Popularity sliding doors due to numerous factors. Their installation can be carried out either by specialized companies or independently. The first method is more reliable. This is the simplest option that many residents of our country resort to. However, if you study the rules for installing sliding doors, you can do all the work yourself. There's nothing complicated about it. How to install a sliding interior door yourself will be discussed further.
An interior sliding door looks very impressive and at the same time significantly saves space, which is very important for small rooms.
What will you get as a result?
- Space saving. There is no need to waste useful space on closing and opening the door, which can be observed in the case of swing structure. It can be used for some additional purposes.
- The ability to easily open the doors without putting any effort into it.
- They can easily be left ajar. No wind flow can close them spontaneously.
- They are easily amenable to automatic regulation, that is, you can automate the control system without any problems.
It also carries negative aspects that you will have to put up with:
- The low degree of thermal and sound insulation limits their use. They cannot be used as entrance structures and those installed between the corridor and the bathroom.
- There is no possibility of installing standard locks. Here are used special options, which cost much more than ordinary ones.
The sliding interior door should not encounter any obstacles in its path. It should open easily, because this allows you to reduce the process to minimal effort. There should not be any switches or sockets installed on the wall. They can be a big problem when opening an interior sliding door.
Now we can talk directly about installation, but before that you should think about purchasing all necessary tools and materials.
Tools and materials
Installing sliding interior doors involves purchasing the following:
- pencil;
- door leaf;
- guide bar;
- wooden beam;
- self-tapping screws;
- screwdriver;
- carriages with rollers;
- rubber shock absorbers;
- staples;
- decorative casing;
- measuring tool.
This is quite enough to install sliding interior doors yourself.
Self-installation instructions
To begin with, you should place the door leaf against the wall where the interior door is supposed to be installed. A mark should be made on the wall that will indicate the height of the future structure. If the floor is uneven, then the same operation must be done on the opening.
The next step will require a pencil and a ruler. At a distance of 70 mm from the line that was drawn earlier, another one should be marked. This is where the guide strip will be installed. At the same time, do not forget about additional checking of horizontalness using a building level. This tool should always be at hand during construction and repair work.
Now you can proceed to fastening the beam at the very place where the line was previously drawn. This refers to the top bar under the guide. The length of the bar should be 2 times the width of the opening. It must be mounted in a strictly horizontal position. In this case, self-tapping screws must be used. they must be long enough for the fastening to be of really high quality. The distance between them is selected individually in each specific case. The most important thing is that the timber sits perfectly in its rightful place.
Now you can proceed to installing the guide bar. It is attached from the lower end of the beam, which was screwed earlier. It is worth determining the location of the mounting hole. To do this, a length equal to half is given door leaf. Approximately 3-5 mm is added to this value, and then fastened using a self-tapping screw. To begin with, it should be loose. Next, the same measurements are taken, and fastening is made on the opposite side. Before you finally install it on the screws, you must check that there is sufficient distance between the door leaf and the wall that will allow it to move easily.
Next you can move on to the carriages. First you need to collect them and test their progress. They are assembled quite easily using a bolted connection. Then they need to be inserted into the guide bar to ensure smooth movement. There is no need to lubricate the bar.
Now it's time for the travel limiters. They are installed with rubber shock absorbers inside.
At the bottom door leaf It is imperative to make a groove. To do this, an indentation of 15 mm is made from the 2 edges of the door leaf. Next, 2 holes are drilled in the middle. This can be done with a drill or with a regular screwdriver. Then a groove of a certain depth is made in the middle of the sash. It is necessary so that the interior door can easily move along the lower strip, made like a knife. You can make a groove using hand router or Bulgarians. However, it is not always possible to achieve high-quality hole making at home. In this regard, many people prefer not to cut anything, but simply use 2 slats, connecting them into a single whole. They will form a groove.
The carriage mounts are mounted on the wall. They must be mounted in such a way that the nuts face inward, that is, towards the wall.
