How do I install french doors in my hallway?

5 years ago

I would like to install some paneled french doors over my a/c and water heater in the hallway. I was hoping to tackle this myself to alleviate my husband of another project. I would love some tips on how I can do this. The biggest issue is that the a/c barely fits in the space and it almost sticking out into the hallway. Here's the steps I've gathered I need to follow so far. please let me know if this sounds like I'm way out of my league!

Remove a couple of inches of floor board.
Tack a 1x up on the wall (vertically) as something to mount the doors on.
Install doors.

Seems pretty straightforward, however, I always think this. The reason I want it to be french doors as opposed to bi-fold is that we need to be able to get the air filters in and out and the opening is extremely close to the wall.

The opening is 40.5" x 85.5". I will probably need to order custom doors from Lowe's. I was thinking about getting these: https://www.lowes.com/pd/ReliaBilt-White-Solid-Core-Pine-Bi-Fold-Closet-Interior-Door-with-Hardware-Common-36-in-x-80-in-Actual-35-72-in-x-78-75-in/1000339243 - Or can I get away with just buying the 36-inch available in the store? And following this tutorial to install them in a french door style: http://www.2littlesuperheroes.com/2013/02/bifold-doors-turned-fancy-french-doors.html/. Sorry, these are the only photos I could find at the moment.

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Comments (3)

mike_kaiser_gw
5 years ago
Bi-fold doors are sized to it a finished opened. So for example, a 36x80" bi-fold door is actually a little smaller than 36x80" to give it room to move in the opening. Conventional doors require a rough opening about 2" bigger than the dimensions of the door to accommodate the jamb.

At 40 1/2" wide, you're going to have a difficult time finding a bi-fold because most manufacturers limit their panel width to about 18". Going with 4 doors would also be an issue because they would be about 10" wide.

A double door is also going to be a little tricky because you'd be talking about two 18" doors (36") plus a couple of inches = 38". It's also not a good idea to install a door over drywall, so if you removed a 1/2" on each side, you'd a have rough of about 41 1/2". That would work with 20" doors cut down by about 1/4".

You're also going to do something about the height. I'd probably just block down to be able to use a standard 80" door.

You're also probably need louvered doors (or add a vent) for combustion air for the furnace. In addition you need to consider any set-backs required by the appliance manufacturers.
User
5 years ago
You don't want to obstruct air flow around appliances. It voids the warranty if youdon't keep the clearance.

And if you build doors there, any servicing or replacing is going to be that much harder and more expensive. And perhaps destructive.
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Chris D
5 years ago
You can get custom doors made, and you’ll want them louvered. I can’t tell from the pic, but not sure why you’d do anything to the floor, other than remove and redo the base to allow the doors to fully close. The door needs to be undercut anyway. As mentioned, you’ll need to figure out either a way to trim out at the ceiling or build a “header”, GWB, finish, paint, etc. For bi-fold doors, 1x over the existing GWB to create a jamb is an easy way and can look fine. If you’ve got the clearances, you could make this work, but it may be more work than you think.