Choosing and installing the correct size of pocket door should not be a difficult process. It mostly depends on the type of property that you have and the type of finish you are looking to create.

Wherever you start, and wherever you want to end up, the friendly and knowledgeable ECLISSE customer service team will be able to guide you through the process to get the perfect result.

Here are the eight stages of specifying and installing the perfect pocket door system.

• Type of property

The type of property, be it a new build, a renovation, or an extension to name just a few, will have an influence on the type of pocket door system that best suits. New build properties are most likely to have internal walls constructed from timber studwork, but increasingly in recent decades metal studwork has been used. Renovations bring their own eccentricities, for example, in older properties the walls are less likely to be straight, and the internal walls will be built from brick so you will need to build alongside a wall or open up a passage way to create a newly built pocket. Other properties may be block built which is similar to brick, whilst older properties, especially in places such as Yorkshire, are likely to stone built. 

• Type of stud

Confusion may arise around measurements depending on the type of timber used for the studwork. Older houses may have rough sawn timbers that are generally either 3x2 or 4x2, and these are pre-finished imperial measurements. Other possibilities are CLS (Canadian Lumber Standard) or C16/C24 construction timber which will have planed finished metric measurements such as 47mm x 98mm.

We’ve worked hard to make sure that ECLISSE’s wide range of sizes, thicknesses and heights make it easy for you to choose the best solution for your home without having to make major adjustments to the fabric of your house.

Metal stud is easy to work with as the measurements are more exact than timber.

Have a read of our How to Size a Pocket Door System blog for more information

• Aesthetics

What sort of design are you trying to create? Have you seen something that you want to emulate? Are you trying to match a certain look or a certain style? The Classic Pocket Door System finished with decorative architrave is best for a traditional look, whilst the Syntesis® Flush Pocket Door System or Syntesis® Flush Hinged System is architrave-free and with its clean lines will result in the prefect modern finish.

• Pocket thickness

You should choose the pocket thickness to suit the thickness of the stud . ECLISSE offers the widest range of pocket thicknesses - 70mm, 75mm, 90mm and 100mm - to suit the most commonly used stud sizes of any UK supplier, making it much easier to match the pocket thickness to the size of studwork. Once the ECLISSE pocket door frame is installed into the studwork, then attaching the plasterboard will simply be a case of fixing 12.5mm plasterboard to either side of the pocket and the rest of the studwork to finish off the wall. 

• Size of door

ECLISSE Pocket Door Systems are designed to suit standard UK sized doors however bespoke options are available. There are several choices, including single, double, telescopic or even curved. You should assess how much available space you have and if there is an existing opening that you want to use, or if you need to make a new opening. Remember - you must create an opening larger than the door in order to accommodate the overall frame size of the pocket door frame. All sizes and technical specifications are available to view and download on the website.

• Finished wall thickness

The most common finished wall size is 125mm wide which is made up of a 100mm stud, clad on either side with 12.5mm plasterboard. The other most common finished wall thicknesses are 95mm, 100mm,115mm and 140mm.

• Technical

There are a few technical factors to consider. You must ensure that the frame is installed at finished floor level. The studwork must be strong enough to support the weight of the doors being installed and it must be plumb and inline. 

• Accessories

ECLISSE offer a wide range of pocket door accessories suitable for our systems. We advise in almost all cases that you install a BIAS (Soft-Close with Built-In Anti-Slam) system, this will help the door to open and close and includes an anti-slam feature that will be especially useful if there are children in the house. There are also options ranging from coordination kits for our double pocket door systems which allows you to open or close one door, the other opens or closes at the same time, to self-closing kits suitable for our FD30 Single and Double Pocket Door Systems. With the added benefit of the ECLISSE extractable track, all ECLISSE accessories can be retrofitted.

To find out how you can make the most of your space by using ECLISSE pocket doors systems, and how to correctly size and install them, please call our friendly and knowledgeable Customer Service Team now on 0333 5770828.