Now you can move on to hanging the door leaf itself. For this, the efforts of one person will not be enough. It's better to invite an assistant. First you need to aim correctly. The right carriage bolt connects to the cutout on the right bracket. Next, the brackets on the edges of the carriages are secured using a bolted connection. There is no need to tighten them all the way. Next, while holding the door, you need to place bottom part so that it coincides with the cutout of the door leaf and the guide.
Next, you need to determine the distance that will determine the location of the door leaf relative to the opening. Here you should bend the canvas from below. Then you need to remove it, and then attach the lower guide, made in the form of a knife. It will be easier to select the distance if the mounting holes for the knives are oval. This will help to correctly orient the door in space.
The carriage bolts are inserted into the target.
However, they do not curl completely. When a gap of approximately 3-5 mm is reached, the bolts can be finally secured using nuts. In this case, it is very important to hold the lower part of the fastener in order to obtain a truly high-quality connection. If the floor in the place where the installation is taking place is uneven, then it is necessary to adjust the position of the canvas. Otherwise, unpleasant distortions in the structure may occur, which will be very problematic to eliminate.
Closing and summing up
The final stage of work associated with the installation of sliding interior doors will be installation decorative casing. In this case, the distance from its lower edge to the door leaf must be at least 5 mm. Its design should be such that, if necessary, it can be removed without any problems.
Access to the carriages must always be open. It needs to be adjusted to the overall interior of the room. To do this, the casing is painted or wallpapered.
Now we can state the fact that the installation process is almost complete. All that remains is to install the handles on the door, and you can safely use it.
Sliding door systems occupy a special place in the design of premises. Their functions combine several advantages - convenience, efficiency and originality. The installation of such doors differs significantly from the installation of conventional swing models. You can get acquainted with the principles and features of installing sliding systems by reading the section - installing sliding interior doors with your own hands: assembly video for non-professionals. 
Do-it-yourself single-leaf sliding door installation
Types of sliding doors and their equipment
Designers do not skimp on ideas, developing new models of sliding interior systems. They may vary in the following ways:
Double sliding doors made of translucent glass between the kitchen and living room
Sliding doors, the top guide of which is attached to the ceiling, visually increase the height of the room. Designs that do not involve a bottom rail will maintain the unity of the floor covering of the entire room. 
In the open position, the cassette sliding door leaf is located in a niche inside the wall
When purchasing sliding interior systems for DIY installation, make sure that standard equipment is available. It includes:
Double sliding doors with double row of top rails
The model of roller mechanisms and their number depend on the weight of the door leaf. If you purchase a door without a set of fittings, ask what its weight is.
DIY tools for installing sliding doors
To install sliding interior doors with your own hands, there is no need to have a special tool. For DIY installation you will need the usual “standby” kit:
White wooden sliding doors with glass inserts
As for accessories, you can stock up on a number of wooden wedges and a square beam measuring 50 or 40 (mm) for attaching the guides.
Installing sliding interior doors with your own hands: video tutorial for non-professionals
As can be seen from the video, even a non-professional can install a sliding interior door with his own hands. As soon as desired design The door has been selected and the appropriate components have been purchased, installation can begin. 
Sliding doors as an element of space zoning in the interior
The most popular models for do-it-yourself installation are sliding interior single-leaf doors. The assembly and fastening of such doors is relatively simple, and at the same time they have general features installation with other types of sliding doors:
Step 1: taking measurements of the doorway
Step 2: Assembly door design and pseudo-box
When you decide to install a door model that moves along the wall, plan the arrangement of furniture and accessories so that they are not in the area of the door movement. 
Schematic representation of the movement of a sliding door along a wall
Step 3: installing the pseudo-box in the opening, aligning it vertically and horizontally
Step 4: Attaching the Top Rail
Step 5: attaching staples to the upper end of the door leaf
Don't skimp on accessories! When choosing a sliding mechanism for an interior door, make a choice in favor of quality products. This determines how softly, silently and how long the mechanism will function. 
