Pocket door installation

Installing the pocket frame

The item is priced per piece, meaning one frame for one door leaf. It typically includes:

• checking the structural opening, the lintel and the level of the future finished floor,
• assembling the frame according to the manufacturer's instructions if it is supplied in parts,
• setting the frame into the opening, aligning it plumb and level and fixing it to the wall, the floor and the ceiling or lintel,
• checking that the metal pocket is not twisted and that the track is level,
• in a plasterboard wall, connecting it to the partition studs, in a masonry wall, preparing it for plastering.

Hanging the door in the frame

The second item is done only after plastering, painting and flooring. It includes fitting the trolleys to the leaf, hanging the leaf on the track, adjusting the height and the stops, installing the floor guide and, where needed, the architraves and the flush pull. Finally the door is tested along its full travel.

Neither item includes the frame itself, the door leaf, the hardware, the architraves, building or boarding the partition, plastering, painting or flooring. These are handled separately. If the frame goes into an existing wall, cutting the opening and fitting a new lintel are also separate jobs.

When people say sliding door, they mean one of two different solutions. The main difference is when the decision has to be made.

Pocket door

The leaf slides into a pocket inside the wall. When it is open, nothing but the edge of the door is visible. The result is clean and leaves the wall surface free, but it has to be planned before plastering. The wall section holding the pocket is roughly twice the width of the door, and nothing can be fixed firmly to that area and no cables can run through it.

Wall-mounted sliding door

The track is fixed above the opening and the leaf slides in front of the wall. It can be added to a finished flat without any demolition. The drawbacks are that the wall next to the opening must stay clear, the leaf is always visible, and noise and light pass around its edges more than with a pocket door. This option suits rooms where a looser seal does not matter, for example a wardrobe or a study.

If the partition has not been built yet or is being taken down anyway, a pocket frame makes more sense. If the flat is finished and you do not want to touch the walls, a wall-mounted door is simpler.

The pocket frame is installed during the rough construction stage, when partitions are being built. In a plasterboard partition it goes between the studs before the boards are fixed. In a masonry wall it is set into a prepared opening and the wall is then built up around it or plastered straight away. The leaf comes at the very end, after painting and after the floor has been laid.

Before the installer arrives, the following should be clear and ready:

• Door size and frame type. Manufacturers supply frames for a specific leaf width and height and for a specific wall type. A frame for plasterboard is not suitable for a masonry wall and vice versa.
• Thickness of the finished wall. Common frames are designed for a finished wall of around 100 or 125 mm including plaster or boards. The manufacturer's data sheet states which finished thickness each frame is made for.
• Structural opening. It is roughly twice the leaf width plus around 15 to 20 cm, and the leaf height plus a margin for the track, often around 8 to 10 cm. Always take the exact size from the manufacturer's table for the specific frame.
• Lintel above the opening. The frame is not load-bearing and must not carry the masonry above it. Manufacturers stress this in their instructions.
• Finished floor level. The installer needs to know where the finished floor will be, usually from a datum line marked on the wall. The frame height is set from it.
• Electrics outside the pocket. Switches, sockets and cables must be planned outside the area the leaf slides into.

Checking the opening and the floor level

The installer measures the width and height of the opening and checks the lintel and the plumb of the reveals. The finished floor level is transferred onto the wall. In older flats it often turns out that the floor is not level across the room. In that case the frame height is set according to the future floor, not according to the screed currently underfoot.

Assembling and setting the frame

The frame is unpacked, checked and assembled according to the instructions. Inside the pocket there is usually a factory spacer or brace that keeps it in shape during plastering. The frame is placed in the opening, packed with wedges and aligned. The track must be level, otherwise the leaf will roll open or closed by itself. The uprights must be plumb in both directions.

Fixing

In a masonry wall the frame is fixed to the reveals and the floor with the anchors or straps supplied with it. In a plasterboard wall it is connected to the track and stud profiles of the partition, and the area above the opening is reinforced according to the board manufacturer's system. The fixings must not twist the frame. The installer checks with a spirit level again after every step.

Plastering or boarding

A masonry frame has mesh on its sides that holds the plaster. The joint between frame and masonry is reinforced with plaster mesh so that the plaster does not crack at this point. In plasterboard, the boards are screwed only where the frame manufacturer allows it, and only with screws of the specified length. A longer screw goes through into the pocket and the leaf will scrape against it.

Hanging the leaf

After painting and flooring, the trolleys are fitted to the leaf, the leaf is hung on the track and its height is adjusted. The floor guide that keeps the leaf on its axis is installed at the bottom. The stops are set so that the leaf does not vanish completely into the wall when opened and closes neatly against the jamb. If the system has a soft-close damper, its force is adjusted. Finally the architraves and the flush pull on the leaf edge are fitted.

