Step By Step Process To Convert Bi Fold Doors To Sliding Doors
A set of hinged bi-fold doors at a closet, an offset laundry in a corridor, or outside doors that open to a patio or deck are common features in floor layouts. By changing these doors to sliding doors, additional floor space is available in the living area, and certain annoyances in smaller rooms and hallways are removed. The hinged bi-fold doors can be converted to sliding doors by adding appropriate hardware, with the probable exception of any potentially damaged doors. A sliding door kit and a few simple tools are needed for the task.
Step 1: Preparation
- Put up a screw-tip attachment on a power or cordless drill. Remove any surface-mounted barrel bolt locks and door knobs. Before painting the doors, the mortised door bolts may be left in place or removed, and the mortise may then be filled.
- One door's hinge pins can be removed by tapping the handle of the screwdriver with a hammer while forcing the pins' heads forward with the tip of a flat-blade screwdriver. Remove the door off its hinges, then set it aside. Lift the remaining door off the hinges by repeating the previous process.
- Put one of the doors on its edge and use the drill and screw-tip attachment to remove the hinges from the door's opposite edge. To remove the hinges from the remaining door, repeat the previous process.
- With the drill and screw-tip attachment, remove any magnetic or mechanical catches from the face of the door jamb.
Step 2: Sliding Door Hardware
- Set up the sliding door kit's top and lower tracks, rollers, bumpers, and screws close by. Add 1/8 inch for clearance to the width of the door opening measured between the faces of the jambs. Apply these measurements to the top and bottom of the upper track, respectively.
- A builder's square and a felt-tip marker should be used to draw a square line across each track at your measurement. Using a hacksaw, cut each track to the proper length. Using a flat file, remove burrs left over from the cuts.
- Align the top track's outer face 1/8 inch inside the jamb head's outer border. Using a drill with a screw-tip attachment, insert one of the supplied screws into each of the track's machined holes to secure the upper track to the jamb head.
- At each end, place the bottom track's outer edge 1/8 inch within the jamb sides' outside edges. By inserting one of the supplied screws into each of the track's machined holes, you can fasten the bottom track to the floor.
- Indicate where the rollers are located on the upper, interior faces of each door. Normally, rollers are mounted 2 inches from a door edge. Place a roller where you want it, then use the included screws to fasten it to the inside face of the door. Attach the remaining rollers by repeating this.
Step 3: Cutting And Installation
- Measure the distance between the lowest edge of the upper track & the highest edge of the lower track, then subtract 1/4 inch for clearance to get the height of the doors. Measure from each roller's underside and mark each door's lower facing with the new measurement. Draw a line in a straight line across the bottom of each door. The doors were sawed with a circular saw.
- Recruit a helper to aid you in hanging each door from the upper track's rollers. As you secure the included guides to the lower track, let the doors hang straight. Normally, a guide is inserted under the door's leading edge and fastened with the supplied screws or by pressing the guide's outer edges into grooves on the bottom track.
- One door should be closed against the jamb's side. Adjust the outer roller by loosening one of the adjustment screws, then move the door until it fits uniformly and flush against the jamb. Adjustment screw: tighten. Repetition of this action will line the last door with the opposing jamb.
- One door should be closed against the jamb's side. On the door's face jamb, draw a brief reference line. The door can be moved out from the jamb. On the face of the jamb, just inside the reference point, attach the provided bumper. Repeat this process for the remaining door, then fasten the bumper to the opposing jamb.