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Sometimes ordinary swing doors cannot be installed: there is very little space or they beat against walls or furniture. In this case, folding doors can help. They are also called folding or folding. The essence of this does not change: they are assembled on one or two sides of the doorway, occupying a small space.
Types of folding doors
Folding doors of any type are simple. They consist of separate strips, movably connected to each other. One of the strips – the extreme right or left – is fixed motionless. All the rest at the top (sometimes at the bottom too) have small rollers that are inserted into the guide. When force is applied, the rollers slide along the guide, causing the segments to fold. Depending on how and where the rollers are fixed, there are two types of folding doors: “accordion” and “book”.
If the rollers are fixed in the middle of each door lamella, an accordion door is obtained. In this case, each fragment rotates around the axis on which the roller is fixed. The folds are small – about the width of the wall (a little more or less – depending on the model and parameters of the wall). The width of the lamella of this type of folding door is 8-20 cm. The most common are 12-15 cm wide, the rest are less common. The standard height for a door is about 220-230 mm, the minimum width is 50 cm, the maximum is 600 cm. There are higher models for folding partitions.
Harmonic
The length of the canvas is easily adjusted – by increasing or decreasing the number of segments, up to the creation of folding partitions. Just one point: in long doors / partitions, two guides are needed – at the top and at the bottom. Otherwise, during operation, the mechanism often jams.
Plus a folding accordion door is a low price. There are many offers for a standard doorway with a price of about 2-3 thousand rubles. There are, of course, more expensive ones. The service life is about 5 years. The most common failure is the failure of the rollers. In the cheapest models, they are made of soft plastic. As a result, the doors are “noisy” and wear out quickly. As usual, there is a choice: more expensive and possibly better, or cheaper.
Book
Doors-book differ in larger fragments. No more than two parts go to a standard doorway. In this case, the rollers are attached through one joint, moreover, at the junction. In this case, it turns out that the door leaf folds up, resembling the pages of a book. The part that does not have rollers slides out into the room.
When folded, book doors take up more space than an accordion, but this type of device has its advantages. Fragments of an accordion door cannot be made from a very thick material: the design itself will not allow it. Because they are most often made of plastic, MDF. When self-manufacturing can use plywood and other similar materials. Hence the scope – most often used as a door to utility rooms – such as pantries, can be installed as doors in a makeshift shower. In this case, plastic is one of the best materials: it provides tightness, is not afraid of high humidity, and washes well, possibly with the use of detergents. As interior doors or partitions, such doors are installed when they only delimit the space: the sound insulation characteristics are practically “none”.
Book doors can even be made from solid wood. Firstly, the rollers are used more solid, and secondly, the design does not impose restrictions on the thickness. Therefore, the door-book can be made of wood, glass, metal-plastic. Moreover, when using special fittings, metal-plastic folding doors can be used as entrance doors: as they provide a sufficient degree of security. They are often placed in the house as an exit to the terrace or courtyard. The disadvantage of such systems: a solid price. A set of fittings for one metal-plastic door-book costs about $550-600. Ordinary ones are slightly more expensive than a standard canvas. There are options for 3-4 thousand rubles. They can be used as interior doors, put in cabinets.
Technical parameters for book-type folding doors:
- Length – up to 7 m when using wooden systems (with or without glass) and up to 6 m in metal-plastic systems.
- Wooden height – from 800 mm to 3000 mm; metal-plastic – from 640 mm to 2400 mm.
- The width of one leaf in wooden ones is from 440 mm to 1200 mm; in metal-plastic – from 490 mm to 940 mm.
- The number of valves – from 2 to 7.
There is another type of doors that save space – sliding. You can read about what they are and how to install them here.
Installation of folding doors
Since the systems are slightly different, there are some differences in the installation process, but there are a lot of common points:
- Doors are placed in an already trimmed doorway.
- There are strict requirements for the geometry of the doorway: strictly vertically and strictly horizontally, without deviations.
- During installation, it is necessary to strictly control the verticality of the installation. The slightest deviations lead to jamming of the system, as well as to faster erasing of the rollers.
Next, we describe the installation process of each type of doors in photo and video format.
Installation of the accordion door: we put it with our own hands
Folding accordion doors as standard have:
- two long side rails;
- one short – upper (maybe lower);
- the required number of slats (depending on the parameters of your doorway);
- fasteners (self-tapping screws, clips, etc.);
- stops;
- videos;
Having studied all the contents, we begin the installation. First, carefully measure the doorway. Cut the side guides to height. To make the cut even, it is better to use a miter box, and a saw with a fine tooth is a metal blade, for example.
Door assembly
The top guide should be slightly shorter than the width of the opening: the side ones will also stand there. Therefore, twice the width of the side guides is subtracted from the width of the doorway. From different manufacturers, they have a different cross section, but on average you need to take 3-4 cm away. Everything is accurately measured and cut off.
Door leaf plates are often longer than required. They can be cut off, usually cut off at the bottom. The height of the lamella is calculated as follows: 0,7-1 cm of the gap at the bottom is subtracted from the height of the doorway (so that the slats do not cling to the threshold), and the height of the roller mechanism and the guide is also taken away. In each case, it is different, usually indicated in the installation instructions, which should be attached to the door. If it is not there, you can fix the upper guide, roll the rollers into it, and so measure the required height. Having marked it on the lamellas, the unnecessary part is sawn off. You can use a regular hand saw, grinder or trimming. Who has what.
