Just how much

[walnutjerry]

gap do you need on the jamb side of a bifold door?

Not sure this is the right forum for this but it seemed to fit the best.

I am reworking some bifold doors for the kitchen pantry----the opening is about 1 3/4" wider than the doors accumalated width. I think I need to add some to the edges of the doors to make them fit. Question is how much gap should I allow for?

Jerry

 

[Larry Rose]

I'm installing some cabinet doors using "morticeless hinges". They leave about 1/8" gap. I would assume that to be enough for any door.

 

[walnutjerry]

I'm installing some cabinet doors using "morticeless hinges". They leave about 1/8" gap. I would assume that to be enough for any door.

That takes care of the gap between the leafs of the doors---------my main concern is the gap on the pivot side next to the jamb. Would 1/8" be enough there for the corner of the door to clear the jamb when opened?

Jerry

 

[toolferone]

Would 1/8" be enough there for the corner of the door to clear the jamb when opened?

Jerry

No 1/8" is not enough.

What if you measure from the pivot point on the door to the corner of the door, and then add 1/8" or a little more? The bifold hardware I bought at the boxes allows for a lot of range of adjustment.

 

[Mike Davis]

Since you are making the extensions, you could make it a 1/8 inch gap by fully rounding the edge. Otherwise it will need the corner clearance plus 1/8.

When are you going to post some pictures of that beautiful new kitchen?

It will blow away anything ever seen here!

 

[Joe Scharle]

Measurements are given in the hardware packs I've used. However, I just looked at one of mine and have about 3/8 gap when closed. The stop covers the gap.

 

[FredP]

gap do you need on the jamb side of a bifold door?

Not sure this is the right forum for this but it seemed to fit the best.

I am reworking some bifold doors for the kitchen pantry----the opening is about 1 3/4" wider than the doors accumalated width. I think I need to add some to the edges of the doors to make them fit. Question is how much gap should I allow for?

Jerry

the pair in my living room are 23 5/8" wide when closed. the jamb is 24". they have no room for ajustment but the guy who put em in did good:gar-La;
if you get them too tight they bind on the jamb when opening and closing. if you add to the doors the pivot will be in a different spot and may not work depending on how long the foot mounting bracket is.:wink_smil if you have too much margin you can add window stop bead or shoe molding to the jamb to hide the crack. I like to add a 1x? accross the top to hide the track and minimize the gap at the top. dont do this untill you have the door set the way you like it! If you trim too low well.......:gar-Bi I did this with a couple of bi fold pairs in my house because I didnt want to redo those jambs. they were originally bypass doors. I hate bypass doors!:gar-La; I dont realy care for bifolds either but it was the lesser of two evils. trimming around them looks good IMO.:icon_thum

 

[LeftyTom]

Jerry, the bifold doors on my pantry have 3/8" clearance between the door edges and the jamb.

 

[walnutjerry]

Thanks to all for the replies------it is a long story on why they are like they are. A condensed version is that they were not all (4 of them) sized the same width 43 years ago when initially installed. I think that is my first objective, to get all of them the same size and allow for the proper clearance in the process. The pivot and roller holes have wallowed out so I will have to make a patch and glue in some solid material to accept those shafts. Could not believe only 3/4 inch depth of solid wood to hold the 2" long shaft of the pins and rollers in the doors. (they are hollow core doors).

Maybe I am penny wise and pound foolish. There is 6 panels all together that make up a 4 panel group for the 5' pantry opening and 2 for a 3' closet. Price on buying smooth oak bifolds was between 4 and 5 hundred bucks for those 2 places. I did buy new hardware and track--about 50 bucks.If I counted my time I could probably have bought 2 sets of doors.

Gotta make use of all the 'chinery though............................

Jerry

 

[FredP]

Thanks to all for the replies------it is a long story on why they are like they are. A condensed version is that they were not all (4 of them) sized the same width 43 years ago when initially installed. I think that is my first objective, to get all of them the same size and allow for the proper clearance in the process. The pivot and roller holes have wallowed out so I will have to make a patch and glue in some solid material to accept those shafts. Could not believe only 3/4 inch depth of solid wood to hold the 2" long shaft of the pins and rollers in the doors. (they are hollow core doors).

Maybe I am penny wise and pound foolish. There is 6 panels all together that make up a 4 panel group for the 5' pantry opening and 2 for a 3' closet. Price on buying smooth oak bifolds was between 4 and 5 hundred bucks for those 2 places. I did buy new hardware and track--about 50 bucks.If I counted my time I could probably have bought 2 sets of doors.

Gotta make use of all the 'chinery though............................

Jerry

:gar-La; I feel your pain jerry. when I did mine the doors were donated by a friend who changed out his for stained doors. these were painted solid wood louvered and beins they was free.......:icon_thum I made them work with what I had. If I were to do it all over and someday I might, I would make my own from real wood with raised panels. I would also rip out the existing jambs and make new ones. If you count your labor it would probably be about the same and you would have a much better end result.:icon_thum

 

[walnutjerry]

:gar-La; I would also rip out the existing jambs and make new ones. If you count your labor it would probably be about the same and you would have a much better end result.:icon_thum

I did do new jambs--------our cabinet doors are flat panels from solid wood (yes, the raised side is inside the cabinet) so I want the bifold doors to match on the outside. Since they were flush doors, my thought is to apply trim 1/4" thick for stile and rail simulation. Then stain to match the cabinets. Probably could have made new solid wood doors about as quick.:gar-La;

Jerry

 

[walnutjerry]

Measurements are given in the hardware packs I've used. However, I just looked at one of mine and have about 3/8 gap when closed. The stop covers the gap.

Joe-------the instructions did give measurements for hole placement and size of hole for the rollers and pivot pins but no suggestions or references on gap at the jambs. After doing a little mock up. I think the 1/4 to 3/8 gap will work fine at the jambs.

Jerry