Sliding Doors – 5 Things to Consider

Ah, sliding doors.  They are all the rage these days!   For good reason, they are beautiful and so cool and functional at that.  They do, however, take a little consideration before diving in and building one.

This is our home bar area.  I’m still not done with this space.  But, I’ve got a lot of other projects and I need to be done for a while. Right now it’s functional and looks a lot better than the before.

Yep.  That is seriously what I have been looking at for months. In the middle of my living room.  GROSS.

Anyway, I’ll have a post about how I put it all together soon, but I learned a lot doing this and I wanted to let you guys know the things you should consider before installing sliding doors.

First off, you have to decide if you have enough space side to side.  I only had 5 1/2 feet, and there is not a lot of sliding door hardware kits that are that short.  If you have a big wall, that won’t be a problem, but if you are considering a smaller space, you’ll need to measure and determine what length track you’ll need.  A lot of hardware tracks are 6 1/2 feet or more.  The track is the long bar that the hardware rolls across.

Second, you will have to determine how much space you have for the track top to bottom.  With the fridge underneath, and the tap on top, I have very little space to work with and this has been my biggest hang up.  My “i’m driving my friends crazy asking them about it” hangup.  If you look at the finished picture, you’ll see that the hardware sticks up above the countertop.   That is something I can’t decide if I like or not.  It is something to consider when you measure your space.  My friend Kim from Knock It Off Kim suggested some riser shelves on either side of the tap, so that is something I’m thinking about doing.  I couldn’t find a kit that was the right length (side to side) and that didn’t stick up like that.  If you are installing them on a flat wall, this might not be a problem, just allow for the space above the track to accommodate the hardware.

The third thing to consider is the door size, side to side. I had to measure a bunch of times to see if I would be able to fit a door that would cover the fridge and also be able to slide to either side.  Luckily, for this space, the fridge was a little less than a third of the overall length, but if the fridge had been bigger (or the space smaller), I would not have been able to fit a door over it and still been able to slide it out of the way.

Next you’ll need to consider your floor.  I didn’t realize that most sliding door hardware sets have a little ball track that run on the floor to keep the door sliding in place. I didn’t actually need it for this door, because its small and light – but if you are considering a bigger, heavier door than that will be something to consider.  I didn’t use it because I didn’t want to drill into the brick.

The last thing to consider is fingers.  This set actually is great, it’s smooth and chunky enough that I don’t see it pinching or smashing fingers.  Plus this door is not heavy at all. But, I have had at least three people ask, so it’s something to consider.  Since this door is shorter than most sliding doors, there is a chance people will get there fingers in there.  You’ll need to examine where the top and bottom hardware is going to be placed and wether or not this is going to cause any problems. 

Okay, so there is my experience.  I’ll have to think about this area some more, but at least it’s a little nicer than before. I still want to add some wine and beer glass storage as well as a couple of other things, which may include risers to “hide” the hardware.  Check out my wood plank wall that I made for around $40 HERE and my unique wine rack I made for around $20 HERE.   I’ll have all the details on how I put this area together soon.  Maybe after I actually finish the trim and everything else…!

So, what you you think about sliding doors?  Good, bad, trendy?   I do like the functionally and funky look but worry if they are a passing phase.  I sure hope not!  Sliding doors are too cool.

Thanks for stopping by!

April