Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnM
Thank you for your reply ... we have a Lantana with the standard sliders and I prefer the pocket sliders for the reasons you state ... I did not realize that you could change them without major reconstruction (the pocket) ... I would be interested in knowing how big a project it was, who did it for you and the approximate cost ... PM if you prefer ... THANKS!
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I too thought that it would be major construction, but, in reality, just doing pocket sliders is not a huge thing. Our ultimate project turned out to be huge (based on my definition of huge) since we completely tore down the existing lanai and then rebuilt it (to get the higher ceilings which we wanted - to create the sense of volume). However, we went through many design iterations before we did what we did and priced out many options.
One of these individually-priced options was the removal of the existing sliders and replacement with the pocket doors. I don't recall the exact numbers that were quoted by the various contractors, but it seems like it was in the ballpark of $3,000. What it entails is the removal of the existing doors and then the construction of a new wall just outside the existing wall to accept the new doors. The old support structure for the opening (the lintels) remains in place, so the new wall is not load bearing and hence not that expensive or complicated to do.
As what was pointed out, you do lose approx. 6-8 inches of floor space for the new wall, so that needs to be considered. (We added another 7 feet to the depth of our lanai, so it wasn't an issue.) Another issue is the patching of the existing flooring where the old doors are removed (You do "gain" the extra inches in the house where the doors are removed). Since dye lots in flooring can vary, there may not be a perfect match and you should think about this before proceeding. In our case it worked out great.