Changing Sliding Closet Doors To French Doors

Leveling the door is important.

Changing sliding closet doors to french doors.

The style and color of the door handle can be upgraded and you can also add grids for a traditional french door look. Prep the top of the door to accommodate the new doors. Whether or not it should be is another matter. Center and level the french doors when you are ready to install the new french doors make sure that you place the bottom end first and make sure it is centered within the space.

Remove the door from the track. Mark the positions of the hinge screw holes. Unlatch the mechanism holding the rollers of one door to its track. You may have to wiggle them a bit but once they come off remove the wheels from the doors and remove the track from the closet opening.

They should be hanging from the track by wheels at the tops of the doors. As you look at replacing your sliding patio door with a french patio door there are a variety of options and upgrades to consider. Add wooden shims under the wood framing around the opening to make it level and plumb. Swing the door in toward the closet wall or out toward the room while lifting up on the door.

If it is not level you will need to put in wooden shims in the jambs and the frame of the door. Check all surfaces with a carpenter s level. Because of the width difference you would need to rebuild the frame around the closet doorway into or onto which you want to set your sliding doors as french doors. Site in italian make any closet a little fancier with french doors.

Build any needed door framing to fit the french doors. Remove the old doors and the old closet track and any extra molding inside the door frame 1a. However if your sliding doors have a wood frame or sufficient metal frame outside the glass to add hinges it probably could be done. Evenly space the hinges so that they are each about one foot from the top and bottom of the door.

Position the two doors within the cleared out frame. The removal of the sliding doors should include removing all railings and sliding track to make room for new swing doors. Old shutters look gorgeous as closet doors. Cut high quality wood with a circular saw for example to expand the header or jack studs to make the opening fit the new doors.

They look so rustic. The first step to convert sliding doors to hinged doors is to remove the sliding doors from their track. Once i took out the old molding i had to put in a filler piece to lower the top of the doorframe to be level with the door molding at the top. Sidelites can also be used for more light and ventilation.

Set two door hinges between the doors and the closet frame.