Choosing & Installing Interior Sliding Doors – Everything You Need to Know About Living Room Internal Sliding Doors

 

Introduction

Sliding doors commonly opt as a healthy flow of operation for back gardens and porches. And yet, their popularity seems to extend further, targeting other parts of the home. With a wide range of interior sliding door ideas out there, their benefits can't be overlooked.

For both commercial and domestic properties, sliding doors represent an attractive addition to homes, but they are also practical and convenient. Apart from marking the entry to rooms, they're also usable for cabinets or wardrobes.

Advantages Of Sliding Doors

From saving space to providing easy access, sliding doors come with a bunch of benefits:

• Space saving – this is the most obvious advantage out there. They operate sideways – different from classic hinged doors that need space to swing. They are handy in tight places and small homes – even apartments.
• Extra light – while not a general rule, more and more interior sliding door ideas recommend glass. Glass doors allow more light in, despite the lack of privacy – they are suitable for certain rooms and not for bedrooms.
• Stylish – a sliding door is modern when compared to traditional hinged doors. Besides, there are lots of different designs to choose from, so such an improvement would definitely add to the style of a room.

 

Why are Sliding Doors Are Better?

If the above-mentioned benefits are not enough, an interior sliding door has many more advantages over the classic hinged alternatives. While most people get these doors for design purposes, the truth is their capabilities go further than that.

Improving Light Flow

One major benefit of sliding doors is that if you choose glass sliding doors specifically, you can severely increase the lightflow in your home, making your rooms brighter and lighter, which has been shown to improve your mood exponentially. 

Adding To The Ergonomic Design

A sliding door will ensure a good flow between the indoors and outdoors. Open the door, and there will be a seamless flow between two different spaces. Usually, these doors come with large panes, so they can offer excellent views over your landscape.

Boosting The Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency is a serious consideration when thinking about an interior sliding door. Sure, this aspect is more important for external doors, but internal doors are just as effective because they ensure optimal thermal insulation between rooms and hallways.

Providing Easy Access

While you may not need to make too much effort to open a traditional door, sliding doors are just as effective and will ease the job. To open such a door, you simply need to touch a handle and push it. It is easy, regardless of your fitness level.

Creating An Open Space

A sliding door allows you to achieve a modern look – the open space environment. People have been trying to reach this type of design for ages – sliding doors are often overlooked because they are associated with external uses.

This is only a misconception – the truth is internal sliding doors are just as common and will work wonders on your décor. Again, the effect is even better if you have a small space and you need to add some visual size to it.

Creating Extra Space

An internal sliding door allows you to separate a large space into two different spaces. Large sliding doors will bring in flexibility, meaning you can come up with extra functionality – excellent for a wide variety of applications.

Choosing From Lots Of Options

There are different options out there for all sorts of rooms and environments. For example, you would not get an interior glass sliding door UK for the bathroom. Instead, you would get a specific sliding bathroom door – you want some privacy.

A frosted glass sliding door may also be appropriate for certain spaces, but despite the foggy appearance, it is not suitable for private places like bathrooms. Apart from glass, you can choose between different types of wood too – your options and designs are countless.

Beautiful Aesthetic

Interior Sliding Doors provide a simple, elegant beauty that adds a sophisticated, excellent look to any space in your home. This can help your home stand out from those of your contemporaries and help boost your mood.

Sliding Doors Add To Your Home Value

Because of their amazing aesthetic and utility, sliding doors can increase the value of your home. If you are looking to move out or rent your property, then the installation of sliding doors can help you fetch better prices.

Are Sliding Doors Good For The Bedroom?

When it comes to internal sliding doors, the truth is bedrooms represent the most popular choices and not just as you enter the respective environment. A sliding door will give you more room. You can also install such doors for cabinets or wardrobes, meaning you get even more space.

Sliding doors are just as effective for kitchens and living rooms. When it comes to your patio, you may already have this type of design. The same goes for bathrooms, but you will obviously require more privacy for these doors.

 

Are Internal Sliding Doors Good?

People love sliding doors for the design before anything else. While common and easy to find, they represent an innovation for all the above-mentioned benefits. People associate them with modern homes – a common trend today.

Now, choosing an interior glass sliding door UK is not everything because you also need quality and a top-notch installation. Just like classic doors, the sliding alternative may face different issues if the quality is poor or they are installed incorrectly.

Compared to traditional doors, they bring in more benefits. But just like classic doors, they require a bit of maintenance and care. Based on the extras they bring in, internal sliding doors are better and provide a different experience. It is worth noting that all the above-mentioned benefits are given in comparison to traditional doors.

 

Do Sliding Doors Need A Bottom Track?

Unlike most expectations, you can now get an interior sliding door with no bottom track. This is one of the reasons wherefore lots of people avoided internal sliding doors throughout the past years – the hassle of installing a bottom track. As you explore the market – whether you are after fully frosted, clear, or other types of doors, you will realize that bottom tracks are not always included. It is perfectly natural to wonder if you actually need it or not.

Here comes the good news – you do not always need a bottom track for internal doors. Indeed, your patio or external doors do come with bottom tracks. Those are mandatory. External doors are thicker and much heavier because they must be safe and secure. But things change on the inside. An interior sliding door with no bottom track is installed differently. It has an upper track. It sounds a bit unusual, but interior doors are often suspended. This upper track has the primary goal to support the weight of the interior door, meaning it can be safely suspended. The bottom track is not mandatory, but you can opt for one. It helps to keep the door in place, adding to the overall security. This is what makes the bottom track so important for external doors – they must be firm. An upper track is also firm, but not as secure as the bottom one.

At the end of the day, you do not need the same high level of security for an internal door. Now you understand why internal sliding doors often come without bottom tracks. You also realize that you may not have to spend extra to install such a feature. At the end of the day, it is a matter of personal preferences, yet most people choose to avoid the track.

 

How Wide Should Internal Sliding Doors Be?

Whether you get such doors for the living room, bathroom, or perhaps a closet, it all depends on the opening. When it comes to room openings, you probably know already that differences are not too big – many doors come in standard sizes. With all these, you will still have to do a bit of measuring. Get a tape measure and check the opening. You will realize that the width will not always match standard sizes, but this is perfectly normal. Small differences are well accepted.

This so called issue is more common in old homes, but there is nothing to be worried about. Just pick the closest size to what you have. The upper track must have the same size – the only so-called issue is that sliding doors will overlap a bit more than normally.

 

How Do You Keep A Sliding Door From Swinging?

Now, you probably ask yourself – how do you prevent glass sliding doors from swinging? If they are only attached to the top, it makes sense that they will start swinging. Fortunately, there are ways to prevent this.

Bottom tracks represent the most common option – you do not want them. You can also install side stops or perhaps guides. All these things can be screwed into the actual floor, meaning the door will no longer move sideways. They can prevent the door from going backward or forward, but they will also prevent it from going loose. When loose, it could damage the jamb or the wall. Now, while some stops or guides are universal, some others come with the doors and are specifically made for those models.

Not sure which one is better? A door guide is probably the best choice. You can attach it to the flooring or the wall. The door will slide on them, but they will also prevent it from moving to the wrong direction – no track required.