Give yourself some space by folding open these innovative doors
Not every room in your house has the space for dramatic French doors that swing wide open. Bifold doors open like an accordion, folding into one another and stacking out of sight without taking up tons of real estate. While these are one of the most popular closet door types, you can also install bifold doors for your pantry, living room, or even out to your back porch.
There are two quick things to tackle before learning how to install bifold doors. First of all, remove your old door and get to know the measurements of your current door frame. Also, check each door jamb and the threshold to ensure they are level. If not, you will need to make adjustments to these pieces before adding your bifold door track. You will also need to measure your door to purchase the correct door and kit.
Once you've chosen a model, get to know your bifold door kit and all its various parts. While each set will vary slightly, most will include a set of pivot brackets, the top and bottom pivot, the bifold door track, jamb brackets, a spring snugger, and a set of screws in various lengths. Take a look at the diagram included in your manual to learn the purpose of each item and where it belongs on your door jamb.
If you plan to paint your door slabs, it's best to get this done before mounting them on the frame. Allow the doors to fully dry and remember not to paint over pre-drilled holes provided by the manufacturer.
In some cases, your door kit will send a slab with the hinges and hardware pre-attached. If not, you'll need to follow the instructions in your manual to do it before starting.
Attach the hinges to the edges of each panel, lining up each panel on top of the other to ensure that each hinge aligns perfectly and sits flush when placed side by side. In most designs, the hinges will sit on the back edges of each door in two to three locations. Mount the matching hinges to the inside of each door jamb after pre-drilling holes with the appropriate bit.
The slabs of your bifold door have several pieces of hardware that will attach the track and floor pivot. Following the instructions in your manual, attach the pivot plates and pivots into the top corners of your doors. In some kits, you will need to pre-drill the holes before inserting the pivots and plates.
At the bottom of the door, most designs come with pre-drilled holes for lightly tapping pivots into the base of each panel.
Measure the space between your two jambs and leave 1/16 of an inch between the edge of the header and the start of your track. Next, measure back one inch from the front of the header and mark this spot with a pencil.
If your track is too long, trim it with your hacksaw before starting. Remember to always measure twice and cut once. Place your track between the two pencil marks. Secure your track with the attached pivot bracket with the screws in your kit.
Directly below the top pivot bracket, screw the floor brackets flush with each side of the door jambs. Be sure the floor brackets are center and will line up perfectly with the top track. Use your plumb bob on your top brack and be sure that it hangs down and hits your floor track evenly.
After slipping the bottom pivots into the floor bracket of one side of your door, guide the snugger guide—the white circular piece that fits on the pivot—into the track. Depending on the model, you may be able to press or pinch the snugger guide to slip it into the track itself.
The pivot at the base of your doors is the key—quite literally—to adjusting the bifold doors’ height. If the doors are scraping along the bottom or top jamb, screw the pivot screw on the outside of the bottom track to adjust the doors up and down.
Tackling the task of how to install bifold doors is doable if:
The panels are not very heavy
You can reach the top of the door jamb without a tall ladder
The frame of your door is even and plumb
Heavy or tall doors are best left to the professionals to avoid injury. Additionally, we recommend hiring a local door installer for all exterior bifold doors, since weatherproofing and security are at stake. Door installation costs range by the type of door, but assume that labor will cost between $40 and $90 an hour.
Bifold doors do not always need a full bottom track. Many models depend solely on the top track and hang down to align with floor brackets on either side of the door frame. This detail makes bifold doors a great option in rooms with carpets and where you hope not to drill into the floor in several places.
The exact hinge measurements will depend on the type of door you choose, as the weight of the door will have a large say. However, installing hinges on doors can be straightforward. In many cases, the top door hinge will sit five inches below the door header and 10 inches up from the floor.
While your kit will include any number of types of hinges, bifold hinges are typically used exactly for this purpose. In most cases, a center leaf of the hinge swings through the center of an external leaf, instead of two leaves splitting in either direction.