Step 6: Installing the Carriages with Rollers in the Top Rail
Step 7: Adjusting the Position of the Roller Carriages
Step 8: Attaching the Bottom Guide Rail
- remains with the help decorative strip hide the beam with the guide rail, attach platbands and plugs at the fastening points.
Sliding systems with a sliding door inside the wall. Do-it-yourself installation specifics
For interior sliding systems, the doors of which are “hidden” in the wall, the installation technology is somewhat different. This does not apply to the basic principles of assembly and fastening sliding mechanism, but rather calculations and preparatory work for the installation of false walls. The door will be rolled back into the niche of this wall or a cassette will be installed (if you purchased a door with a cassette block):
Step 1: arranging the frame for the double wall partition
Step 2: designing a space inside the wall for the sliding door to move
Step 3: covering the false wall with plasterboard and finishing
When determining the installation location of the limiter on the top rail inside the cassette, do not forget to take into account the thickness of the decorative trim that will frame the opening. 
Schematic illustration of the location of the door leaf inside the wall partition
Step 4: Sliding door sliding inside the wall
Installing sliding doors with your own hands is a process that does not require professional skills or effort. Enough to have minimum required tools and feel free to begin installation yourself. Accurate measurements, following the recommendations - and your room will be transformed by a functional and stylish sliding door. Besides, self-installation will “balance” the costs of purchasing structures that are more expensive in price than swing analogues.
In an effort to make your home more comfortable and cozy, you often come up with the idea of replacing conventional swing doors with sliding doors (they are also called sliding, sliding, hanging). The good news is that you can install sliding doors yourself without any problems. The bad thing is that a normal mechanism costs about the same as a high-quality blade. What captivates them is the fact that open state they hardly “eat up” space. They either hide in the wall (a better, but more difficult to implement option), or move along it.
All this is true, but there is a significant drawback - a very low degree of sound insulation, especially in the sliding door version. When the canvas simply covers the opening. When installed in a pencil case (in the wall), the situation is a little better, but the degree of sound insulation of a swing door cannot be achieved even with this installation method. If all this doesn’t scare you, you can start studying the systems, selecting them, and then installing them.
Sliding door systems
There are two types of mechanisms: suspended and rail. Neither is perfect. Briefly about their advantages and disadvantages below.
Top rail suspension system
The suspension mechanism is a supporting beam to which is attached a guide in the shape of the letter “P” with “legs” bent inward. The rollers to which the door leaf is attached move along this guide. In technical terms, it is a hanging door on a top rail.
When installing such a door, the floor under the door remains smooth, only on the right and/or left in doorway the lower roller is installed. It slides along a groove made in the lower end of the blade. It is necessary so that when moving it does not deviate vertically. This design is the easiest to install. Installation is very simple and consists of several steps:
That's it. Doors on rollers are installed. But this system, in the form shown in the photo, has very low noise insulation characteristics. They are practically zero: the passage is simply blocked.
Rail sliding doors
This type of door has two rails: top and bottom. Rollers are also installed at the top and bottom. Thanks to this design, the system has a high degree of rigidity: it can be shaken without causing much damage.
The disadvantage of having rails in the floor is known: they are difficult to clean. Debris and dust constantly get into the grooves, so you have to keep them clean. This type of door is most often used in cabinets. They are used as interior doors if there are active children in the family. Then safety is more important than difficulties with cleaning.
Mounting options
Regardless of the sliding door system, installation methods can be:
The simplest installation option is sliding doors. They can be installed independently, not only at the repair stage, but also after it. It is only important that the opening is smooth and the wall has a normal bearing capacity. The disadvantage of such a system is that you cannot place anything close to the wall in the place where the door rolls back. There is one more thing: very low sound insulation. This is easy to explain: if you look from the end, there is a gap of several millimeters on the sides. It is necessary so that the canvas does not “shuffle” along the wall. And all sounds penetrate perfectly through it, becoming only a little quieter.