Setting the frame into the wall is a job for an experienced crew, because mistakes only show after plastering. Hanging a leaf in an already finished frame can be managed by a handy person working alone, as long as the manufacturer's instructions are at hand. The steps:

1. Check that the pocket is clean and that there is no plaster or dust in the track.
2. Mark and pre-drill the holes for the trolleys on the top edge of the leaf using the manufacturer's template.
3. Screw on the trolley brackets and make sure they face the right way.
4. Insert the trolleys into the track and hang the leaf on them.
5. Adjust the leaf height so that an even gap remains above the floor.
6. Install the floor guide and test the leaf along its full travel.
7. Set the stops and, if fitted, the soft-close damper.
8. Fit the architraves and the pulls, which must not touch the wall when the leaf slides in.

If the leaf rubs against the side of the pocket while moving, pushing harder will not help. Find the cause first, most often a screw coming through from the wall or a trolley set at an angle.

Frame for a masonry wall

It has a metal structure with mesh for plaster. It suits brick and aerated concrete partitions, as well as renovations where part of a wall is taken down and the frame is built into it. Plaster is applied directly onto the frame.

Frame for plasterboard

It is designed to connect to metal studs and to be boarded over. Manufacturers supply it with side battens or marked fixing points. For timber frame houses, choose a frame that fits the build-up of their walls.

Single, double and telescopic

The most common setup is one leaf in one frame. For wide openings into a living room, two frames are set opposite each other for two leaves. Where there is not enough space on one side, there are frames that take two leaves sliding side by side in the same direction.

With or without architraves

A standard frame is finished with architraves that cover the edge of the plaster. Frameless or flush versions have an aluminium profile that is plastered in flush with the wall, so the door looks like a cut-out in the wall. This version demands more precision, because nothing hides an uneven plaster finish.

Door leaves

Timber, veneered, lacquered and glass leaves can all be hung in a pocket frame. Manufacturers state the range of leaf thickness, for example 40 to 50 mm, and the maximum weight the trolleys can carry. For heavy solid leaves or heights above the standard, a frame with a stronger track is chosen.

• Frame set to the current floor. It happens that after the floor is laid, the leaf no longer fits or a large gap remains above it.
• Missing lintel. The masonry presses on the frame, the pocket bends and the leaf starts to rub.
• Spacer removed before plastering. The pressure of the plaster or the boards squeezes the pocket and the door no longer fits inside.
• Long screws in plasterboard. A screw sticks into the pocket and scratches the leaf every time it opens.
• Electrics in the pocket area. A chase for a switch is cut exactly where the pocket is, or the back box cannot be fitted.
• Frame in the wrong wall type. A plasterboard frame set into a masonry partition or the other way round. The plaster does not hold or the boards have nothing to be screwed to.
• Hanging things on the pocket wall. A shelf or picture fixed with a long plug damages both the frame and the leaf.
• Hanging the leaf before the work is finished. Sanding dust and moisture from plastering damage both the leaf and the track.
• Unrealistic expectations about noise. A sliding door does not seal like a hinged door with a rebated frame and a seal. For a bedroom or an office where quiet matters, this needs to be considered in advance.

Setting a pocket frame into a non-load-bearing partition is a routine fit-out job. Check with your local authority whether any permit or notification is needed for your specific case. If an opening in a load-bearing wall has to be cut or enlarged, a structural engineer should assess it first, and in a block of flats the owners' association or building management usually has to agree to any work on load-bearing walls. If switches or sockets next to the frame have to be moved, the electrical work should be carried out by a qualified electrician as required by local rules.

A pocket frame is checked twice. The first time before plastering or boarding, the second time after the leaf has been hung.

Before plastering

• the frame is level and plumb, which you can check with a long spirit level,
• there is a lintel above the opening and the frame carries no load,
• the spacer or brace is in the frame and stays there until the plaster is finished,
• the height matches the future finished floor,
• no back boxes or cables are planned in the pocket area.

After the leaf is hung

• the leaf runs easily along its whole travel and does not roll open or shut by itself,
• the gap above the floor is even,
• when closed, the leaf meets the jamb without a large gap,
• when open, a small part of the leaf remains outside so it can be gripped,
• it does not rub anywhere and there is no scraping sound while it moves,
• the plaster at the joint between frame and masonry has not cracked,
• you have the instructions and the frame details so that the track can be removed and adjusted later.

Most good quality frames have a track that can be removed without opening the wall. That matters ten years later, when the trolleys wear out. It is therefore worth knowing which brand and type of frame is in your wall.

In the NUMIQ price list both parts are priced per piece, meaning one frame and one door leaf. The price covers labour including minor consumables, without the frame itself, the leaf and the hardware. Current prices for both items can be found in the price list under carpentry work. Prices vary by region and city.

The frame itself varies in price by manufacturer, size, wall type and whether it is a version with architraves or a flush one. Flush frames and frames for two leaves tend to cost more. Check the exact amount with the supplier for your door size.

The labour price is affected most by:

• whether it is a new build with a prepared opening or a renovation involving demolition,
• the wall and frame type, a flush frame being more labour-intensive,
• the number of leaves and their weight,
• a non-standard height or width,
• whether a soft-close damper and architraves are fitted as well.

Related work can be priced separately, for example demolition of brick partitions, a plasterboard partition or the classic fitting of door frames and hanging of doors.