Getting a good installation of a pocket door begins at the framing stage. The door will come with a framework consisting of 3/4-inch material with an opening at the center for the door to slide into. The frame simply gets screwed in place where the wall would normally be next to the door opening. The metal track the door hangs on comes already screwed to a separate head jamb and gets screwed in place on top of the doorframe. The most important step in the process is to get the track level all the way across. The part of the track that is over the doorframe should be level as long as the frame is level and square but the part of the track that extends over the door opening has no support as you install it and you must be careful to keep it straight and level as you install it. I will install the doorframe with a door header a half-inch above the door so I can add door shims above the head jamb to keep it level. I will also raise the whole frame up by ¾ inch by putting a layer of plywood under it as this will put the top of the door at a height closer to the height of the rest of the interior doors.

   The last step in the framing stage is to screw a small rubber bumper, supplied with the hardware package, to the middle of the inside of the jamb where the door will hit it when it is opened. I will put the rest of the hardware in a safe place until the drywall is installed and I am ready to do the trim.

   To install the door itself the first thing to do is install the plates on the top of the door that it will hang from. Then with the rollers the door hangs from slid into the track from the open end I hang the doors from the end of the screw that protrudes from the roller assembly. Most of the time I will remove part of the wood frame that covers the side of the top track so I can get better access to the top of the wheel assembly where the adjusting bolt head is located. I then slide the door all the way into the wall pocket and check how the door lines up with the pocket opening. I will slide the door out and use the adjusting bolt to get the door straight with the opening. I won't worry too much with using a level to plumb the door at this point, as the frame should already be plumb. At this point I am more concerned with the door being straight with the outside of the wall pocket as this will look bad if it isn't even all the way down the door. At this point I should already know what the floor would be under the door opening and I will adjust the door height to clear the finished floor by ½ inch or so. Then I will lock the adjusting bolt in place so the door height will not move over time. Then I will slide the door all the way into the wall pocket until it rests against the door bumper installed earlier. I like to have the door itself sticking out from the frame by ¾ inch as I will add finished lumber of that thickness to the wall frame to finish it off and it will finish flush with the door (see the picture above). I will then open the door and swing it clear of the opening just enough to staple a piece of wood, the thickness I have determined will bring me to ¾ inch, to the back of the door at a height that will engage the door bumper.

   I then take a doorjamb leg and place it against the open side of the head jamb and shim it so it is tight. Then, with the door open against the jamb leg I will shim the jamb leg so it is tight to the door all the way down the door and nail it in place. Then I will take the plastic door guides from the hardware package and screw them in place at the bottom of the door opening so they hold the door centered in the opening. Then I cut some ¾ inch thick wood to a width that will leave me about1/4 inch clearance for the door. I will cut a piece to cover the top of the frame on each side of the door. I then cut two pieces the same width to cover the sides of the frame next to the door. I notch these pieces to fit around the plastic door guides and nail them in place. The door opening can now be trimmed out in the same manor as the rest of the doors.