Cassette doors are good because when open, the door leaf is located in a niche in the wall and does not interfere. The second advantage is that seals can be installed around the perimeter of the opening, which provide much higher sound insulation performance. The disadvantage of installing a sliding door in a niche is that it can only be done at the renovation stage. The second drawback: to make a pencil case for sliding doors, they usually install a false wall, and this means stolen centimeters of space.
Cascade doors are one of the types of sliding doors. It simply has a larger number of guides: according to the number of movable door leaves. Installation is perhaps the most difficult: there are many parts and high installation accuracy is required. The systems belong to the elite category, and they rarely save on installation: repairs will cost more.
Features and installation procedure
You can install sliding doors yourself even without much experience. It is quite possible to do without installers. It will take a little time, and also installation instructions. We will try to give detailed description process with photo and video materials.
Self-installation of sliding interior sliding doors
Systems may vary slightly, but general rules remain the same. There are several requirements that must be met before installation:
- The opening must be level, otherwise you will have to take a canvas that covers all deviations with a margin.
- The load-bearing capacity of the sides of the doorway should be high, as should the wall above it.
- The opening must already be finished: plastered and painted, covered with wallpaper or decorated with decorative panels.
Next we proceed to assembly. First you can attach the rollers. Different manufacturers have their own recommendations. Some recommend retreating 1/6 of the width of the door leaf from the edge, in other systems they are attached immediately from the edge, and the indentation is provided mounting plates. This is the system we install: in it, roller platforms are installed immediately from the corner.
Marking the installation location of the rollers
We center them, measuring so that the distances are the same. Having positioned the plate, use a pencil or marker to mark the locations for the fasteners. Drill holes in the marked places. The diameter of the drill is 1 mm less than the diameter of the screw.
We set the plates and screw in the screws. The length of the fastener depends on the weight of the canvas, but not less than 70 mm. We twist them exactly perpendicularly, otherwise unnecessary stress will arise.
Installation of rollers
Supports for the rollers are inserted into the installed plates. They are fixed with a lid on the side surface. Next, roller platforms are screwed onto the threaded pins.
It is also convenient to install handles and locks before hanging. They need special, mortise ones. If you bought ready set, the required holes are available. If you have used a regular canvas, you will have to trace the outline with a pencil and remove the excess with a chisel. After the handle or lock fits into the recess, the attachment points are marked, holes are drilled for them and the fittings are installed.
Most convenient way— hang the sliding doors on a dry wooden beam. Its cross-section is less than 50*70 mm, its length is twice the width of the door leaf + 5 cm. We cut the guide to the same length.
Having aligned the guide along the beam, it is attached to the beam with self-tapping screws no less than 8 cm long. The number of fasteners is at least three, departing 10 cm from the edges and in the middle (more often is possible, less often - not).
Now you can measure at what height to mount the timber. A guide with a beam is “rolled” onto doors with installed rollers. This way you can accurately note how tall the doors are. We drill at least four holes in the side edge of the beam for mounting to the wall.
The guide with the beam “rolls” onto the rollers on the door
Add 7-10 mm to the resulting mark - the doors should hang and not shuffle across the floor. 7 mm is the minimum gap, which is sufficient if there is no floor covering in the opening. If they are planned (later to lay laminate, carpet, linoleum, etc.), then the thickness of these coverings must also be taken into account.
To prevent the canvas from “walking” during installation, it is wedged with small wooden wedges. At least two stops are required - near both rollers.
Having placed the beam against the wall and adjusted its position using a level, we mark its position with a pencil. If the wall allows, you can fasten it to the wall through and through, but for this you need to use self-tapping screws at least 120 mm long, or better yet, place it on anchor bolts.
If the wall, for example, is concrete, the installation of dowels is required. To do this, you need to transfer the marks for the fasteners to the wall. This can be done using thin and long drill, the diameter of which is less than the drilled hole.
An even simpler option: a long thin nail. It is inserted into the hole and a mark is made on the wall with a couple of blows. The following procedure is known: drill holes for the dowel plugs, insert the plugs, hammering them in if necessary. Then we install the doors.
