Install Sliding Closet Doors
Sliding closet doors, also known as bypass doors, are doors that slide behind one another, using a minimal amount of room space. Follow these steps to install sliding closet doors in any room of your house.
Steps
- Prepare your doors for hanging. If they are unfinished, then you should paint or stain them before you install them.
- Measure the opening for your closet doors. Determine horizontal and vertical measurements, as well as the width and height of each old closet door.
- Remove existing closet doors, if needed. If you have sliding doors in place currently, lift each door out of the bottom track first. Then, lower the bottom of each door down onto the floor next to the track. Doing this will pull the door from the top track. Set the old doors aside.
- Remove old tracks, hinges or screws using an electric drill with a screwdriver bit. Use putty to patch up any holes as needed. Paint over any large patches of putty that won't be covered by the new sliding doors.
- Align the old tracks with the new ones to find the appropriate length for the new tracks. Cut the new tracks to fit the closet opening using a hacksaw.
- Install new tracks on the top side of the closet opening using your electric drill.
- The tracks might have pre-made holes for screwing the brackets into the frame of your closet. If not, create the holes with your drill and install the screws that came with your doors.
- Make sure that the screws are flush with the track so that they don't stick out and interfere with the doors' movements. At the same time, don't over-tighten them because you may warp the track.
- Hang the doors on the top bracket starting with the rear door. The doors have rollers at the top that will fit into the top bracket.
- Turn the front of each door so that it's facing you when you lift it.
- Lift the door and place it in the top track, starting with the back part. Once the back of the door is in place, the front will fit into the track as well. Repeat this process with the second door.
- Allow the doors to hang straight down from the top bracket. Mark where the bottom track needs to be installed.
- Remove the doors from the top bracket.
- Install the bottom track using the previously marked measurements.
- Hang the doors in the top track again, using the same procedure. The bottom of the doors will slide into place if all of your measurements are correct.
Tips
- Leaving the old hardware in place may seem like a time saver, but take the time to replace the old hardware with the new. The brackets that come with the doors are customized to fit those doors.
- Instead of discarding your old closet doors in a landfill, re-purpose them. Try cutting them up to make shelves, using them as workbenches or re-purposing them as room dividers.
Warnings
- Wear safety glasses when you cut the tracks and when you use your drill.
Things You'll Need
- Sliding closet doors and hardware
- Measuring tape
- Electric drill with a screwdriver bit
- Hacksaw
- Pencil for marking measurements
- Goggles or safety glasses
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