Folding doors: installation features

The main disadvantage of swing interior doors is that their opening requires a place equal to the radius of the circle along which the canvas moves. Maybe in a spacious private house no one attaches any importance to this, but for small apartments, where there is not enough square meters, this is very noticeable: it is impossible to completely remove the doors, but it is extremely uncomfortable with them.

In such a situation, folding doors are perhaps the best alternative. What are their visual and constructive differences, how the folding doors are installed - you will read about this in the review that we have presented. Your attention will also be offered a video on the topic: "Doing it yourself with folding doors", seeing that you realize that self-installation is not a problem.

Types of folding doors

A distinctive feature of folding doors is their sectional structure. Mechanisms for folding doors can rigidly interconnect all sections, but there are also slide systems in which each door moves independently when opening.

• Some versions of the doors are used exclusively as interior (see Interior doors of the accordion - installation by hand), others are also suitable for outdoor installation. Notice that when we mention the word "outdoor", we are not talking about entering a house or apartment, but the doors that are installed on balconies, terraces, and gazebos, which also go outside.

• In this case, folding glass doors not only save space, but also improve the insolation of the premises - and this is a very big plus. Folding systems can be not only all-glass, but also aluminum, plastic, or wooden.
• But since glass unusually decorates any doors, it is almost always, to some extent, present as a filling of canvases. Sometimes it is not even glass, but stained glass, or a mirror. By the way, mirror folding doors are most often installed at the entrance to the dressing room, or mounted on a built-in wardrobe.

In general, there are many options for folding doors. But what are the mechanisms of their opening, you can clearly see, having read the video in this article.

For our part, we will present theoretical information on the most popular types of structures, tell you what the principle of their operation is, the installation technology, and see what their value is today.

Door accordions

If we consider that folding systems can have arbitrarily many canvases, then they often represent not just a door, but a transforming partition 2.5 m high and up to 6 m long. Accordingly, different dimensions may have door sections, the methods of opening of which are often combined.

• For example: the main (castle) sash is made with a swing-out mechanism, and it opens to the right, and all other sections are interconnected according to the principle of an accordion, and are shifted to the left. They are fastened to vertical posts moving on rollers along the guide - this is clearly seen in the photo below.

Such systems are usually installed by specialists of the selling company, and for mounting a door accordion in a standard opening, only a typical instruction from the manufacturer is required, which is always attached to the product.

Budget option: equipment

First of all, consider what kind of accessories for a folding door is present in the kit. Let's say this is a four-section plastic door without glazing.

Then the kit will look something like this:

1. Door panels - 4 pcs.
2. Hinge profile - 5 pcs.
3. Guide (docking) profile - 1 pc.
4. End (docking) profile -1 pc.
5. Side guide profile - 2 pcs.
6. Horizontal rail -1 pc.
7. Ролик - 4 шт.
8. Castle - 1 pc.
9. Plugs - 10 pcs.
10. Fasteners - two types of screws a total of 16 pcs.

The approximate price of this kit is 2800 rubles.

How is it collected

The wider the doorway, the more harmonious it looks like a folding door. Therefore, as part of the preparatory work, the old door along with the box must be dismantled, if possible expanded the opening, then install a new box and trim (see Decorative trim on the door: the right finish).

Note! It is necessary to do all this even before you go to buy a door set, because you need to be guided by the size of the already facing opening when buying.

So:

• Many manufacturers, in installation schemes, leave empty windows in which you can enter your dimensions - it is much easier to fit the product under the opening. Tools will need the most common: drill, cross screwdriver, tape measure, miter box and hacksaw. Start by installing docking profiles.
• They are cut to the size of the opening, minus 4 mm, and set so that this stock is evenly distributed on both sides. First, put the top guide: it needs to be tried on, mark the place of fasteners, and drill holes for them. First, the guide is fixed with only one screw along the edge, as when installing the sections, it is necessary that it move. Similarly, put the bottom guide.
• Now, in order to properly cut the door sections, you need to measure the distance from the guide to the floor surface. You may have to perform a longitudinal cut on the panel adjacent to the lock. The panels of the door leaf are interconnected by means of hinged profiles.

• Then they put the stubs on them, fasten the rollers and insert them into their guides, which are now firmly fixed. Next, the door is folded into an accordion, and by sliding it to the center of the opening, they mount side profiles and a lock (see Installing a lock in an interior door: professional instruction). Similarly, the door that opens on the principle of the book is mounted.