Attaching sliding doors to the wall
Stoppers must be secured along the edges of the guide. They are inserted from the sides, the required location is established experimentally (so that the canvas covers the opening completely when closed, and rolls back sufficiently when opening. They are fixed using clamping screws.
Having opened the doors, we install the flag roller on the floor. It fits into a groove cut into the bottom of the blade. It is necessary to ensure that the doors do not deviate vertically.
First, we insert it into the groove, mark holes for fasteners, drill, then secure with short self-tapping screws (length about 15-20 mm).
At this point we can assume that the sliding doors have been installed. They are already fully functional. Remained finishing work. Mounting beam with a guide are covered with a decorative overlay, matched to the tone of the door leaf. It can be nailed directly to the timber with finishing nails.
Only when you put it out, make sure that the wheels are closed. It’s much more beautiful this way)) Now that’s it, you’ve installed the sliding doors with your own hands.
A video tutorial on how to install such a door is shown below. There are several installation options.
We install cassette-type sliding doors (in a pencil case)
The process of installing the guide and hanging the door leaf is almost identical to those described above. There is no need only for finishing, but all other stages are necessary. Instead of installing a decorative strip, a false wall is mounted at a distance of at least 10 cm from the wall. It is usually made from plasterboard profiles, which are covered with wall plasterboard. But this is not important - you can use gypsum fiber board or plywood, or any other suitable material.
Where does the distance of 10 cm come from? The thickness of the door leaf and the gaps on both sides are 5 cm. At least another 5 cm is added to this for installation of the profile. So it turns out to be 10 cm.
Since the main load will fall on the wall, the frame made of profiles need not be reinforced. If such a wall does not seem very reliable to you, you can insert wooden blocks inside, which are screwed with self-tapping screws. This will make the structure very rigid.
The basic principles for calculating a pencil case for a sliding door, as well as marking features and principles for preparing a doorway for installation, see the video.
Homemade sliding doors
Any door leaf can be installed on rollers and will work as a sliding door. The guide and all other components - rollers (carrying and flag), stoppers, stops - can be purchased. Hang on them at least a piece of plywood or a door assembled from several boards. This will be the simplest and cheap option. But making the mechanism yourself is a more difficult task. One of the options for a sliding door mechanism made from scrap materials (from round pipes different diameters) in the video. The system was supposed to be installed in a closet, but, judging by designs, easy can even withstand a solid oak door.
An excellent option for any apartment or house would be to install sliding interior doors. They can replace conventional swing doors and save space. With their help you can effectively and beautifully divide the space large room, installing them in in the right place from wall to wall. Having decided on the design and shape of the doors, you need to purchase all the necessary parts, starting with the door leaf and ending with all small details fittings and subsequent finishing. How to install a sliding interior door with your own hands is best considered using the example of the simplest design with one solid door leaf. During the description of each stage, the nuances of installing other possible systems will also be described.
Getting ready for installation
Before installing the door, you should put the opening itself in order and decide on which side of the doorway the sliding doors will be attached.
Look at your usual route from the entrance to the apartment and to the outermost rooms. For aesthetic reasons, it is better to make the sliding door mechanism from the side of the room you enter. This is especially true for doors that are not hidden in the wall or behind a false panel. However, in view of the fact that the space where the door leaf is retracted cannot be occupied by furniture and things, in the case of a passage from the corridor to the room, it is more logical to mount the entire structure from the corridor side. There is not much furniture in it.
Sliding door installation process
1. Installation of guides
The first step is to install sliding doors yourself by applying markings on the walls to further secure the guides.
If you use the bottom guide, it must be deepened into the floor. It is advisable to think about this at the installation stage. flooring so that the guide is secured to the very base of the floor ( concrete screed). You can check the horizontality of the guide using a level.
The top guide profile is installed next. The reference line should mark the position of the bottom edge of the guide. The height of its placement is equal to the height of the door leaf and an increase of 15-20 mm for the lower gap to the floor and the upper gap from the door leaf to the guide. The last parameter can be determined from the instructions supplied with the fittings. Typically 10-20mm to access the adjusting nuts on the door holders.
