How to Install Sliding Closet Doors

Maybe your sliding closet doors are damaged, or maybe you just want to change the style of the doors to better match your taste. Here's a simple project to help you do just that.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Wood Stain
• Hacksaws
• Screwdriver Sets

1. Take measurements of the old doors. Bring these to a local home improvement center or lumberyard.

2. Pick out a set of doors that suits your style and home decor. There are many styles to choose from, both finished and unfinished, but make sure they match the size of your doors.

3. Apply finish, if you chose an unfinished model, before hanging the new doors. This is much easier than applying paint or stain after installing the doors.

4. Remove most old doors by simply lifting them up out of the track; most just ride in the overhead track. A few models have a simple locking mechanism that you override by holding down on a small lever, while still other models have certain places on the track where the rollers must be positioned over a cutout and then lifted free.

5. Remove the old track from the top of the door opening with a screwdriver. You won't need to keep any of the old hardware except for the door guides that some doors have mounted on the floor. (The only reason to replace these is if they are visibly damaged.)

6. Measure the new track against the old for length. You may have to size the new one down with a hacksaw to fit the opening.

7. Mount the bracket in the same location as the old one using the screws provided. Make sure the screws are well-seated so that the heads won't interfere with the roller movement, but don't overtighten and warp the track out of shape, as this can inhibit smooth door movement as well.

8. Mount the rollers on the inside upper edge of the doors according to manufacturer's instructions. (Some kits come with the rollers already mounted.)

9. Hang the new doors on the track.

[jtbeam]

on 4/2/2008 Your mounting screws have come loose due to the vibration of the door as it moves in the track.

If you look at the back of the door, there should be two screws that mount hold the roller hardware to the door. Look closely at the hardware and you;ll notice that one of them has a circular track instead of a hole. There should also be a "v" shaped cut near the bottom of this roller bracket.

To align your doors with the jamb, loosen the screw on the circular track slightly and your door will/may move a little bit. Using a flat bladed screwdriver, insert it into the "v" and lever the door into the position so the the edge of the door is aligned with the jamb. It might help to have someone watching the door so you know when to stop. Once you have the door aligned as you like, install a screw in the "v" slot an this will lock your hanger bracket in place and prevent it from slipping in

[kscvil]

on 2/19/2008 Finally, an article that seems to know what kinds of sliding closet doors have been put in homes since at least the early 1990s. Thank you! Now, if you wrote an article on what I need to do to get my sliding doors to sit flush or level against the inside of the frame, that would be great. I'm not sure if I'm using these terms correctly, so I'll just keep it simple, but when you look at both doors closed, near the top, one abuts the frame exactly, but starting about six inches down from the top, you can see the space between the door grow wider where it should meet the frame. The other door has the same problem, only in reverse, with the bottom meeting the frame. I don't know whether I need to replace the door guides on the floor or the overhead track. By the way, this happened suddenly, within the past two weeks.