# Home Made Closet Doors



## allen1466 (Dec 6, 2005)

Hello Everyone,

I'm in the midst of fixing up my house to get ready to sell. Just the basics as everyone says, bathrooms and kitchens are the biggest sellers of the house. Well, I'm starting in the master bedroom and working thru each room. My closet has bi-fold doors and they are an odd size. Went to H/D to see if they have something close and they don't. So instead of spending lots of $$$$ on custom doors, I thought about making them myself.

The finished opening of the closet is 70 1/2" wide and 80 3/4" tall. The doors are 17" x 79". I thought about taking 2 x 2's and making frames for the doors. Then taking some "skin" material and putting that on the 2" x 2" frame. Then find some laminate or paneling and finishing the doors that way.

But my question is: Can I find at H/D or Lowes, the tracks that the bi-fold doors work with, by themselves?? And will the new tracks come with instructions on what size the doors should be for a certain size opening?? Currently I have carpeting, but there is h/w flooring underneath that I want to re-finish.

Thanks, Allen


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## Darylh (Jan 2, 2006)

Yes they do. I have never had a problem getting them and yes they have directions. You can cut to size to by the way


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## K2eoj (Aug 14, 2005)

You should be able to find an 18 in. door and rip 1/2 inch off of each side, plane and sand, and put thdm back together. I also rip door into the hollow and then clean the edge piece and glue and clamp it back into place. Making doors sounds like alot of work to me.HS. Hardware is not a problem.


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## KenTheHandyMan (Sep 1, 2005)

Making doors is not a DIY job unless you happen to be an accomplished cabinet maker. Follow HS's advice and just rip the door to size. I have even had to take a nice oak bi-fold from HD and disassemble it, then rip a quarter of an inch or so off of each side of each door, and put it back together. You'll spend way much more time trying to make them and won't get as nice a job, more than likely.


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## allen1466 (Dec 6, 2005)

Thanks for all the help!

I took some time and looked into this. I have found out that you can take Hollow Core doors and cut off what you need and add some lumber back to the door. That is the way I'm going to go. A hollow core door at H/D is $18/ea. A few pieces of lumber and I can have my closet doors back together for under $100.

I have read the directions about installing the doors. From what the directions say: Measure the width of the opening, divide by how many doors you want and minus a 1/4". That seems a little tight. Don't you want to take a 1/4" off per door instead of 1/4" total. Can someone explain this measurement.

I haven't done the doors yet because the weather was really cold this weekend. When the high is in the low 20's, and the power tools are in the garage, I have found other things to take care of besides doors.

Thanks, Allen


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## KenTheHandyMan (Sep 1, 2005)

That 1/4" measurement depends on a lot of factors. You should check how square and plumb the openings are. I imagine the instructions are meaning to subtract 1/4" from each door. For example, a 48" opening divided by 2 doors would yield 24". If you subtract 1/4" from that, you'll make each door 23 3/4". You'll ideally have an 1/8" on the hinge side, and that would give you an 1/8" in the middle. By the time you do both doors, it'll be 1/4" in the middle which is about right. You don't want it too tight because closing one door could tend to open the other one if air can't escape quickly enough.

If the opening is severly out of plumb/square, you'll have to take that into consideration.


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## allen1466 (Dec 6, 2005)

Hey Ken,

That is what I thought about the 1/4" measurement. Divide the opening by the number of doors you want, then take off 1/4" per door. But the instructions say take the opening, divide by the number of doors and minus 1/4". I thought that was just a little tight. 

Thanks for confirming what I thought!

Allen


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## K2eoj (Aug 14, 2005)

I make mine door size +1/4+(2x1/2) rock if it's a wrapped opening. Same for a 1/2 wrapped with half caseing. For full cased opening I go door size +2. 

Door size = all the door panels. 6'0" Door with 4 panels =6'0". So 6'1/4" finished or 6'1-1/4" rough w/1/2 rock. 

Like Ken said, the opening has to be plumb on the wrapped openings.


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## katlee730 (Oct 25, 2007)

Hello,

I work for a company called Kestrel Shutters & Doors in Stowe, PA. We custom make all our solid wood closet doors. We have many designs to choose from, but can also taylor it to your needs. We go by your sizes so we can make any size. Frame components are joined with true, deep pocket mortise and tenon joints, then pegged to ensure strength and durability for generations. If you would like a quote or want to talk or ask any questions you can email me at [email protected] or call me at 1-800-494-4321


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## send_it_all (Apr 30, 2007)

You can also use two 36" doors and make bypass doors out of them. They sell the bypass slider kits at Home Depot. I have done the same thinf with 6 panel doors. If your height works out right, you can just hack the top of the doors off to create a 4 panel door and glue the piece back in...They look great with the panel doors. I personally dont care for the look of bifold doors, especially louvered ones.


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