What are they like?
Sliding bathroom doors come in a variety of designs. According to the method of opening they are distinguished:
- compartment doors;
- mounted;
- cassette version;
- "book";
- "harmonic".
The mechanism for opening and closing compartment doors to the bathroom is similar to the version in a compartment carriage. When opened, the door leaf goes into a niche, which is located on the outside of the wall.
There are two types of sliding door designs
The main thing when installing such a structure is the possibility of freely positioning the door leaf in the open position. This is sometimes hindered by the toilet located across the wall.
If the adjacent room also has sliding doors, proceed as follows: install 2 boxes one after the other. Then both doors, in the open position, each go into their own niche and are located one after the other.
There is another option. If wall space allows, the doors of the bathroom and toilet are placed on different sides.
In cases where none of the options is suitable, you have to decide whether it is necessary to install sliding doors at all. If an inner voice claims that this is simply necessary, change the location of the doorway in the bathroom.
Hinged doors open according to the same principle as sliding doors. But, unlike the latter, they have only one upper guide. If the structure consists of 2 halves, the sashes move apart in opposite directions when pressed.
Mentioning cassette doors, it is not difficult to guess about their design. The name itself indicates the placement of the door leaf in the open position into a certain cavity.
Wood can also be used to make sliding doors.
The role of the cavity is played by the wall itself. This is where the door hides when opened. Although installing a cassette door is a little complicated and requires some skill, this design is more than convenient to use. The outside of the wall is covered with wallpaper. In the bathroom, a rational solution is to cover it with tiles or plastic panels.
Book doors and accordion doors are a folding structure. Their canvas is not solid, but consists of 2 or more parts. The disadvantage of such doors is that in the closed position the doors remain at the top and bottom of the gap.
These sliding door designs are suitable for isolated bathrooms where there is no hood. Thanks to the existing gaps, air ventilation is ensured.
Safety requirements: main provisions
The floor surface of the entrance area or vestibule must be hard and non-slippery, without chips or potholes. A canopy over the entrance and the area in front of it will provide protection from rain and snow entering this area, and will protect it from the formation of puddles, dirt and ice. In rainy weather, the canopy will protect the person opening the door. It is desirable that the canopy be located over the entire site or extend beyond its boundaries.
Drainage grates and scrapers are installed flush with the floor surface. The gap between the cells is no more than 1 cm, otherwise there is a high probability of getting your heel into the recess and twisting your leg.
When opening the entrance door into the room, the distance from the entrance to the edge of the site should be at least 1.2 meters, and when swinging outwards - at least 1.5 meters. The width of the territory for convenient maneuvering should be within 2-2.5 meters. For vestibules, the depth of the platform increases to 1.8 meters.
Such dimensions of the area in front of the entrance are needed for convenient and safe movement around this area for people with disabilities, pregnant women and mothers with strollers. If the dimensions are smaller than those recommended, then the person must first climb the steps to the door, open it and, backing away, go down a couple of steps again. These are dangerous maneuvers that can cause you to fall down steps and get injured.
Traditional platform in front of the entrance doors, located on the flight of stairs of one of the floors of a high-rise building
If the platform in front of the door is raised several steps above the ground, a railing is needed. They should be comfortable to grip with the palm of your hand and not slippery. The area in front of any entrance door must be illuminated in the evening and at night. In the dark, it is easy to trip on a step, slip and get injured. The lamp should be located at a height of no more than 2 meters from the surface of the site and provide illumination of 6-9 lux. The path leading to the doors is also illuminated.
The area outside the front door is cleared of snow and ice in autumn and winter. It is prohibited to clutter the vestibule or door area with bulky things that interfere with passage and could delay an unexpected evacuation.
Features of the door leaf
When discussing what material sliding doors to the bathroom should be constructed from, you should determine their functional features.
They should be:
- quite light;
- close tightly;
- not be transparent;
- be moisture resistant.
Glass sliding doors
An option for sliding doors are wooden products. But before installing them, it is necessary to additionally treat the natural material with special solutions that prevent the wood from getting wet. The finished door must be opened with varnish.
Otherwise, the canvas will rot in places where water accumulates. There is a risk of the product becoming infected with fungus. There is no need to discount the gradual swelling of the canvas, which, if pre-processed unscrupulously, will gradually become saturated with moisture. The increased weight ultimately leads to disruption of the entire structure and jamming of the sliding doors.
