The well ole pocket door has been round for one hundred fifty years and is inflicting property owners problems. The hardware utilized in early pocket door technologies isn’t as solid as today and often fails after so many years.

To alter a pocket door, you would like to understand the problem. If the door isn’t level, leaving a spot among the door and frame, then alter the door hardware. If the door is off track, pull the door out and re-attach. Lastly, the observe may well be warped and need a whole system replacement.

Keep reading to learn how to troubleshoot the problem along with your pocket door. Besides troubleshooting, you’ll have the step-by-step procedure for solving each problem.

Troubleshooting the Pocket Door

To troubleshoot the pocket door, begin by opening and closing about a instances if you can. Answer the following questions:

Does the door drag on the ground when you pull it open?

If you replied sure to this question, the problem is possibly the door has fallen off the track. The simplest repair is to remove the door, positioned it again on the rolling hardware, and placed it lower back on track. The worst-case situation is to replace the rolling hardware.

Does the door purely open part way?

A yes solution to this question could imply a warp in the track or door. A right fix will want a substitute of the door or the observe depending on where the warp is. You will first desire to investigate the door, because it involves the least quantity of demolition. If the door isn’t warped, it’s essential to open the wall to take away and update the track.

Is there a niche among the door and body while the door is completely closed?

If you spoke back yes, you’re in luck. The answer may well be so simple as adjusting the height of the bolts within the rolling mechanism.

Hopefully, you didn’t solution yes to all 3 questions. If you did, or you know the pocket door is from the early 1900s, think about changing the complete system.

Read below to locate step-by-step options for every of the 3 usual pocket door problems. Each answer would need additional equipment than those listed above. If so, they’ve been listed before the instructions.

Tools for the Job

These difficulties would require removing some door frames. It’s unavoidable to repair a pocket door safely devoid of this step. You will need these tools:

Utility Knife
Level
Putty Knife
Cordless Drill
Wrench
Nail gun (or hammer and nails)
Flashlight
Putty/Caulk
Touch-Up Paint

Adjusting the Pocket Door Level

Remove Part Trim

Using the application knife, rating the caulk and paint along the sting of the doorstop at the frame’s side with the pocket. Use the putty knife to split the discontinue from the frame. Your hammer will come in useful to wedge the knife further at the back of the stop. Be gentle and patient because you desire on the way to placed it again when done.

Remove Top Trim

Remove the trim from the top of the door and part in which you removed the stop. You simply need to get rid of the trim on one part of the door. For example, if the door separates the kitchen and the laundry room, remove framing at the laundry room side.

Adjust the Door Height

Pull the door closed to work out the rolling hardware. The rollers or trolleys are attached to the door with the aid of an adjustable bolt. Whilst a door is not hung level, you need to raise or lower the bolt on the two trolleys until you have a level door. It’s simplest to do that with a wrench.

The quandary is constant if you are proud of the gap or lack thereof, among the door and frame. If the hardware is historic and doesn’t have this function, discover new adjustable trolleys, just like the Prime-Line Products N 6847 Pocket Door Roller Assembly.

Re-Attach the Trim

Put the framing lower back in place. You would like nails and a hammer to secure the framing back to the wall. Today, framing is installed professionally with a nail gun. Those nails are tough to take away from the casings. It will be easiest to chop the nail’s exposed ends as virtually the casing as you can.

Place back in the right spot and nail them to the wall. Use putty and paint to the touch up the nails and any scuffs around the trim.

Getting the Pocket Door Again on Track

Remove the Trim

To begin, you have to get rid of portions of the trim across the door. Choose the room you want to do the paintings in and start eliminating the trim on top and the pocket side. This will allow you to pull the door out completely.

Use a utility knife to attain in the course of the caulk and paint alongside the perimeters of the frame. Then use the putty knife to drag the trim away from the wall gently. A hammer might be beneficial if the putty knife needs additional leverage to get less than the casing.

Once you have pulled off the necessary trim, place them in a secure place. If possible, you will use them back when the door is fixed. If you do harm the framing pieces, a vacation to the hardware store is on your future.

Pull Door Off the Track

Pull the door closed. Then tilt the lowest of the door up and pull it off the track. The trolleys may have a locking mechanism that will need to be released before tilting the door off.

Since portion of the door is already in part off-track, this may take a bit muscle and maneuvering to get the door out of the pocket space.

Find the Missing Trolley

Next attainable scenarios:

The trolley hardware is extra modern, and the door ought to be slipped lower back onto the trolley. Start through fetching the free trolley from the lower back of the pocket if it’s the rear joint that has slipped off. This could be retrieved with a broom handle. When you’ve got the two trolleys, put the door lower back on them and make sure the door slides easily open and closed.
The trolley hardware is hooked up to the door and needs to be placed back on the track. Think approximately getting more up-to-date hardware to avoid the door from slipping off the observe within the future. In the meantime, tilt the door to place the rollers lower back within the observe and slide lower back and forth, ensuring it doesn’t slip off again.

Replace the Trim

Put the trim again at the wall with the aid of first eliminating the historic nails. You may have to chop them in the event that they don’t hammer out easily. Nail the pieces back to the wall and contact up with caulk and sparkling paint.

For a well demonstration, look at this video on YouTube:

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Replacing the Track

For this repair, you will need added tools:

A drywall saw
New monitoring and trolleys
A small sheet of plywood
A tape measure
Drywall screws
Quick dry joint compound

The first step is to remove the door from the pocket and track. For the instructions, seek advice from the “Remove Side Trim” and “Remove Top Trim” subheadings less than the “Adjusting the Door Level” section.

Create Access in Drywall

Measure and draw out a rectangular entry hole at the drywall lower than the top of the pocket. It should be lengthy sufficient to reach each of the screws and tall enough to suit your drill. For an indication on slicing throughout the drywall, see the video below.

Using a drywall saw, reduce out your rectangle. Put aside the piece of drywall. If it’s still in well condition, you could re-use it for the patch.

Remove Observe & Replace

Unscrew the observe with the drill or screwdriver. Then use the level to work out if the framing in the wall is level. If it’s not, this might were contributing to the disorder of the pocket door. At this point, you could install a spacer to help make the body more level, or use the adjustable trolleys to point the door.

With the old observe removed, install the recent observe with the aid of placing it in an analogous vicinity because the old observe and screw in place.

Replace Trolleys

Remove the old curler or trolley system at the door and replace it with the new hardware. Purchasing a new observe includes buying a pocket door hardware kit. Try out the Johnson Hardware 1500 Sequence Commercial Grade Pocket Door Hardware, that will come with trolleys, screws, and guides.

Test the Door

Put the door on the track. Connect the door to the trolleys and alter the height of the door isn’t level.

Slide the door into the pocket and lower back out. If installed properly, it will waft smooth and quiet.

Replace Trim & Drywall

Put the trim and framing lower back in its unique places. Hammer lower back onto the wall with new nails. Putty and paint any touch-ups.

Using the plywood, you will create a brace wherein to screw the drywall back. The plywood will must be in four strips, one for each facet of the rectangle. Utilizing drywall screws, screw the plywood to the inside of the pocket. Then screw the piece of drywall to the lumber.

Fill in the screws and seam with a quick-drying joint compound. When dry, sand it down until smooth, prime, and paint over the compound. No one will know there used to be a gap there.

If you want to work out how a whole pocket door repair works step-by-step, watch this video: