Bifold door as a bathroom door. Inside handle?

[Cameramonkey]

Wife wants to remodel the downstairs half bath that is rarely used. Part of the reason is its TINY. So we are going to blow out the end wall and extend it out 2' into the family room. Just enough to allow us to replace the compact round bowl toilet with an elongated, and also make it not seem so tiny. Currently your knees are 8" from the wall while seated. We considered going out farther, but didnt want to take too much away from the living room and make it less usable.

We want to limit the impact of a door on the bathroom (its currently inswing), so we are switching to an outswing door, but the wife wants to install a bifold to minimize the door swing on the living area. I'm going with a standard opening so that if she decides she hates it, I can rip out the bifold and install a regular door again.

Here is my main question. What kind of knob could you install by the center hinge to allow you to pull the door closed the rest of the way? I grew up with one in my Grandma's house on her bathroom. It was a PITA because to get it to close completely you had to dig your fingers into the louvers to pull it closed the final inch. I'll be installing solid 6 panel doors, so there wont be anything to grip. And if you put a knob in there, the door cant open completely because the knob will hit the other panel and prevent the two halves from coming together. So it will have to be relatively flush. Marine flush ring pull?

Anyone done something like this before? Suggestions? (Other than telling her she is crazy, which is an option.)

And there is no room for a pocket or sliding barn door. To do that we would have to move the door to another wall and make the bathroom bigger than we want.

 

[red_zr24x4]

Here is my main question. . Marine flush ring pull?

(Other than telling her she is crazy, which is an option.)

.

2 very good options, your choice on which one will cause you the least amount of trouble

 

[sugarcreekbrass]

We have this on our small half bath off the master bedroom. We have a small knob on the inside so it doesn't open completely like you said but it is plenty to walk in and out of.

 

[alabasterjar]

2 very good options, your choice on which one will cause you the least amount of trouble

I would vote both, from a distance.

I can't think of many options beyond the flush ring, but i would definitely spend a few minutes in the hardware aisle to see if anything else tickled my fancy. You may want to consider the need to secure it from the inside, as well.

 

[Cameramonkey]

I would vote both, from a distance.

I can't think of many options beyond the flush ring, but i would definitely spend a few minutes in the hardware aisle to see if anything else tickled my fancy. You may want to consider the need to secure it from the inside, as well.

Yep. Probably old school hook and ring because I doubt it will be thick enough for a pocket door lock. (not to mention alignment issues)

 

[OurDee]

Is there enough room for a pocket door if it was cut in half and retracted into both sides of the door opening as a door that was split down the middle?

 

[tmschuller]

They make a recessed handle for situations like this.. just google it. There are options

 

[Cameramonkey]

Is there enough room for a pocket door if it was cut in half and retracted into both sides of the door opening as a door that was split down the middle?

No. One side of the wall butts up against the foundation. I did consider slightly buying a pocket track kit and splitting a bifold so that the right side (by the foundation) swings and the left side slides. But decided that was too complex.

 

[maxwelhse]

They make a recessed handle for situations like this.. just google it. There are options

What he said, except I'd probably just route a pocket or mortise a circle to use as a finger pull.

...then the door can pull your finger! A treasure trove of Dad jokes await!

 

[EyeCarry]

A recessed handle or pull ring comes to my mind as well. I also wonder do they make a bifold that automatically closes?

 

[schmart]

When I grew up, we had a bifold door going into a bedroom that had a "flush ring pull" on the inside. Was easy to use and get the door to close, but also allowed it to open fully while not bashing into the door itself. Just google "flush ring pull" for example images.

 

[trimman83]

McMaster Carr, Item #1634A44. I have used these before. Take a router and free-hand the required recess, or if you have a router template guide, just cut a rough template from plywood and clamp it to the door slab as the router guide. 4 screws hold it firmly in place and it will work well. Sometimes the stile of the 6 panel bi-fold (which is really two 3-panels) is too narrow for this pull. The middle panel of the guide door(not pivot door) might be thick enough to recess this hardware into, but you will want to place the "pull" part of the hardware as close to center of the two doors as possible, of course.

 

[Jsomerset]

A piece of string under the screw head or around the center hinge work just fine. Apiece of 3/4” quarter round on top to camo the trac. A 1/2”or3/4” flat stock to cover the center gap. A piece of 3/4” quarter round at the pivot on the powder room side for privacy and about 1/8” from touching so door can swing. Test before nailing off. A 1/2” & 3/4” quarter round for either side of the door on closing side. Flat side to door on living room side and round side to door on powder room side just close enough they almost squeak when door closes and the door will stay in place. That’s the way we did granny’s so she could get in with her walker and pull door shot on way by and slam her walker into it to open ...lol. Don’t know why the first and third pictures are sideways but the site did that, sorry.