One of the mental exercises I’ve worked lately involves temporary room dividers and folding doors. I love decorative dividers, but those aren’t always the best solution. I’m looking for indoor folding wall hardware. I would like a door that would slide into the wall to hide my washer and dryer. I could use a bi-fold door, but they stick out into the walking space, which can be awkward in small spaces if they have to be left open for any extended period.
In the searching I’ve done so far I haven’t found any rolling door hardware for inside house doors for do-it-yourselfers. I can get pocket door hardware easily. There also isn’t any hardware readily available for inside house folding doors, small or large. I can get industrial door hardware designed for Hotels (dividing conference or buffet rooms) and I can get overhead door hardware (garage and industrial).
The garage where we grew up had a rolling door on a track that left the entire width of the two car garage open. The door moved via rollers on an overhead track which wrapped around the inside of the right hand garage wall. Each 3′ wide section had a 2′ wide window in the top half which let in lots of daylight. The door panels were hinged together and were solid wood. It was well constructed and was still working as designed 80 years later. I’ve seen the same sort of thing in counter top appliance garages. In this I’ve seen doors that go up, and doors that wrap around the inside, but there’s no hardware involved, just channels for the doors to slide.
I’ve also seen 8′ wide sliding doors suited to tropical living. I’d love to be able to open whole walls to the outdoors during the summer . . . but I’d have to deal with the resulting fly population, which I don’t care to do. Plus there’s the difficulty in sealing/insulating for the parts of the year when it’s chilly.
This whole thought process is very much a work in progress.