One important point: in some cases – in the presence of a lower guide – fasteners can be installed at the bottom of the slats. Before you start sawing, they must all be dismantled. They usually just pop out. You just need to make an effort.
We cut off all flexible connectors of the same length. If the accordion doors are plastic, the parts are usually connected using flexible connectors into which the panels are simply inserted. Sometimes manufacturers make additional decorative overlays that are glued to the bottom of the slats on double-sided tape (also included).
Next, we proceed to the installation. First we take the castle bar. This is an extreme bar that does not fold in an accordion door. An end guide is installed in it.
On each of the lamellas we install swivel rollers. They can be of different shapes. In this model – small elements. They are inserted into the agreed place and secured with one or two screws.
Now you can assemble the door leaf. In this model, the lamellas are connected using flexible inserts. Plates are inserted into the grooves of the inserts along the edges.
Having folded all the required parts, we fix the flexible inserts. They are attached at the top and bottom with screws (included). It is more convenient to start all the screws by hand first, and then tighten them with a screwdriver.
Having folded the door leaf, measure its width when folded. This is necessary to install the stop.
This size is transferred to the upper guide bar. In this place, in the middle, drill a hole for installing the stopper. It is put in place, secured with a screw.
The assembly of the accordion door is completed. Installation begins in the doorway.
Installation in a doorway
First, mark the installation location of the upper guide. Usually they are in the middle of the opening, but there may be exceptions. When marking the installation lines, make sure that they are even.
In this model, the guides are mounted on clips: small plastic latches. This system is easy to install. Clips are installed first, then guides are clamped into them.
Since the main load in such a system falls on the upper part, clips are often installed here. The extreme ones are at a distance of 1 cm, 5 cm away from them – one more, and the rest in increments of 16-20 cm. On the side stops, the distance between the clips is 40 cm. Please note that the clips for installation from the side of the lock are smaller, also painted white. They are placed at a distance of 40 and 70 cm.
During installation, accuracy is maintained down to the millimeter. Even a slight deviation will lead to the fact that the guide will not “sit down”. Therefore, it makes sense to note not only the middle line, where the clips are attached, but those along which the edges are aligned.
If necessary, dowels are placed under each clip. If a wooden block is laid in the doorway, they can be fastened to wood screws with a length of at least 80 mm.
Before installation, the sliders (rollers) are lubricated with the supplied grease.
They run into the top rail. It is more convenient to do this in the assembled state. The slats are compressed, the rollers are brought into the groove, which is in the guide.
The doors hung on the guide are lifted into the opening. The guide is installed on the clips, simply knocking it with the palm of your hand in the places where the clips are mounted.
The side guides are placed in the same way: they are brought to the clips and with a light blow of the palm they “sit down” in place. Despite the ease of installation, they hold very well. For the sake of the experiment, you can pull: in order to tear it out of the mount, you will have to lean with your whole body.
The handle is installed last. Before installation, it is also better to lubricate. The handle consists of two parts: front and back. They are connected with screws. That’s all for sure: do-it-yourself folding accordion doors.
Not all folding doors are clip-on. Most, by the way, have the usual fasteners for dowel-nails. In this case, there are installation features. They are described in video format.
We put folding doors-book
Even if you bought a ready-made kit, you can’t do without some work. First of all, you will have to assemble the door frame. It usually comes with a door. It is distinguished by the presence of a U-shaped groove into which the slider is installed. Therefore, the old box, even if it is in good condition, cannot be used. Unless, you can mount a profile of a suitable section into it.
A box is assembled from this profile. The whole process is detailed here. You will also need to install hinges. They are placed on the part that will open. The good news is that in the finished kit, the recesses for them are already ready. It remains only to mark, drill holes and tighten the screws.
Two canvases are interconnected by hidden loops or butterfly loops.
If you choose from two types of loops, then it is better to put hidden ones. In the open state, they almost do not leave a gap between the canvases. In addition, they are more powerful, can withstand solid loads. Their disadvantages: more difficult to install and high cost. But if the doors are made of MDF or solid wood, then you need to install them. “Butterflies” will fit a light door leaf or where it is not possible to make significant recesses under the body of a hidden hinge.
After inserting the loops (preferably hidden, they hold more securely, and look better), you need to install the slider. It is placed in the upper end of the canvas, which will be folded.
Then it remains to hang the first half on the installed box. Attach the second to it by installing the second parts of the hidden loops. Only at first the second half is brought into the groove by a leash and only then it joins with the already hung half. After that, it remains only to install the handles and trim the doorway with platbands.
See the video for a step-by-step process of installing a door-book.
If such work is not difficult for you, you can assemble the door-book yourself. There are hinges, runners, rollers, sliders and guides in hardware stores. Putting it all together, you get what you’re looking for: book-shaped folding doors. An approximate set of accessories is in the video below.
But even with such a kit, you need to know how to assemble it. This assembly process is in the next video. See if you can do it again. It turned out well.
Another version of the door-book mechanism in the next video. In it, two blades are connected by a movably articulated plate, which is installed in the upper and lower ends. The mechanism is supplemented with rollers that move along a guide fixed at the top of the box. How to assemble and install folding doors with such a mechanism – in the next video.