It is necessary to strictly observe the horizontal installation of the guide, otherwise the door will subsequently begin to spontaneously shift towards the inclination. You can check the correctness of its placement using a building or water level.
The length of the guide is twice the width of the door leaf plus 4-5 cm of reserve for its normal movement. The margin for installing plugs and the space for the closer, if any, are also taken into account.
Example of a sliding door delivery package
Typically, brackets are used to secure the top track, but for solid doors made of solid wood or glass, the structure will need to be reinforced. To do this, it is better to use a wooden beam measuring 50x50 mm or wider, depending on the width of the guide profile, which will be securely attached to the wall, and the guide will be narrower to the beam. In the case when the door is installed on a plasterboard wall, it is necessary to provide an additional profile in the wall frame and attach the guide to it or in close proximity using plasterboard anchors. If the wall is monolithic or brickwork, then dowels are used (in the case of brickwork holes for dowels are located in the volume of the brick, and not between them). Additional strengthening and use of a base in the form of a beam or profile is even more important if a sliding compartment door or multi-sectional options are installed, which involve the use of a guide with several grooves.
2. Fastening holders to the door leaf, fittings (handles, locks)
The next step is to attach brackets to the door leaf, with which it will hold onto the roller carriages. They must be installed following the instructions, along the sides of the upper end of the door, retreating 1 cm from the edge. The best option for any type of sliding doors, except in the case where the holder will be in the form of a clamp on the sides of the door leaf. For completely glass doors special fastenings are used in the form metal plates with rubber backing, between which the edge of the glass is clamped. Such grips eliminate the need to make holes in the glass.
When assembling the accordion door, holder brackets with a rotating roller are installed on each section. Most often, each section is secured in the central part, but it can also be secured along the edges of the sections. In this case, on the first section the staple is held by one edge, and on the next by the opposite edge. This is how the positions on all components alternate.
At the same stage you can install necessary elements in the door leaf, such as handles and locks. It is better to postpone the installation of the lock mates on the doorway until later; you still have to hang the door on the guide and adjust it. It should be noted that for doors that will completely extend into the wall space, handles and all fittings are selected and installed deep into the door leaf and do not protrude beyond its dimensions.
It is better to install brush seals on the bottom or side end of the door after the first installation of the door on the guides and their adjustment.
3. Installation of the door leaf
Having secured the guide and the necessary elements to the door leaf, you can carry out a control installation to adjust the levels and check the steps already completed. For this stage, you will need an assistant who will support the blade while you insert the carriages with rollers into the groove of the guide. If a partition door is installed to divide the space of a room and the guide is fixed from wall to wall, the carriages are inserted into the guide in advance, which has a special window for this. Fastening the door leaf in this case comes down to joining the bracket holders on the door and the anchor extending from the carriage.
4. Installation of limiters and closers
The limiters will prevent the movement of the door leaf along the guides and will prevent the carriages with rollers from falling out of it. It is important to correctly distribute the stops, especially if it is a multi-section or folding door. Stoppers will prevent the structure of such products from coming together too tightly, thereby damaging the connection between sections. Plugs made to the shape of the guide profile or as pins, which are inserted into the guide in the required places, can be used as a limiter. It is advisable to select limiters with special stops from soft plastic or rubber. With them, there will be no constant sound of impacts when opening, and the moving parts of the doors will work longer.
5. Fastening platbands and extensions
The trim covers the sliding door mechanism to protect them from dust and debris and to give an aesthetic appearance. This is not relevant for doors built into the wall or behind a false panel. In this case, only corners are installed on the edges of the walls with brush seals to close the gap between them and the door leaf.
Installation of platbands is carried out on brackets pre-screwed to the wall or to the guide itself using latches. This option does not leave any visible fasteners on the exterior.
A boundary structure is installed against which the door will rest when closed. This can be either a wooden beam with the necessary finishing, or a special profile, which is purchased along with the rest of the fittings. It is installed strictly vertically, using a plumb line. The counter part of the locking mechanism of the door lock will be installed in this profile. Its installation should be postponed until the door is completely installed on the guides and adjusted.
