Good morning,
I am a long time subscriber to Fine Homebuilding but a first time forum participant. I enjoy both very much. Keep up the good work!
My question involves a custom house I am building in my hometown.
I have constructed a 2 x 6 wall with a 9′ opening housing two opposing double pocket doors. The leading door on each side, as it is pulled out of the pocket, should catch the trailing door and pull it out. The two opposing leading doors will meet in the center of the opening. When closing, both the leading doors will have to catch their trailing door to push it back into the pocket. The doors are being carried on a pair of tracks at the top each attached by a pair of 4 wheeled rolling cars. The bottom pair of tracks are attached by pins. The leading doors are on one track and the trailing doors are on the other. All this hardware is made by Johnson for this type of multiple sliding door application but they show no way to solve my particular problem. I would like to find a hardware kit that can accomplish this but my search has been unsuccessful. Hope you can help.
Thanks
TWelsh
Replies
sounds like ya need something resembling a full extension drawer guide up on the trollys ...Does Johnson place have a web site?
I was going to suggest that you could biscuit the twin doors together and get by with just using one set of tracks. That is what I did for an eight foot double pocket door opening (two double sets of 2' doors). But then I realized that you probably don't have clearance in your side pockets. I tried sketching my ideas of how the hardware might work, but finally worked around to the same conclusion - talk to Johnson Hardware directly on how to install them. Then please share the solution!
D&L
Thanks but my doors must move in a bypass manor as I have only enough depth in each pocket to accomodate the width of one door.
Twelsh
I don't understand it when you say, "All this hardware is made by Johnson for this type of multiple sliding door application but they show no way to solve my particular problem."
What exactly is your problem? As I understand it, you have two doors pocketed side-by-side in opposing pockets, with "leading" doors and "trailing" doors directly opposite each other across the opening. You apparently need some sort of link-hook mechanism that cabooses the follower to the leader going out, and then stays locked together for the push-back, until the trailer door is completely socketed, then unlinks again.
Can you be more specific in describing your dilemna?
I had a four-slab door situation once, not like yours, but needing hardware for an opening in which the slabs are all hinge-joined, and hanging on a track, that need to open, accordion-fashion. Stile-rail-and-panel cherry doors, heavy. I took my situation to the specialists at Woodward's Ace Hardware in Santa Ana, CA, and they got me all the stuff I needed. I did it all by phone and fax from New York. You may wish to do the same. See all their contact info at their website, http://www.woodwardsace.com. Ask for Ron Horn.
Thank you for your response. I am sorry my explaination was lacking. Your second paragraph perfectly describes my problem. I was able to purchase the hardware I have from Johnson but although they show doors installed like this in their catalog, the rep said no hardware kit was available to make it work.
TWelsh
Edited 12/2/2003 9:11:12 PM ET by twelsh21
How about a couple of sheet metal tabs at the top of the doors. When you pull the first door out it's tab (at the front edge) catches the tab on the second door (at the back edge) and pulls it out. When you push the first door back in a tab at the front edge of the door catches the tab of the second door and pushes it in.
Well, the closing part is easy; put a Johnson 2155 on the trailing door: (from their bypass door section http://www.johnsonhardware.com/images/pdf/2255.pdf), so it shows your trailing doors as stationary, but the concept will work with a moving trailing door as well; when you push the leading door back into the pocket, when the trailing edge hits the 2155 stop, it will push the trailing door back into the pocket as well.
For the opening, all you need is a small set of overlapping metal tabs, I'd put them on the top of the door, where you won't see them. I dont' have an attach button, but the concept is easy.
Thanks for the response. I followed your link to the Johnson 2155 door "stop". That is a good idea but I think the leading door would end up hanging out of the pocket the depth of the stop. I have just enough depth in the pocket for the doors to stop flush with the jamb.
TWelsh
I would make the doors have something like an astragal bead facing each other, possibly dovetailing into one another for secure action
Excellence is its own reward!
Can you be talked out of this contraption?