# Forum Home Renovation Doors, Windows, Architraves & Skirts  Cavity slider doors

## Grahame Collins

Hi Guys,
We have the builders in repairing the house after the floods. 
As is their wont the builders are stripping the cladding of sealed internal wells in the bathroom amongst other places in the house.hey are followed by a crew who are the sanitisers. (The plot of the Pulp Fiction movie comes to mind-as the crew that come in to take the dead bodies away)
I see an opportunity while they are here to upgrade the sliding door entry to bathroom which  at the moment runs  on the interior side  of the bathroom wall. The whole wall is only 1.6ms or so long. 
Does a cavity door require a specially built frame ? I see some them in Bunnies or can the frame be built from scratch? 
If the door was about 30 thick ,how much would one allow for clearance and then for wall thickness on each side of the cavity. I am guessing 5mm per side plus 45mm per side for wall thickness. 
I am close or miles out. Any insights you guys could offer me will be appreciated . 
Thanks 
Grahame

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## Ashore

Just measured our cavity door its 30mm and the wall to wall is a total of 110mm as to the frame etc  :Confused:  but 90 to 100 is about a normal wall to wall size  so its not that much diffrence to have a cavity sliding door

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## leeton

Yep the cavity unit can be built, just make sure it is to the width of the existing studs, but by the time you muck around building a unit and buying the roller channel etc, I reckon just buy one and drop it into place, job done in about hour...be sure to check stud width first, they make cav sliders in 2 witdhs. Good luck.

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## LynnieY

I had a carpenter install a cavity unit recently and didn't know they came in different widths - was never told by the fella at the hardware store where I ordered it, or the door store where I got the quote!  Anyway, we have a 60 year old house and it was out a bit but it was lined up with one wall and the plaster was packed out with masonite packing strips.  The architraves might have had to be altered a bit but thankfully it has all come together OK with a bit of fiddling.
I got mine from a Home Hardware store.  Door stores also supply cavity units.  It pays to shop around, the price varied quite a bit here. 
Lynnie

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## Grahame Collins

Hi guys
Because  the cladding is already stripped off it ,I'm in a position to take the whole wall out.Its only very short. 
Apart from installing the slider door, it is an opportunity to  get rid off the untreated pine studs.leaving a feed like that  for termites, is something you just don't do up here. 
The sod that installed the wall did so in untreated pine. As we have had termite intrusions else where in the house, I don't like leaving something like this to chance.  
Bunnies  do have some  slider units. Its pretty much what you see is what we have. The  local  staff don't seem  know much about them. 
l'll give the local door shop  a ring tomorrow. 
Thanks  for your help 
Grahame

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## Grahame Collins

Hi Guys,
Thanks again for your inputs.
I have got the slider door in and operating.I have yet to clad the frame.
I took advice given and got a unit from a local shop specialising in doors.These guys were able to give the required advice and supply all that was needed. I opted for the heavier built model, a Hume Doors statesman, vertically hung from an overhead track. 
I ended up forking out two hundred and fourteen bucks all up for slider unit, a standard door and privacy lock to a suit slider door.I consider it money well spent in view of the advice they were able to provide. 
I demolished the original wall frame in untreated pine and rebuilt it in Losp. No wonder the white ants won't go for it, it stinks.  
I assume because of the light weight structure of the cavity slider frame, that the wall cladding is glued as the horizontal frame members of about 60 x 10 pine  are not rigid enough to support nailing.I intend to clad the walls in versalux to tile inside the bathroom. 
Another benefit will be I can re reroute the  light switch cables which were on the outside.The original slider was hung from  the inside and the light switches by necessity were outside.  
thanks again
Grahame

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## LynnieY

Cool Grahame, sounds like you got it all sorted out.  You got a VERY good price too.  I got a larger than normal cavity unit (the door is 1070 wide) and it cost me around what you paid just for the cavity unit.
I used liquid nails on the frame but I also used plasterboard nails and they worked fine.  My plasterboard sheets extended up beyond the frame too though so were also nailed into the studs above the cavity unit.  
Lynnie

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## gpkennedy

It is best to use plaster screws (and screw gun) and glue on the cavity slider sides.  Amongst other reasons, screws are easier on the cavity slider frame than a hammer & nails.
George

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## Grahame Collins

Hi guys,
Thanks again,I purchased some 16m screws that I think are gyprock screws .Screwed and glued . It worked like a charm. 
Thanks again

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## Eli

remember not to shoot the skirting board in with a nail gun. DAMHIKT :Doh:

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## Grahame Collins

Hi guys
Just an update! The said door is up and running but not painted as the painter can't come until the plasterer does,cept we haven;t heard from the plasterer. 
He was late in turning up as the tiling had not been finished and  said he could not plaster until the wall was tiled up to the ceiling. 
I managed to to drill a couple of small holes in the slider door in drilling the holes for external electrical wire conduit box ( for the light switches.
I had a stick of tiber  some 20 x 20 left over and could not work out what it was.It has less than the height of the door ,so it could not be a jamb. twas only after it had been dumped that I found it covers the gap between tracks and architraves-Duh! 
If you read of the demise of a building tradie up here in Mackay IT WILL PROBABLY be me strangling one of the bastards, who don't bother to keep the customer in the information loop and treat their presence at your job  as a favour to you. They then leave unexpectedly in the middle of the job and then don't bother to let you know when they will be back. After you chased them and played phone tag for a week or two don't come back on the day or time when they say they will. 
No bloody wonder the DIY sector is growing at the rate it is with tradies with work ethics like that. 
Grahame

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## sundancewfs

> No bloody wonder the DIY sector is growing at the rate it is with tradies with work ethics like that.

  Grahame, It will be interesting to see what happens when the building industry really slows down due to an economic down turn.... Then it will be the tradies that did answer the phone and did show up on time and did complete the job that will be getting the work.

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## john0

Good choice with the statesman there mate, of all the sliders i put in on a regular basis the statesman is the best by far. should have trouble free operation for years, unlike some of the cheaper ones.

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## Uncle Bob

> statesman is the best by far. should have trouble free operation for years, unlike some of the cheaper ones.

  And they come with electric windows standard  :Wink:

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## john0

> And they come with electric windows standard

  nice touch :Biggrin:

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