Sliding internal doors for a house extension - have they been reinvented?

I often get asked to include for a sliding door or two from various clients usually due to the tightness of the spaces for the swing of a conventional door. I used to hate this request as I suddenly have flashbacks of my grannies kitchen sliding door hung on some exposed grease ridden rattling track inside the kitchen and offering no sealing abilities at all - it was horrible and always rebounded shut or closed.

Well fortunately, the concept and design has moved on quite a bit recently and can now be considered as a very contemporary design element for a home extension. The savour of my grannies 1960’s kitchen sliding door comes in the form of a Henderson pocket door kit.

These are cleverly made preformed sliding door kits designed to be installed within a stud frame partition wall where the door neatly vanishes into the thickness of the partition and all the sealing gaps are very tight with a very smooth action to the overhead tracking.

Some even have dampers like modern kitchen units for that smooth last minute open and closing effects to prevent banging - very slick and high tech.

Therefore, any homeowner considering having an internal sliding door should not be put off. I have also used them for double doors sets (glazed and solid) and they do look good. They may be out of place in a traditional style Victorian home wanting to retain its Victorian charm but for the stock 1970’s and onwards housing estate type of property they do add some modern contemporary styling that would not be out of place.