6. Check and final adjustment of the door
Since previously the door guides were installed strictly horizontally, which prevents spontaneous opening or closing of doors, the position of the door leaf is adjusted to a greater extent for visually correct perception. The door should fit snugly and evenly against the boundary structure and move parallel to the floor surface. Using this setting, you can visually eliminate some unevenness or distortions of the floor or walls by adjusting the average position of the door leaf.
Having completed all installation work, the ease of movement of the door and the operation of the locking fittings are checked. If everything works fine, then the installation was successful.
There is probably not a single person who is completely satisfied with the dimensions of their home. No matter how much space there is, for some reason there is always not enough. Installing sliding doors will help free up space at least a little, which also look very attractive and modern, giving the room some zest. These doors can be customized to suit any style. If their design is well chosen, they can become a chic addition to the interior.
Before you move on to installing sliders, you need to weigh the pros and cons. Like all other designs, sliding doors are not perfect. They have their own advantages and disadvantages, due to which their installation in some conditions will be impractical.
Advantages and disadvantages of sliding doors
Let's start with the advantages:
At correct installation such doors open very easily;
They are a wonderful way to disguise a room; they can fit perfectly into the interior;
They will not receive damage from hitting the jamb in a draft;
The main thing is that they take up virtually no space when opened. Such doors can go behind a closet, sofa or any other furniture or decorative element, however, for this, the interior items must be located at some distance from the wall.
It seems that sliding doors are good for everyone, but, as usual, things cannot happen without a few fly in the ointment:
The biggest drawback of slider doors is the impossibility of a tight fit, which is why they practically do not become an obstacle to smells, sounds and light. The movement mechanism simply does not allow the canvas to press against the doorway. That is why they are not used as entrance or balcony doors;
It will not be possible to hang pictures or mount switches, sockets and other electrical elements on the wall into which the door leaf is hidden or onto which it runs;
If you choose a hidden design, you will have to periodically clean the niche, which is very problematic to do. To make this process a little easier, you can make one of the walls removable, for example from plasterboard.
So, the disadvantages do not frighten you and the decision to change interior doors accepted. Where to start? First you need to decide on the type of sliding structure.
Types of sliding doors
All sliding doors can be divided into two main groups:
1. Parallel sliding.
2. Sliding-folding.
Each of these types differs in assembly technology, fittings and has its own design features.
Parallel sliding doors can have one, two or even several leaves. Usually the number of sashes does not exceed four, and the entire length of the opening is divided equally between them. The most common subtype of parallel-sliding structures are compartment doors, which are a single-leaf or double-leaf slider, the principle of operation of which is similar to the compartment doors of passenger cars. They are distinguished by ease of installation and higher, in contrast to other options, sound insulation properties.
Installation of single-leaf sliders will not cause any special problems even for a person completely unfamiliar with construction work, but multi-leaf structures are complex. That is why in this article, intended more for non-specialists, we will consider the simple process of installing single-leaf sliding doors.
Another option is pencil doors. When opened, the doors go into a special niche built into the wall. If it is not possible to arrange a hollow part in the ceiling, the canvas can be disguised as plasterboard partition, hiding the mechanism.
Sliding-folding structures consist of several sections, usually four to seven, folding together like an accordion book. Such doors are well suited for zoning a room and are indispensable for narrow corridors.
Speaking about sliders, we must not forget about the so-called rotary doors, which can either open in any direction or move in any direction. The leaf of such a door can rotate 360° around its axis; it is neither right nor left. This makes them convenient to place in narrow rooms with limited space.
If a hidden structure is chosen for installation, then you need to make sure that there are no chimneys in the wall where you plan to install a “pocket” for the entry of the sash, ventilation holes, hidden electrical wiring, as well as water and heating pipes. In general, it is very problematic to create a niche in a finished wall, so if it is impossible to do this during the construction process or overhaul, then it is better to use a plasterboard masking panel applied to the wall.