Laminated chipboard doors are not the best option. Over time, they may begin to warp and come apart from exposure to steam and condensation. The structure itself may be skewed in one direction or another. But high-quality models serve faithfully until the next bathroom renovation.
A suitable option for installation are sliding plastic doors. They are not subject to deformation when exposed to a humid environment in the bathroom. They can be cleaned with any household mixtures without fear of damaging the surface. We can say that such doors are almost eternal. They are light and comfortable.
But when ordering a plastic version, you should pay attention to the fact that this material does not contain toxic impurities. Otherwise, when exposed to high temperatures, the door leaf will emit harmful toxic substances. In some cases, there may even be an unpleasant foul odor.
Sliding doors are a stylish solution for any apartment
Tinted glass doors are the best option. The material from which the canvas is made does not deform, does not change color and texture when exposed to moisture. The doors are light and look beautiful.
But when purchasing a glass option, you should pay attention to its quality. Ordinary glass installed as sliding sashes is easy to break. It is better to prefer a door leaf made of organic or tempered glass.
Combined doors are one of the best options. They have all the advantages of the materials from which they are made. Possible options include a combination of glass and plastic, wood and glass, veneer and glass or plastic.
What to look for when choosing
When it comes to making a choice, not everyone knows which points to pay special attention to. It's actually quite simple.
- First, study the material from which the door is made and evaluate its performance characteristics. This is the same impregnation with moisture-resistant compounds, strength, resistance to mechanical damage, temperature changes, and so on.
- Take special care to examine the rollers as they are the weakest part of the sliding door design.
- Don't forget to make sure the guides are strong enough.
- Your last step will be to check the geometry. That is, sliding doors to the bathroom must have the correct geometric shape. To do this, use a tape measure and a level.
The need for a threshold in the bathroom
Skirting boards, thresholds and corners are necessary structures for the bathroom. In the bathroom, the threshold is used as an additional means of protection against unexpected flooding. Wood, concrete, and plastic are used to make it.
They select an option that harmoniously complements the interior and does not attract much attention.
In the bathroom there is an increased risk of pipe accidents. The threshold should delay the overflow of water into the remaining rooms for a certain period of time. That is why it is not recommended to opt for the wooden version. The material can completely deteriorate under prolonged exposure to moisture. If it is not possible to replace the product with concrete or plastic, then it is allowed to use hard wood. The surface will need to be impregnated with an antiseptic.
To ensure ventilation, a threshold is built in the bathroom
There are also compounds to repel moisture and resist fire.
Functional purpose of platbands
Platbands are a very important component of the entire door structure, which consists of flat or volumetric strips about 70 mm wide and 8 to 10 mm thick. They decorate the entire perimeter of the doorway. Why is this done:
- Their primary role, of course, is to mask the places where the door frame is attached to the walls. After all, you must admit that after installing the door frame and leaf, the appearance, to put it mildly, is not very attractive;
- Harmoniously selected platbands will help make the opening neat and give it a finished look;
- In addition, such a frame will attract attention and focus on the beautiful door leaf, which sometimes becomes the highlight of the entire room, preventing it from getting lost against the background of the wall;
- Sometimes the platbands are matched not to match the door leaf, but to match the color of the furniture. This move combines two functions - creating an accent on the doorway using several colors and linking it to the overall color scheme of the entire room.
Platbands are used to decorate not only the usual swing doors, but also to decorate sliding systems, portals and arched vaults. As a rule, when ordering a door leaf, the most suitable door frame and trim are offered as a set. In this case, they completely match the color and texture of the door material and have a standard shape. If you want to choose a more interesting design option, you will have to purchase additional platbands yourself.
Installation or how to install a sliding door in the bathroom?
There are two options for installing sliding doors for a bathroom. They can come off along and into the wall. The second option is more complicated, since this requires disassembling part of the wall and installing a special cassette.
In order to install sliding bathroom doors that open along the wall, you need to complete the following work steps:
- Install and secure the lower floor profile.
- Secure the roller mechanism along the bottom and top edges of the door.
- Install the door into the lower profile, align it strictly vertically and mark the location for mounting the upper profile.
- Install the top profile and install stops for the door leaves.
- We insert the door leaf into the lower profile, lift it a little and insert the rollers into the upper guide.
- We move the door leaves to a fixed position.
