Pocket Door – Now You See It, Now You Don’t

Pocket doors, the kind of door that, to close and open, slides in and out of a recess in the wall – a pocket – are seeing a revival in home design and construction. Pocket doors were first installed in the mid1800s, in particular during the Victorian era. Pocket doors then and now present an interesting architectural effect and are especially helpful when there is little to no room to open a hinged door that swings open and closed.

Early in their history, pocket doors served to close off certain areas of a home, such as a formal sitting room. Today, pocket doors are a popular choice in many other places in the home: bathrooms, laundry rooms, closets, and more. Consider just some of the functionality of a pocket door.

They are an excellent option when space is limited or a regular swinging door just isn’t needed, for example, with a laundry room or between a dressing room and bathroom. Standard hinged doors, it is estimated, take up at least 10 square feet of a room’s space and require a sizeable clearance to fully open and close, whereas pocket doors take up none. This allows the homeowner to maximize the space available in a room to place additional furnishings.
Some homes are built with two rooms divided by a smaller opening, such as an arch. In this case, pocket doors are useful in creating two separate, fully private spaces, if needed.
A half-size pocket door (or whatever height suits your need) is useful if you need to keep a pet or small child safely enclosed in a particular space but still be able to see the activity going on there.
Crafty or artistically inclined people may view a pocket door as an place to post artwork or to paint a different color, visible only when the door is closed, that is, not hidden inside its pocket.
In warmer climates, full glass pocket doors slide open to bring in the great outdoors in good weather. Often, these large doors open to a lanai or pool area.

Pocket doors do have some drawbacks. Mainly, they require a wider wall to accommodate the pocket and they can, over time, stop functioning or functioning properly. Because the door slides on a track, it can become dislodged or difficult to slide. Pocket doors, even when fully closed and/or locked, do not always offer the same tight seal a regular door does. Nor are they fully effective at softening noise, light, and odors between rooms.

Moving and locking a pocket door can be difficult for someone who is older – because these doors are usually heavy – and also for someone with limited use of their hands, because more dexterity is needed with a pocket door handle than that of a standard door that is simply pulled closed or pushed open by grasping a door knob. (The “handle” for pulling a pocket door to close it is usually a small recessed pull handle that must be accessed.)

Installing a pocket door is not a job for a do-it-yourselfer. To get the best results, install pocket doors at home construction time or when doing a home renovation. Hire an experienced builder or contractor who will use the proper wall size and recommend that the door be solid so that it lasts longer. And, for best and longest-lasting results, use only heavy duty hardware.

Steve Rush, owner of Sovereign Construction Services, is current on all the latest trends in home design and function, and has witnessed firsthand the recent rise in pocket door popularity and use. Steve and his team have years of experience at all types of home construction and renovation. To talk with Steve to learn more about how a pocket door might work in your next home renovation project, call him today at 610-639-2986 or contact him via email here.