When buying a door leaf, do not forget to take into account that when closed it must also cover part of the doorway, at least by 50-70 mm, otherwise the cracks will simply catch your eye. Moreover, if it is attached only to the top rail, its weight should not exceed 50 kg. It is also necessary to ensure that the door has somewhere to move away, that is, that the length of the wall on which it fits is greater than the length of the movable door.
Be sure to make sure that the ceiling and floor are parallel. A deviation of 1 mm per 100 cm is allowed. Large non-parallelism can lead to misalignment of the entire structure and its jamming during operation.
If the door is planned to be installed in wooden or plasterboard openings, they should be reinforced with a metal frame made of channels, corners, or attached for a guide metal beam. This beam must be attached to load-bearing walls using anchor bolts.
Handles and locks for sliding doors are chosen to be of a hidden type, otherwise they will interfere with the full opening of the door.
What you need to prepare for installing interior sliding doors
So that when working you are not distracted by such trifles as searching stores for suitable fittings or a missing bar the right size, it’s worth being fully prepared in advance. You will need:
1. Of course, the door leaf itself.
2. Wood block, the length of which must be at least twice the width of the sash, and the width and height are equal to 50 mm.
3. Set of fittings for sliding doors. Typically it includes rollers, an upper and lower rail, travel stops, carriages, a decorative strip for masking the rollers and rail, two extensions, two trims, handles and locks. For each leaf you should purchase two rollers, and if the weight of the door leaf exceeds 75 kg, then four.
4. Anchor bolts.
5. Self-tapping screws.
How to install sliding sliding doors correctly
So, installation of interior doors. Let's break the whole process into several stages:
1. First you need to measure upper limit door leaf, placing it against the wall adjacent to the opening. This is done in a closed and open position in order to prevent possible unevenness of the floor. From this line you need to measure another 70 mm upward and draw a horizontal line at this level. This is where we will place the main mechanism.
2. We attach a wooden beam to the marked line, so that its middle is located exactly above the upper corner of the opening from the side open door. This must be done as tightly as possible, without leaving the slightest gap, even if you have to bend the beam to make the connection.
3. We proceed to fastening the upper guide rail. The location of its extreme hole is calculated as follows: the thickness of the door leaf is divided exactly in half and 5 mm is added to this value. Now the guide is attached on both sides with self-tapping screws without the slightest bend; for this, the previously found distance to the hole is set aside from the most protruding point of the wall. After this, you need to make sure that the door leaf moves freely along the rail. It should not touch either the wall or the opening.
4. We insert the assembled carriages inside the top rail. There is no need to apply any lubricants inside the guide to facilitate their movement. If the movement of the carriages is difficult, it means that either during their assembly or at the stage of installing the guide, some mistakes were made, for example, the rail was not laid straight, but with a slight curvature. After ease of movement is achieved, we install stops along the edges of the guide.
5. Move on to the bottom groove. In order to make it, on both sides of the lower end of the sash, at a distance of 15 mm from the edge, we drill holes with a 6.5 drill to a depth of 20 mm. Now we select a groove across the entire width of the blade, the width of which should be a couple of millimeters greater than the width of the guide knife, and the depth should be 18 mm. Alternatively, attaching two slats or plastic profile at the bottom of the door, with a distance between them slightly greater than the width of the flag.
6. We hang the door on the guide. First, we attach fastening brackets to the upper end strictly in the middle of its width, so that they are not visible after installation. We roll the outer carriage to the first bracket and connect them by hanging the cutout on the adjusting bolt, so that the nut and washer are on top of the bracket. We tighten the fastening.
7. Slightly tilting the bottom of the door towards you, insert the guide flag into the lower groove.
8. Install platbands.
The video below will demonstrate the main stages of installing hidden sliding interior doors.
As you can see, the technology for installing interior sliding doors is not particularly complicated, and if you really want to, you can do this work yourself. If you want some extravagant, original design, then it is better to turn to professionals who know the intricacies of this process.