Installing interior doors coupe do it yourself - how to do

Installing a compartment door is a task that is completely solvable for a non-specialist. This article will discuss the types of sliding doors, their advantages and disadvantages and, of course, how to install the interior door of the compartment on their own.

Types of interior doors coupe

Before you think about how to install a compartment door, you must decide what it will be. It depends on the size of the opening and the goal you want to achieve by setting this option. For example, if you need to isolate two rooms from each other, it will be enough to put one or two canvases moving along a partition or in a niche between the main and false walls.

If your goal is internal zoning of a single dwelling, the doors with your own hands can consist of several canvases with movable or stationary side doors. In any case, the principle of mounting one or several webs is the same; only the profile of the guide along which the carriages move on the rollers will differ.

In addition, the "coupe", as well as swing, differ in type of material.

They can be made from:

• solid wood,
• tempered glass (see Glass doors - types and possibilities of use)
• MDF (see MDF laminated doors: is it worth taking)
• laminated chipboard,
• combinations of these materials, etc.

The weight of the door leaf depends on the material from which it is made. And this in turn affects the choice of the sliding mechanism and the number of carriages with rollers in it. If two carriages are enough for a door weighing 30 kg, then with the increase in the mass of the canvas the number of hanging mechanisms also increases.

Features of sliding doors

As a rule, apartment owners decide to install interior compartments with their own hands for the simple reason that they save a lot of space compared to their swinging brothers. But this is not their only advantage.

The advantages also include the following features:

• Opening and closing sashes does not require effortEven a child or a pet can handle it.
• Sliding doors do not slam shut from drafts.
• They can be used to zone room space., if necessary, isolating its part.
• Installing compartment doors is the ideal solution for families with disabled people., moving in a wheelchair, as they have no thresholds and are easy to operate, especially if they are automated.

However, the installation can bring you some inconveniences, including:

• The impossibility of installing a number of large furniture, in the case when the canvas moves along the wall.
• Insufficient soundproofing.
• The need to purchase special locks, the cost of which is significantly higher than that of standard ones.

Materials and tools required for installation

Preliminary measurements

Before buying everything you need for installation, carefully measure the doorway with a conventional tape measure:

• The canvas should be 5-6 centimeters wider and taller than the opening, if it is one.
• If the interior doors of the compartment are planned - the installation of two or more canvases, their overall width is calculated based on whether they will part or go behind each other.

So, with the size decided.

What else is needed for their installation and decoration:

1. Door hardware and fasteners.

When buying ready-made compartment doors, fixing and sliding elements are usually included in the scope of delivery. These are metal guides, rollers, door handles, screws, etc. They can be bought separately in any large store of building and finishing materials.

1. Wooden bar with a section of 50х50 mm.

This element of the structure is necessary if you install the doors with your own hands and fix the rail to the wall. Its length should be equal to double the width of the door leaf. In the absence of a doorway and installation of doors up to the ceiling, the rail can be attached directly to the ceiling.

1. Door frame, dobory and trim.

A box is a frame framing a doorway, to which the curtains of a closed door will adjoin. Holes and trim (see Installing Interior Door Trim) are required for masking fasteners and decorative framing of the opening.

1. Anchors for fastening timber to the wall, as well as additional self-tapping screws, finishing nails.
2. Tools: roulette, level, plumb, screwdriver, pencil, milling machine or chisel.

Preparing to install coupe doors

A little later on how to install the compartment doors, but first you need to talk about the preparatory work. At the stage of roughing the room, only sliding systems themselves can be mounted, if it is planned that the door will “leave” when opening into a niche in the wall.

In all other cases, installation is carried out at the stage of finishing works. Before installation, make sure that the contour of the opening is correct. Its walls should be strictly vertical and parallel to each other. If not, try to fix the opening.

Attention! If the compartment door will be installed on an opening in a plasterboard partition, it is necessary to install a mortgage from a bar above it in the process of its construction.

Installation Instructions

Video: installation of interior doors.

Step-by-step installation instructions should be included with the sliding mechanism. The design of such mechanisms from different manufacturers may differ, although the principle of operation is about the same.

Therefore, we can describe the general installation steps:

1. Place the door leaf vertically to the opening and mark the top line with a pencil on the wall.

   Stepping back from it 7 cm upwards, use a level to draw a horizontal bar.

2. Attach a timber to it and fix it on the wall with anchors so that one half of the timber is above the opening, and the second from the side to which the door will slide.

Important: The timber on the wall must be fixed horizontally, otherwise the door leaf will open or close arbitrarily.

1. Attach a metal guide (rail) to the lower end of the timber with self-tapping screws, pre-drilling the fastening holes 15–20 cm apart. The rail must be located at such a distance from the wall plane so that the door can move freely along it.
2. Get into the guide rollers with carriages, make sure that they move freely and effortlessly in it. Then close the ends of the guide rubber dampers.

Further actions depend on what kind of interior door-compartment do-it-yourself is planned for installation: only with the top rail or with an additional bottom mount.

The second option gives the structure a more stable position, but sooner or later it can lead to damage to the flooring. However, it is preferable.

There are several options for lower fixing the sliding door:

• Installation on the lower end of the door leaf U-shaped profile or two thin, parallel spaced rails.
• Sample slot in the end for the lower roller or guide.
• Installation of a metal rail directly to the floor over the entire width of the opening. This option is practically not used for the installation of interior doors, as it forms the threshold and creates an obstacle.

1. So, the next step is to mount the profile or the device of the groove for the lower leash (roller, flag or knife). The groove is cut by a milling machine or chisel, its depth and width should be slightly larger than the height and width of the lower guide element.
2. Install the brackets on the upper end of the door, through which they will be attached to the rollers.
3. Temporarily secure the door leaf to the carriages, insert the lower leash into the groove and move the door to the extreme open position. Mark the position of the leash on the floor. Then remove the door leaf and use a plumb line to determine the exact position of the lower guide. Attach it to the floor.
4. We came close to the question of how to install interior doors coupe in the prepared structure. To do this, first slide the canvas into the bottom guide with the groove, and then fasten it on the rollers. Use the leveling bolts and level to give the door a vertical position.

Installation completed. It remains to give the whole structure a complete look. Attach a rack to the wall on the side of the door frame to which the door will abut in the closed position.

Install the same rack on the other side, moving the door to its extreme open position. Disguise the fasteners with finishes. The last set of door handles and trim, which are nailed to the racks and the top bar finish nails or glued.

In more detail, the sequence of actions for installing the compartment doors can be studied by watching the video shot by experts.