How to install a sliding wardrobe or room door

What you need

• Tape measure and pencil
• 60 cm spirit level or laser
• Drill with 6 and 8 mm bits
• Screwdriver
• Stud detector
• Hand saw or jigsaw
• Spanner or Allen key, depending on the kit
• Surface-track sliding door kit for the weight and width of your leaf (Leroy Merlin, Bricodepot; there are kits from brands such as Emuca, Hettich or Inspire)
• Lightweight door leaf (solid timber, MDF or glass)
• Timber batten or crosspiece, 70 x 20 mm minimum
• 6 x 60 mm wall plugs and screws
• Floor guide and stops (usually in the kit)
• Sandpaper and varnish or paint if you are finishing the leaf

Step by step

1. 1

   Measure the opening and the wall

   Measure the width and height of the opening and the free space on the wall to one side. It must be at least equal to the width of the leaf. Choose a leaf of opening width + 6-8 cm and opening height minus 15 mm at the bottom.

2. 2

   Find something to fix to

   With the detector, locate the studs if it is plasterboard. If it is brick, mark points every 40 cm. If in doubt, fix a horizontal 70 mm timber batten first.

3. 3

   Fix the batten

   Screw the batten on with wall plugs and 6 x 60 mm screws every 40 cm, 5-8 cm above the frame. Check with the level: it must be horizontal along its whole length.

4. 4

   Mount the track on the batten

   Place the track centred and aligned with the opening. Drill the marks and screw it on. Check the level again before tightening fully.

5. 5

   Prepare the leaf

   Fit the rollers or carriers to the top of the leaf with the screws from the kit. If the leaf is new, paint or varnish it before hanging it and wait for it to dry.

6. 6

   Hang the leaf

   Lift the leaf and hook the rollers onto the track. Get a second person to help. Slide it to check it moves freely.

7. 7

   Adjust the height and plumb

   With the carrier screws, raise or lower the leaf until it clears the floor by 10-15 mm and check with the level that it is vertical. Adjust in quarter turns.

8. 8

   Fit the floor guide

   With the door closed, mark the position of the guide and fix it to the floor with a screw or adhesive. The guide should enter 8-10 mm into the groove at the bottom of the leaf without rubbing.

9. 9

   Fit the stops

   Fit the stops at the ends of the track so the leaf stops when closing and opening. Add the pull or knob, and if you want a lock, use one made for sliding doors.

10. 10

    Test and finish

    Open and close it 20 times: it should glide without effort or noise. If there is a cover trim, fit it and hide the screws. If it slides by itself, the track is not level: correct it.

Three types of sliding door and which one you can fit yourself

Before you buy, decide which type of sliding door you need. The difference between them in work, cost and what can be done without building work is huge.

Sliding wardrobe door. One or more leaves that hang from a top track and are guided at the bottom. It is the simplest. The kits come with track, rollers, floor guide and stops. It is fitted to a new wardrobe or to an opening with firm partitions.

Sliding room door on a surface track. This is an interior door that slides across the face of the wall on an exposed metal track. It is the best option when you want to save space without building work. It needs a free stretch of wall to one side of the opening, as wide as the door.

Pocket door, built into the wall with a cassette. The door disappears inside the wall, in a metal or timber cassette (brands such as Eclisse or Scrigno). You have to open up the wall, fit the cassette and rebuild the partition. It is a renovation job with masonry, and we do not do it, because it is licensed work.

If what you have is a sliding wardrobe door that keeps coming off its guide, first see how to fix a sliding wardrobe door, which is a different case from this guide.

Measurements, wall and weight: what decides whether the door holds

The leaf must be wider than the opening to cover the frame and allow for the edges. As a rule, add 3-4 cm to the width of the opening on each side, and let the height of the leaf come down to about 10-15 mm above the floor. The track is twice the width of the leaf, because it has to cover the opening plus the area where the door parks.

The support is the most important thing. An interior leaf of 20-30 kg hangs from a single track, and that track must be fixed to a crosspiece or timber batten at least 70 mm high, anchored to a brick partition with 8 mm wall plugs or to a solid lintel. In a plasterboard partition, screws on their own are no good: you have to fix the track to a timber batten screwed to the metal studs. If you cannot see them, use a stud detector or drill a small hole to check.

Also check the maximum weight the kit takes: wardrobe kits usually carry between 30 and 50 kg per leaf, and surface-track room door kits between 60 and 100 kg. The manufacturer's data sheet says. A leaf that is too heavy for the kit pulls the track away.

Common mistakes when installing a sliding door

• Fixing the track only to plasterboard. The door comes down within a few weeks. Find a batten or studs.
• Getting the overlap wrong. If the leaf is too tight, there are gaps of light at the sides and you lose privacy. Add 3-4 cm per side.
• A crooked track. A track that slopes one millimetre per metre makes the door roll by itself. Use a 60 cm spirit level or a laser.
• Forgetting the stops. Without stops, the leaf comes off the track when you close it hard. Fit them at both ends.
• No floor guide. The door swings and bangs against the wall. A U-shaped guide or a floor pin holds it.
• Buying a kit for a wall that is not there. Measure the free space beside the opening: the leaf needs a width equal to the door plus a couple of centimetres.

When to call a carpenter, and prices

If the track goes onto a brick partition and you have a good level, you can do it yourself. Call a professional when the wall is plasterboard and needs reinforcing, when the leaf weighs more than 30 kg, when the opening has an unclear lintel or when you want a made-to-measure leaf or one with glass. Also if an existing leaf has to be cut down or trimmed to be reused.

At Manitas Costa, fitting an interior door costs €90-150 in labour, without the door, and it is the closest rate for a sliding room door on a surface track. If it is a sliding wardrobe door that only needs rehanging, €45-90. Adjusting a door, €40-70. We give a fixed price on WhatsApp with a photo and the measurements of the opening. More at carpenter at home and how much a carpenter costs.

A pocket door cassette and any work involving partitions is for a renovation firm, and in that case we put you in touch with one we trust. For partitions, see also how to fill holes in a wall and door rubbing on the floor if you are adjusting the height. We work in Valencia, Alicante and Torrevieja.

Sliding doors on the coast: damp, salt air and residents' associations

In homes near the sea, an untreated steel track rusts and the rollers fill with rust and dust. Choose a kit with an anodised aluminium track or a treated steel one, and clean the track once a year. In bathrooms or covered terraces with a sliding door, use stainless steel hardware.

In coastal buildings with plasterboard or hollow-brick partitions, the partition will not carry a loaded track without reinforcement. In old flats in Valencia, Alicante or Torrevieja, some partitions are thin tile-brick and need reinforcing with a long batten. A sliding room door removes the space taken up by the swing of a normal door, which is very handy in small beach flats. Interior doors are your own business, but if the work touches structural partitions or shared ducts, check first with the administrator of the comunidad de vecinos (residents' association).