Flush sliding door: a search for the perfect track

[jido]

I would like to install a sliding door for a bathroom project.

My requirement is that the door I practically invisible when closed, so it should be flush with the wall on the outside.

I am aware of concealed sliding doors but they are invisible when open, not when closed.

The solution is simple: give a slight bend to the track so that the door slides flush into the hole of the doorway in the last few centimetres. But I can't seem to find a supplier for bendable sliding door tracks.

Does anybody have experience with bending a straight door track a little to achieve this or similar effect?

 

[daviddave]

hi,

I don't know if something like this it is on the market. you need a custom solution

 

[big-all]

bending a track simply wont acheive this its similar to parking a car the space has to be bigger than the door
have a look at "plug doors" like on buses trains and vans
you require a swing mechanism to place the back off the door into place
i suspect what you are looking at will be very very expensive and very visible

 

[big-all]

https://www.barrier-components.co.u...ard-and-wardrobe/flush-sliding-door-kits.html

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Very swish

 

[Tigercubrider]

Problem is that "invisible" is normally from one side only, as few people sit in a wardrobe and contemplate the door. You may have to settle for a pocket door within a false but thin wall surface to hide the door

 

[daviddave]

Nice

 

[jido]

Nice product, thank you for the link. It is a bit expensive.

My design utilises a single track but the downside is that one of the wheels is fixed in the centre of the door instead of the end which may put more strain on it.

 

[big-all]

dont think it will work
you will now have a large overhang so all the weight will be rocking on the center
also as the front wheel goes round the "s" the back end will stick out a corrissponding amount
also the last action on the track has to be at 90% to the face off the door for the door to "plug in" otherwise if its at say 45 degrees it will travel away as much as sideways so on a 15mm door will move away 15mm

 

[jido]

Yeah the front wheel should be at least 90% in when the rear wheel shifts into flush position.

Will it work, well I would like to try

 

[big-all]

the track has to be at right angles to the face off the door at the point the rear end goes to close
in other words the track has to be an "L" shape to work with your idea

 

[jido]

No that is not right.

Here is an illustration (needs some adjustment but the idea is there):

 

[big-all]

as i pointed out at a 45% angle the door has no option to move the same amount as it goes sideways as indeed the overlap on your drawing shows
any way i am 100% certain in what i have said
please come back if it works and i will appologize for being wrong
ohh and by the way i do realize a long overhang will effect the amount off throw causing the back to move around twice as much as the forward movement but it still has to move forward once cleared the frame to move sideways
having the back unsupported will stop the door being reliable
any way i step out off this one as i have added all i can

 

[big-all]

as an aside
any light switches sockets skirting or architrave at or around the back edge off the closing door will effect the the forward movement required to close the door if they move the door position out from the wall

 

[jido]

I don't worry too much about the small overlap, I am sure there is a door profile that can arrange that. But the unsupported back is definitively a concern.