Wardrobe Sliding Door Advice please guys. ( Material choice and rigidity)

[hrgiger]

Hey Guys,
Looking for a bit of advice please.
Im building a set of wardrobe sliding door, 4 in total.
I already have the track , rollers etc and i am familiar with how it all works etc as im replacing some old doors already fitted.

So i need to make the 4 door 2280mm x 790mm , floor to ceiling doors.
I finished doors are going to have a mural over them to create a wall mural. ( this will be made to custom size so nothing to worry about)

I need to make the doors so they have a flush front so that when closed the 2 front doors will butt together with the 2 rear doors sitting on the rear track either side of the front doors.
So main question is whats the best sheet material to make these out of to combat warping / bending

I have thought about using 18mm ply or mdf, but would like to strengthen its rigidity as these are tall doors.
Also looked into edging profile that could go over the edges of the sheet material to add strength but this takes away from the flush look im trying to achieve.

Does anyone have any other ideas of materials or setups that would give the desired result and help maintain a rigid door that wont warp.

Many thanks
Si

 

[slawit]

That’s a big ask of any door. 18mm MDF in theory should do it, but it might warp. The problem with timber and to an extent MDF is sometimes it warps sometimes it doesn’t as there is not always a logical explanation as to why. If you can use 22mm thick MDF (with the track you have) this will certainly help but it is surprisingly heavy. I think sealing the MDF is critical here, whatever your mural is made from it will no doubt ‘seal’ the face of the MDF while if the back remains unpainted it is ‘open to the elements’. I know where not talking about massive amounts of moisture here but any difference in moisture imbalance between the front and back of the board will guarantee warping.

 

[hrgiger]

Thanks @slawit.
I can seal the whole board first thats not an issue.
I thought about putting some bracing on the back of the door, maybe some lengths of solid wood, glued and screwed to whatever sheet material i end up using.

i also thought of using something like this on the edges and wrapped around the back of the door to maybe add some rigidity to it, Thought's anyone ?

Also looked at "C" profile like this, but obviously this means having some of the profile trim on show on the front of the Sheet material, which i was trying to avoid. " C" profile would give greater rigidity though !!

 

[slawit]

I think timber would take up too much depth, your C channel is the best idea for rigidity as for protruding onto the face you could just get C channel the same thickness as your door and rebate it so the channel sits flush. Alternatively, a T channel might work if you router out the back of the door to inset it. If you don’t have the tools, you can always find a local joiner to supply the doors cut to size and rebated to suit. (they could also have a finishing department to get them factory sealed as well)

 

[foxhole]

Have a couple of MDF doors at 2350mm ,no movement so far.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I have thought about using 18mm ply or mdf, but would like to strengthen its rigidity as these are tall doors.
Also looked into edging profile that could go over the edges of the sheet material to add strength but this takes away from the flush look im trying to achieve.

Does anyone have any other ideas of materials or setups that would give the desired result and help maintain a rigid door that wont warp.

I used 10mm faced MDF, 2m tall decades ago, on similar tracks, no reinforcement, and it's been absolutely fine, no warping at all. Upper track, just acts as a guide, no weight taken by it, lower one takes all the weight, on two rollers per panel, one at each end. The two tracks, are on a single extrusion, and so a fixed distance apart, so no chance of adding any reinforcement. The main concert for warping, will be moisture level differences, between the two faces, and lack of face sealing. Mine is 6 panels, around 6m wide, which required two 3m lengths of track, end to end.

 

[hrgiger]

Thanks guys, some excellent ideas.
@ Harry Bloomfield. Thats pretty much what i am using rollers at top for guide, rollers on bottom for weight, 2 rollers per door. I hadnt thought of faced MDF, thats a great shout. Adds that moisture resistance to it and gives me a smooth surface for the mural to go on. Ive seen a couple of places that will actually edge it for me as well, so effectively sealing the mdf all the way around once its been cut to size. This should be about as good as i can get to fight off moisture i think.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Thanks guys, some excellent ideas.
@ Harry Bloomfield. Thats pretty much what i am using rollers at top for guide, rollers on bottom for weight, 2 rollers per door. I hadnt thought of faced MDF, thats a great shout. Adds that moisture resistance to it and gives me a smooth surface for the mural to go on. Ive seen a couple of places that will actually edge it for me as well, so effectively sealing the mdf all the way around once its been cut to size. This should be about as good as i can get to fight off moisture i think.

Keep in mind, floors, and ceiling may not be perfectly level.

 

[hrgiger]

Keep in mind, floors, and ceiling may not be perfectly level.

Thanks Harry, Tracks are already in from previous doors , all leveled up and square so hopefully not an issue