Everything You Need To Know About Sliding Door Tracks
There are a few things to consider when installing a sliding door or a room divider:
- The size and weight of the door
- Ceiling access, structure and configurations
- Type of floor and floor covering
- The combination of the above available options.
Size And Weight
Our panels weigh no more than 50kgs. It’s important to restrict the weight of a door panel so the tracks can hold the weight effectively without corrupting the tracks guides. This of course effects the size of the door so both the size and weight figure heavily in deciding the type of room divider style that will be installed and how many door panels will be needed.
Ceiling Access And Structure
If the room divider or sliding door has a weight bearing top track so there is no bottom track then there must be some kind of structure in the ceiling to take the load. This also means there is access to the space above the ceiling or roof cavity.
In most houses there is access to the roof cavity allowing installers to use the ceiling joists or install a bulk head to take the weight of the room divider. In most apartments however there is little ceiling space, difficult access and it’s illegally to attach anything to the concrete floor of the apartment above. This means weight bearing tracks will need to be installed on the floor.
Types Of Floor Coverings
Floating wooden floors, carpet tiles, carpets and ceramic tiles are the main types of floor coverings that we come across when installing load bearing, bottom tracks. In the case of carpets a professional carpet layer is required to stretch back the carpet to where the bottom track has been installed.
With ceramic tiles a professional concrete cutter is required to recessed the the track into the ceramic tiles. Once the bottom track has been installed there is nothing to impede using the opening as the bottom track doesn’t rise above the floor covering in most cases.
When the bottom track is load bearing the top track then becomes a guide.
In some cases its impossible to recess a track then then is always installing a ramp or sloped bottom track that sits on top of a floor covering. The sloped sides of the tracks guide decreases the chances of tripping or stubbing your foot and allows easy wheel chair access.
For room divider installation information fill out our contact form complete with measurements and photos and Leigh will get back to you with advice and indicative pricing.