We, of course, told us briefly, based on the simplest constructive version of folding doors. There are more sophisticated models, especially those that have glazing.

One of the schemes for assembling the canvas of such a door, you can see in the picture above. But, we think, and here, thanks to the element-wise drawing, everything is extremely clear to you.

Sliding doors

Opinions about sliding doors, which also have a lot of different modifications, sound very different: from unrestrained praise, to complete rejection. Perhaps there is some truth in both statements, but the truth is, as always, somewhere in the middle. Let us and we will try to find it in the sea of ​​information.

Parallel sliding doors

In the majority of parallel-sliding systems, which are also called telescopic, the weight of the sash is limited, and there can not be more than two hundred kilograms - therefore they put them in not too wide openings. The mechanism of opening such a door has one feature: its leaf first leans back onto the lower support, and then shifts to the side.

• The number of doors in parallel-sliding doors - no more than four, and at least two. A particular convenience of such a system is that you can open and move any of the sections, regardless of whether the others are open. For example, in sliding systems, one leaf is a lock, and if it is not moved, the rest of the canvases cannot be opened.

• And here, as the door you can use any of the four wings. Thanks to modern fittings, it is possible to open and close sections not only with a special handle, but also manually. Such a door usually works in several modes: it moves forward, leans back and moves aside.
• At the same time, there is no need to apply special efforts - and if you consider that the fittings provide a snug fit to the box, this system can boast the highest heat-saving characteristics. Therefore, sliding doors are great for installation on an unglazed balcony, terrace, or the entrance to the gazebo, pavilion or winter garden.

For indoor installation, these doors are not very suitable - we can not say, let us assume that this is a good option for an ordinary small apartment. After all, for the movement of the canvas also requires a place: though not around the circumference, like a swing door, so along the wall. Therefore, parallel-sliding doors set, mainly play the role of transparent walls, and put where there is not worth any furniture.

Double sliding doors

From the fact that the doors of the sliding type used furniture of various types, providing one or another path of movement of the valves when opening, the essence still does not change. In terms of saving space, nothing can compare with the door-accordion, which was described at the beginning of the article. Here it can be entered in almost any opening.

• But when it comes to beauty, the sliding door can compete with any other option on an equal footing. But here, as usual, there is one "but." The best aesthetic effect can be achieved only when the door is installed in the process of finishing or repairing the room.

Note! At the same time it is necessary to solve one, but very important task: you need to figure out how to hide the guide along which the web will move. If you are just starting to plan a newly built house, or a studio room, the easiest way to install a sliding door into a zoned plasterboard partition.

• Due to the fact that this design has a hollow structure, it hides any communications, wiring, lamps, even a split system. Here and for the door rail in it is the place. Many consumers criticize sliding doors for low sound insulation, considering this factor to be their biggest drawback.
• In part, they are right - but you must admit that a classical door with a porch can sink, and therefore close with a bang. Loops may creak in her, she can spontaneously slam from a gust of draft. Simply, as in any other case, the quality of the product can be different, as well as the professionalism of people performing the installation of the partition and the door itself.

Note! Many manufacturers produce so high-quality accessories that the roller moves along the rail almost silently, and the more sounds are absorbed when it is hidden inside the partition.

• To improve the sound insulation of plasterboard partitions, a damper tape should be applied to the backs of the wall profiles, prior to installation, which, by the way, some homegrown craftsmen do not. In addition, the internal cavity of the structure is filled with mineral wool - and this is an excellent sound insulation material.
• In this case, problems with sound depend not on the door itself, but on where and how it is installed. Suppose there is already a partition in the apartment: asbestos-cement, plaster, or brick - it does not matter. Then, in order to hide the guide, you will have to mount a false wall on it.

• Most often, the problem creates the eternal desire of man to save everything. To avoid problems with sound insulation, it should be mounted using the same technology used for partitions. And in order not to wonder why dust accumulates in the internal space of the false walls, the side slopes of the opening need to be closed with additional strips.
• If the sound insulation is not so important for you, you can not hide the guide into the partition, but hide it under the usual cornice for curtains, choosing the right configuration and product length. Some manufacturers, by the way, complete with a door and offer a baguette, exactly corresponding to her color.

How wonderful it looks in the interior, you can see in the photo presented by us above as an example. The only thing that high-quality sliding doors cannot boast is the low price, which is just starting from 29,000 rubles. But what to do: most of us know where there is free cheese ...