This is going to be tough to describe. The entry into my bedroom is ripe for french doors, but when they open into the room, it will be very awkward for they wont open in a way that is dramatic. So I have decided to marry the doors together to make one big 4 foot door. Here’s the trick, they will be a left hand door opening in to land against the left wall of the room. But if I use standard door hinges, it eats up 4 feet of wall on that side of the room. I have seen a type of articulated hinge, that as the door swings open, the pivot point shifts from one foot from the jamb, so that when it is open, the door actually extends only 3 feet into the room. Does this make sense? I tried searching, but “hinge” tends to bring up rather large return. Any help is appreciated.
Neil
Replies
Another option would be to make the doors bi-fold. That way you wouldn't have such a massive door to swing. To do a bi-fold, you connect the doors with hinges that are on the opposite side of the jamb hinges.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
One 4' glass door is pretty dramatic but not entirely functional. Operating on a pivot will not only send the door 3' into the room, but also 1' into the hallway.
You are right about entering through half of a traditional 4'-0" french opening. It seems too small.
An elegant option to this is using a 30" door and an 18" door in the same opening. By bolting the smaller door you get a wide operating door and the advantage of opening both for large pieces of furniture etc.
If you are still interested in the pivot try...
http://www.mckinneyhinge.com/subcatalog.cfm?cat_id=51
I think that's called a counter-balanced hinge. I have only seen it in commercial buildings, and I think it requires hinges recessed into the floor and header.
I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.
THanks for all your replies. I'm not a huge fan of bifold doors. THe Pivot is an idea, the extension into the hallway isnt really an issue but I would like to open flush to the left wall. The counterbalanced hinge is exactly what I'm looking for. Unfortunately google searches havent been fruitful. Any other search ideas?
Neil
Something like this Neil?
Click on this link...http://absupply.net/detail.aspx?ID=1140
Are you planning to join two doors together or order a 4'-0" door?
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Center Hung Pivot Set
----MODEL 128-3/4----
----Product Description & Features----
Application
Standard top pivot 320 included
Interior Doors
Bottom pivot mounts directly to floor
Weight to 250 lbs.
All center hung pivot sets are double-acting unless stopped by some means on the door frame
Door Sizes up to 3'6" x 8'6"(1067-2591mm)
Not allowed for use on labeled doors and frames
Non-Handed, BHMA/ANSI NO: C07032
Available with long spindles in 1/2"(13mm) increments up to 2"(51mm)
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Offset vs Center hung application
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Pivot point centered in thickness of door.
RIXSON Pivot & Pivotsets catalog PDF or HTML
Pivot point centered in thickness of door
Non-Handed
Door must have radius on pivot edge
Furnished with wood and machine screws
Weight of door borne by floor portion
Doors do no return to center
Are you talking about the articulated units, where, when you push the door open, the hinge end moves towards you, since the pivot is about 1/4 of the way across the door? Then, as you open the door further the pivot slides on a rail (or using a sort of pantograph) so that the pivot and door moves towards the jamb?Keep in mind that this sort of door is only designed to allow about 90 degrees of motion, so the door can't open back against a wall. Probably the main advantage of it is that it allows a large door to be opened with less "travel" on the part of the person pushing it.
Dan! Thats exactly what i'm looking for! I only need 90 degrees. I looked up articulated hinge, and only got 135 degree cabinet hinges. Any idea where I can find them?
I've only seen them on fancy hotel-type all-metal doors. It may be that a commercial door shop can dig something up, but I suspect you have to get the entire door. There's probably considerable stress put on the door and it needs to be welded metal for things to work right.
An alternative way to achieve drama without combining the doors is to connect them together with a mechanism so that when you open either door they both open simultaneously.
Wayne, thats not a bad idea, I plan on doing something like that to a pair of split pocket doors, but the idea is that in order to open properly, the doors have to open to the left against a wall, a corner.
My first thought was a heavy-duty top track, I googled and hit this:
http://www.johnsonhardware.com/fdindex.htm
The 200HD might be just what you need. These tracks can be recessed nicely, so the door just closes nicely in whichever direction you want.
(The google I used was "bifolf door track -cabinet")
Barring that, I suppose you could just use a high-quality, heavy-duty set of ball-bearing butt hinges (both wall and panel-to-panel) and use a stock "lid stay" (probably top & bottom) to make the doors operate together.
The real trick of what you want will be the door "knob" hardware--almost anything you choose will stick out, preventing a nice flush "open" condition.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
That 1601 would almost do it, but it doesn't look like it can be adjusted for 90 degrees, plus the hardware would likely be kind of ugly.
doesn't look like it can be adjusted for 90 degrees
Oh well, just means looking for another answer, I guess.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Actually, it's not hard conceptually -- can be done either with tracks or pantographs.For the track scheme, put the track-riding pivot about 1/4-1/3 the way from the "hinge" edge. Then run tie rods from the jamb to a point about 1/2 the distance between door edge and pivot, making the rods that same distance long so that the door is held centered in the opening when closed, but will be flush against the jamb when opened 90 degrees.For the patograph scheme, you take out the track and track pivot and add a half-pantograph (two arms the same size as the arm used above, linked together) running from the jamb to the point where the pivot would have been. Gear the jamb-side arms (the original one and the half-pantograph one) together so that they move in unison, like a scissor jack.Of course, getting either of these schemes to work with a door of non-trivial weight would be a challenge. The door will want to sag, and the arms must resist that tendency, so they have to be pretty beefy, with no slop in the pivots. On a solid door you could replace the arms with a solid panel the height of the door, and use multiple hinges to keep things tight, but that won't work on a glass door, or anything you want to look nice.
We're getting close I suppose. I was hoping to not have to do any modifications. Keep the suggestions coming. I'm still searching. Remember, the bifold solution is not an option. the last resort is to get some beefy a$$ ball bearing hinges and just accept the fact that it will eat up 4 feet of wall on the left side of the room. Thanks,
Neil