Do-it-yourself sliding door installation: the secrets of

The sliding doors got their name thanks to a special opening system - they do not move towards you, but move to the side. What is the mechanism of sliding doors, how much more difficult is their installation and can it be carried out with your own hands?

Types of sliding doors

Design

Despite the existence of many different systems of sliding doors, differing in appearance, material and other characteristics, their design and principle of operation are unchanged. Any sliding system consists of guides, roller mechanisms and door panels.

The roller mechanism is a connecting element moving along a guide and attached to the door leaf.

The number of roller mechanisms, the number of grooves in the guides and the shape of the guides depend on the type of sliding doors, which can be:

• One-, two-, tricuspid (and more)
• Cascading
• Radius
• Door-accordion

Also the design of interior sliding doors includes decorative panels covering the mechanism and door fittings. Sometimes installation of dobor and platbands is required.

Performance material

Если планируется do-it-yourself installation of sliding door, то материал, из которого она сделана, имеет большое значение. От этого зависит выбор направляющих, а также вида и количества роликовых механизмов.

For example, if for installation of a single-floor wooden door, a simple single-groove guide and two carriages with rollers are enough, installing a double-leaf glass door will require more roller mechanisms, since glass webs create a heavy load on the whole structure because of its considerable weight.

In addition, when installing glass sliding doors (see Installing glass doors in residential and public buildings), it is often necessary to install not only the upper, but also the lower guide rails to give them good stability. The principle of attaching the sliding mechanisms to the glass sheet is also different - it is clamped between two plates, the inside of which is equipped with rubber pads.

Installation options

Interior sliding doors are very comfortable and functional, so they can be used to embody a variety of design ideas, not only in small rooms that require space savings, but also in large ones.

Do-it-yourself installation of sliding doors can be done in different ways, depending on what task you want to solve with their help:

• In a confined space, a sliding door solves the problem of space saving, making it possible to practically use the area that a swing door would require to open. In this case, the simplest construction is usually installed - a single-floor or double-door, which covers only the doorway. The guide of such a door is attached to the carrier beam fixed above the opening.

• A very popular option is zoning of living space with the help of sliding doors. Although here we can rather talk about sliding partitions, which in the closed position divide the room into two isolated zones, and in the open position - unite them into a single space. The guide in this case is attached to the ceiling, although there may be options.

• Another option for installing sliding doors is to mount them to a hidden guide located in a specially constructed hollow partition. In this case, the door leafs will hide in the wall cavity and in the open position can be almost invisible. This technique allows the maximum use of the area of ​​the walls on both sides of the door. Whereas, when the door leaf moves along a wall, it should be free from furniture, light sources, decorative elements, etc., that stand close together.

If you have already decided on the design, material and method of installation of a sliding door, you need to remove all dimensions and go for a purchase. It is advisable to buy a complete set - door leaf, guides, mechanisms, accessories and decor. Then you do not have to pick one to the other.

If it was not possible to find a complete sliding door that satisfies you in all respects, then seek the help of specialists to correctly select all the components to each other.

How to install a sliding door

Consider the whole process on the example of the simplest and most common design - single-leaf sliding door. In the case of a large number of canvases, you will simply need to purchase a guide with the right number of grooves so that each canvas moves along its own rail.

Markup

To install the sliding doors with your own hands was correct, it is necessary to take this stage very responsibly.

There are two ways to make markup for installation of the carrier beam:

1. Measure the height of the door with a tape measure. Add to it the size of the gap between the door leaf and the floor (10–15 mm) and the height of the guide with the assembled roller mechanism. The resulting size does not set aside the wall above the opening at two or three points and draw a straight horizontal line through them.
2. Substitute the door leaf to the opening, placing a lining of the required thickness under it, and draw a line on the wall along the upper edge of the door.. Put the height of the sliding mechanisms from the rail upwards.

Attention! To prevent the door from moving arbitrarily in one direction or another, make sure that the marking line is strictly horizontal. Use for this building level.

Installation guide

Depending on the design features, the guide can be mounted in different ways:

• Dowels directly to the wall.
• To the bottom of the wooden beam, fixed on the wall.
• On special brackets.
• To the ceiling.

Regardless of the method of installation, the upper horizontal plane of the guide should be located along the marking line, and the chute should be separated from the wall so that the moving door leaf does not touch its ledges, unevenness or elements of the doorway decoration.

Attention! The length of the guide should be twice the width of the opening plus a few centimeters of a spare stroke.

Installation of sliding mechanisms

After you have fixed the guide, assemble the roller carriages, insert the fixing bolts into them that will connect them with the door leaf, and bring the assembled mechanisms into the guide.

At the upper end of the door leaf, install the brackets, retreating a few millimeters from each side of the edge. The number of brackets should correspond to the number of roller mechanisms. For an ordinary wooden door or a door from MDF, two pieces are enough.

Door leaf installation

Place the door under the rail, lift it up and screw in the carriage mounting bolts. This work is easier to do together. To set the door to a horizontal position, tighten the bolts and check the level.

For fixing the sliding door in a vertical position to the floor at one of the walls of the opening is screwed leash - the lower guide in the form of a roller or knife. It is inserted into the groove in the lower end of the door leaf and does not allow the door to move aside when moving.

For glass doors, the lower guides have a different shape.

Finish

The final stage of the installation of the sliding door is the installation of door fittings, decorative strips, masking the sliding mechanism, the design of slopes (see interior door decor).