Clever sliding door required
Discussion
Trying to free up space in our small bathroom. Currently the door opens inwards against the side of the bath. It's ok, but not brilliant. What I need is a sliding door that can slide along the wall on the landing outside the bathroom. But here's the catch. When the door is in the closed position I want it to sit in the door frame like the other doors. I don't want it hanging from the wall in front of the door frame.
If this isn't possible can anyone point me in the direction of a hinge that would allow the door to fold out of the frame all the way through 180 degrees so that it could sit flush against the wall?
Come on boffins, let's work this one out!
If this isn't possible can anyone point me in the direction of a hinge that would allow the door to fold out of the frame all the way through 180 degrees so that it could sit flush against the wall?
Come on boffins, let's work this one out!
Bifold is a possibility, but will reduce the space to get through the door frame. The door is only 68cm wide so we don't have much room with a single, let alone a double thickness door.
A pocket door which slides into a cavity in the wall won't work because we'd lose at least 12cm of bathroom width which would leave us with a bath about 155cm long which is too short. We can't build out onto the landing because there is another door in the way.
A door opening onto the landing using normal hinges won't work because the newel post will get in the way and the door would stick out onto the landing and just look a mess.
The van door idea is exactly what I need although a more Grand Design-like analogy would be have been better. Does such a mechanism exist?
A pocket door which slides into a cavity in the wall won't work because we'd lose at least 12cm of bathroom width which would leave us with a bath about 155cm long which is too short. We can't build out onto the landing because there is another door in the way.
A door opening onto the landing using normal hinges won't work because the newel post will get in the way and the door would stick out onto the landing and just look a mess.
The van door idea is exactly what I need although a more Grand Design-like analogy would be have been better. Does such a mechanism exist?
LivingTheDream said:
Why would you lose 120mm of bathroom with a pocket door? They're designed to fit into the stud wall so you end up with a finished wall thickness of 100mm or 125mm depending upon studwork size. It replaces the current wall rather than being stuck on the outside.
The current stud wall is narrower than the 120cm required for the pocket door. Therefore the pocket would increase the thickness of the wall. Plus, there are pipes in that wall that are needed for the shower which would have to go outside the pocket. As the only other wall that the shower could go on is a single skin brick wall I'm reluctant to move the shower pipe work. In any case, the pocket would need to be at most 10cm wide which would require a different style door to the other three on the landing. Maybe I'm being a bit dismissive of the pocket option. Let me investigate further.
mikeiow said:
This!
What you have is pretty well how *most* bathrooms work for the small room...when you're in them, the door is shut.....no-one is in the bath when it is open (usually!).....not sure what problem you are really trying to solve here!
50 weeks of the year the only people in the house are me and the missus. That means that for those 50 weeks the only time that door is shut is if one of us is doing a number 2 just before bed or first thing in the morning. Amazingly we are in the bathroom at the same time much more often than we are in there individually. Shower and teeth in the morning, shower/bath in the afternoon or evening after the gym and teeth brushing before bed. On all those occasions the door is either fully or partially open. When you include the door handle that means it takes up a huge amount of the available space.What you have is pretty well how *most* bathrooms work for the small room...when you're in them, the door is shut.....no-one is in the bath when it is open (usually!).....not sure what problem you are really trying to solve here!
I would happily put in a massive shower cubicle, but the missus loves a bath and there is no point putting in a bath smaller than 170cm because it's too cramped, So the bath has to stay, the available floor space remains the same, so the only movable object is the door.
WindyCommon said:
It's a good call, and definitely less destructive that a pocket door. Thinking.......Having a door like an up-and-over garage door is stretching my imagination too far.
Just looking at pocket doors. You can get really slim ones. I reckon it might work. I would have to move the plumbing so I have another question. The pipe work would have to run in a channel cut out of a single skin, internal brick wall. Would cutting such a channel weaken a thin wall so much that makes it unwise to do so? The other option is to mount the shower head on the ceiling and run the pipes through the loft.
Just looking at pocket doors. You can get really slim ones. I reckon it might work. I would have to move the plumbing so I have another question. The pipe work would have to run in a channel cut out of a single skin, internal brick wall. Would cutting such a channel weaken a thin wall so much that makes it unwise to do so? The other option is to mount the shower head on the ceiling and run the pipes through the loft.
kambites said:
Couldn't a pocket door slide the other way? Into the wall opposite the toilet.
It's a brick wall, but not a supporting wall so it's possible. I hate saying no, but there is a radiator on that wall and we wanted the pipes to come out of the wall rather than the floor which wouldn't be possible with a pocket door. However, I like the lateral thinking. I'll give it some thought. I'd need to look this evening at whether we could pinch 10cm from the landing at the top of the stairs to fit the door and the pipe work.TA14 said:
kambites said:
ETA: Or how about a bi-fold door? This sort of mechanism:
It'd still fold up against he bath, but it'd be less intrusive.
Or that opening outwards.It'd still fold up against he bath, but it'd be less intrusive.
A thin, maybe glass pocket door could be the answer......looking now.
http://www.jbkind.com/products/pocket-door-systems...
This company will do a single door, split in two with each half going into a different pocket. It would work. However, it would mean knocking down two walls and moving a light switch and extractor switch. Probably makes more sense to take out the stud wall behind the shower and put a single pocket in there.
Back to my earlier question.....structurally, can you cut a channel for pipe work out of a single brick, brick wall without any problems? If the answer is no the pipes could come through the loft into a ceiling minted shower head.
This company will do a single door, split in two with each half going into a different pocket. It would work. However, it would mean knocking down two walls and moving a light switch and extractor switch. Probably makes more sense to take out the stud wall behind the shower and put a single pocket in there.
Back to my earlier question.....structurally, can you cut a channel for pipe work out of a single brick, brick wall without any problems? If the answer is no the pipes could come through the loft into a ceiling minted shower head.
TA14 said:
Short answer is yes, Top of my head B regs is 1/3 thickness vertically and 1/6th horizontally. If you need to go deeper you'll have to fit in a steel section (which one will take some thinking) and join it to the brick each side. Since you said that the wall is not load bearing it's probably easier to replace it with a stud wall.
Thanks for that. I'm not taking that wall down as there is a fitted wardrobe on the other side. Bathroom fitter coming tonight. Will ask as he'll probably know.To be honest the bathroom is being changed anyway so there is mess and distruction whatever happens. We're not moving and use that room several times a day every day. If there is an expensive option that works I'll pay the extra because otherwise I'll spend the next 15-20 years until the next refit wishing I'd spent the money.
In every job I've ever had done I've quickly forgotten about the cost, but always been niggled by something I tried to save money on or didn't do because it was too much of a faff. What's that phrase? You quickly forget a high price, but always remember a bad job.
In every job I've ever had done I've quickly forgotten about the cost, but always been niggled by something I tried to save money on or didn't do because it was too much of a faff. What's that phrase? You quickly forget a high price, but always remember a bad job.
Ok, pocket door vetoed. Bathroom fitter says that he has fitted them before and if you don't build a strong enough wall and you lean on the bathroom tiles when the pocket is empty the wall flexes, the grout cracks and you get a leak. We have so little space to play with that I'm going to go with his advice.
So, in the absence of a van door mechanism I'm going to look at a folding door that opens outwards flush to the wall using a Parliament hinge. At least I'm getting somewhere.
So, in the absence of a van door mechanism I'm going to look at a folding door that opens outwards flush to the wall using a Parliament hinge. At least I'm getting somewhere.
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