Doors with no head bumper frame?

[BuSmith]

Hey yo! I'm trying to think of a way to put full height doors between my bathroom and kitchen/bedroom. Problem is the door is in the middle of ceiling arch and I can't think of a way to make a full height door without a head bumper of a frame or track.

I've been thinking of sliding doors and the like but can't come up with a way to avoid a 4" ish head bumper in the crown of the roof, either as a jam or a track.

Anybody seen any novel ideas there? Any advice from out of the box?

 

[TJones-SKO]

Check out the Brocolli Bus build Aaron uses drawer slide to build a pocket door. It is somewhere in the middle to end of the thread.

Ted

 

[plfking]

Problem is the door is in the middle of ceiling arch and I can't think of a way to make a full height door without a head bumper of a frame or track.

Double doors? Each arched to fit one half of the opening. And, being skinnier, they wouldn't need as much 'swing' space to open as a full door would. They'd only open about 90 degrees, though.

 

[Mark_In_MA]

I thought I had an idea with a pair of these, but I realized it doesn't solve the problem. You loose the same amount of height, although the door swing is now half as deep.

What about a fold-down transom window of some sort to cover the arched portion? Mount it to the door so you retain full headroom.

Those are the only two good ideas I've got. The other two are just ideas.

Maybe the arch could be some sort of a folding fan shape? Put a little motor in the middle with an arm that swings 180 degrees to deploy it at the push of a button? (I've seen WAY more complicated things fabricated here before....)

Two pocket doors, with little spring-mounted "louvers" mounted on top, with a little wheel that runs along the ceiling. As the door slides open, the roof just pushes the little top piece down and out of the way.

 

[Mark_In_MA]

Double doors? Each arched to fit one half of the opening. And, being skinnier, they wouldn't need as much 'swing' space to open as a full door would. They'd only open about 90 degrees, though.

That won't work - look at the picture I posted. The highest part of the arch is in the middle when the door is closed. When the door opens, the highest part of the arch is on the outside by the hinge. I had the same idea at first too.

Straight doors would work, but there would still be a small gap between the door and the roof.

 

[plfking]

That won't work - look at the picture I posted. The highest part of the arch is in the middle when the door is closed. When the door opens, the highest part of the arch is on the outside by the hinge.

Hence my "they'd only open about 90 degrees" comment.

Your 'spring-mounted louver' idea would actually be a pretty unusual but very elegant solution to this. The louvers could even sit inside the pocket doors for a very finished look.

 

[BuSmith]

Check out the Brocolli Bus build Aaron uses drawer slide to build a pocket door. It is somewhere in the middle to end of the thread.

Ted

I don't think I'd seen that page, thanks! Been thinking about using drawer slides for this or other similar doors.

For Posterity: http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f11/the-broccoli-bus-9394-85.html

EDIT: Boy howdy I'll tell you what, I dearly wish I'd convinced the wife to do a roof raise like Aaron's.

 

[BuSmith]

I thought I had an idea with a pair of these, but I realized it doesn't solve the problem. You loose the same amount of height, although the door swing is now half as deep...

We think alike! I had the exact same idea as your last one. I'd also had a similar idea to your former using some kind of flexile arch like a whip antenna and a curtain. When you closed the door the whip would just press out of the way.

 

[BuSmith]

Last night I had what I'm hoping will turn out to be an epiphany...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/vskrmXjGxTxxSmYA9

If the door mounted with hinges on the left it would, when closed, shut the doorway that's almost directly over the green axis. When open it would be folded back against the toilet on the left (near the red line).

I'm reasonably sure I can make it sane. I guess I'll start framing things in and test it with a slipsheet prototype, I can always fallback to other options.

 

[BlackJohn]

Hey yo! I'm trying to think of a way to put full height doors between my bathroom and kitchen/bedroom. Problem is the door is in the middle of ceiling arch and I can't think of a way to make a full height door without a head bumper of a frame or track.

I've been thinking of sliding doors and the like but can't come up with a way to avoid a 4" ish head bumper in the crown of the roof, either as a jam or a track.

Anybody seen any novel ideas there? Any advice from out of the box?

I built myself into this problem a couple of times in my bus.
Simply because I wanted to save a Douglas Fir door from being trash or reused where it wouldn't be seen.

This door is at the front right behind the driver and crosses the aisle to meet the safety bulkhead that is at the front of the row of seats on the passenger side.
That let me build 2 solid posts for the door to be mounted. Somehow it turned out very sturdy to hang the door.
This meant I could cut the door now to size. Some of the bottom, some off parts of the top till it swung 90 degrees open. Took some figuring but I put the door frame off centre of the aisle a few inches toward the driver side of the bus. This let me get the most height out of the door and benefit from its 3 panes of opaque glass at eye level.

It fits tight to my rough floor for now and would take a tidal wave of stuff to break it down, in say a "catastrophic event." Me, unable to stop!
So I didn't end up with a bulkhead bumper, but rather a filler piece thaat when the door is closed from the cabin, looks as one piece.
I have the wood for it from the bottom of the door but needed a heavy duty bandsaw to cut it properly. I put it off.
Turns out one of my neighbours has just the saw. We also found out we even went to the same high school, talk about a small world.
May have some pics if I find time.


John

 

[ThePimentals]

I have 2 pocket doors with a gap at the top and it’s not an issue at all. Iight doesn’t really go over the doors and no one has ever peeped on me doing anything sneaky.

 

[o1marc]

I've been contemplating this same issue. I want a pocket door to the garage because I don't want to have to waste space by having a swinging door. The problems arise when a standard door is 80" tall and we only have about 72" to play with which means the door will need to be shortened. Not to the clearance in the middle , but to the outer part where the corner of the door will be when opened. One thing I'm picturing is just welding the track to the bottom of the rib which would give me the most headroom and then building the walls around that.
I'll have a pocket door in the bathroom also, but it runs front to rear and doesn't have slope loss issue.
I'd like to see some more pics of what you guys are talking about with a gap at the top. Is there a way to finish it so no gap shows?

 

[TJones-SKO]

Last night I had what I'm hoping will turn out to be an epiphany...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/vskrmXjGxTxxSmYA9

If the door mounted with hinges on the left it would, when closed, shut the doorway that's almost directly over the green axis. When open it would be folded back against the toilet on the left (near the red line).

I'm reasonably sure I can make it sane. I guess I'll start framing things in and test it with a slipsheet prototype, I can always fallback to other options.

Yes do that oragami style. You should figure out the best way to make that idea work so I can then copy you.

Ted

 

[BuSmith]

Yes do that oragami style. You should figure out the best way to make that idea work so I can then copy you.



Ted

I might be nuts - I'm almost certainly nuts - but I think I can do it well. So origami style... Only thing is where to find a big enough sheet of paper...