified in a private house or apartment).
The space between the rows should guarantee an unobstructedmovement of the door leaf and, as a rule, is arranged 20 mm wider than the thickness of the door. The depth of the niche should correspond to the width of the sash hidden in it with a small margin (5-10 cm).
Don't forget to provide a place and make a frame to hide the sliding mechanism as well. This will require either increasing the height of the opening or using a shorter door leaf.
Next, mount the slider mechanism and install the sliding door in the same way as above. The only difference is that the guide profile must not be attached to the spacer or bracket, but directly in the middle and along the top of the door opening slope or support bar.
Then they mount the handles and locks, attach the facing material to the frame and finish the walls.
Installation of the finished case for the door
Speci alty stores offer complete solutions for sliding systems, including both a sliding mechanism and a built-in unit. Its installation is almost identical to the installation of a conventional door frame, and comes down to rigid fastening of the finished case to the wall or installing it in the doorway, observing the strict positioning of all components of the kit. As a rule, fastening is carried out using mounting foam, which has a small expansion. Then install guides, door leaf, handles, lock,drywall and the list goes on.
Don't make yourself an idol: what to expect from sliding systems
When installing sliding doors, it is possible to use two sliding systems, which, being located in parallel, support the door leaf from above and below. This method of installation allows to withstand significant loads and is used, as a rule, with a significant weight of the door (more than 80 kg). However, for high-quality sliding in such a system, the ideal symmetry of both guides is required, and the lower rail, in order not to stumble when walking, will have to be sunk into the floor, being on the same level with the floor covering. In addition, the inevitable debris and small objects entering the lower profile can easily damage the rollers and disable the entire opening mechanism.
Sliding door systems require an ideal wall surface and high precision during installation, they are less reliable than classic swing doors, more noisy when opened, and protect the room from foreign smells and sounds worse.
Nevertheless, meticulous installation, the use of high-quality sliding mechanisms, the installation of additional seals at the joints are able for the most part to level these shortcomings, and thanks to high ergonomics and stylish design, sliding door systems have earned recognition and are widely used in around the world.
