double story wardrobe

[AndrewPatrol]

I was silly enough to suggest to some body that they could possibly have two rows of sliding wardrobe doors, one on top of the other (2400 high on bottom and 900 high top doors). Needless to say that they have very high ceilings and tall sliding doors would be too heavy. Does any one have any ideas on how to build this? One way I'm currently thinking is suspending the top doors from ceiling and bottom doors with a bottom track. Another way is to top-hang bottom doors from a track on a cantilevered beam from internal structure. Details of exactly how to build this are what i'm short on, if its possible at all. Ideas are most welcome PLEASE

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

By "top hanging the lower doors from a cantilevered beam" I assume you mean running a couple of brackets off the top of the doors to a runner on the internal structure behind, so the runner stays hidden? ie. trying to avoid a visible horizontal divider between the upper and lower doors?

If you do this you'll probably need a bottom track, otherwise I reckon the bottoms of the doors will swing into the 'robe until the doors centre of gravity is balanced underneath the runner.

Using a bottom track to carry the weight and the top runner to simply hold the doors upright would probably be more durable in the long run, too.

[AndrewPatrol]

One track system I've found is this:
http://www.hendersonrmd.com.au/tophung/doubletop45.pdf

looks feasable but Like you say, hanging the lower-doors-track will need a beam of some sort ( room is 4 metres wide). The above system has a lower track which I would rout into a 90x45 across the floor.
To reduce the size of this beam I'm leaning towards assisting it by cantilevering it from internal shelving, but it will need a pelmet (cover) to hide it.
As a last resort, does anyone have any experience of running 3.2 metre high by approx 1 metre wide mdf doors (about 35 kg ea). I realise they will have to be cut from 3.6 x1.8 sheets (waste ) I am worried about the weight/momentum hence the plan of double decker doors.
Reading back over the above looks like I nearly got it figured.

[arms]

using the style of runners that you are considering is not practible ,you need to use bottom mounted runners on both lower and upper sets of doors ,just make sure that the top of the bottom section comes out to the full degth of the lower section then mount the tracks for the upper section on this and build a small bulkhead down from the ceiling to take up any irregularities there may be in the level of the ceiling ,also you should make sure that the internal divisions support the top of the lower section to stop any sagging that may happen over time

[AndrewPatrol]

you've got me fired up now - I started my CAD (paint) program and came up with a drawing!!!!!
Tom - just on the reasoning behind why you reckon a top hung track is not possible for lower doors, could you elaborate please?
See attached CAD drawing for my ideas. My desire for top-hung lower doors is so that crud in track doesnt affect running of doors.

[arms]

the reasoning is that those tracks are only used in light weight situations ,there is no problems with the top track but the bottom track will collect dust and grit ,also if the house moves (and all houses do ) then you may find that the bottom guide will catch on the track ,using true wardrobe tracks and runners gives you a bottom track that can be cleaned easily but also room for a lot of movement through adjustment

[arms]

found a page

[aspectdisplays]

Have a look at www.Hafele.com.au they have a whole seperate cataloque of sliding door tracks just about every combination possible. But you will need to take your bank manager along for some of them.

[GraemeCook]

We looked at doing exactly what you are thinking about several years ago. Our ceilings are 3.35 metres (11 feet) high and we did not want wasted space or a dust collector on top of a wardrobe.

We wanted mirror doors and faced two problems:
* How to make the partition between the two rows of doors strong and stiff enough & still look good,
* How to access the top row of doors - bring a step ladder into the bedroom?

Mirror glass, like most sheet materials, apparently comes in 1200 x 2400 mm (4x8 ft) sheets before the glazier cuts it. We then went for maximum glass height of 2400 mm, plus wood frame of 100mm top and bottom. Side framing is 38mm. The melamine shelving system is stepped above 1.8m so as to give access to the top shelves. A painted panel fills the space above the doors.

This wardrobe with supersized doors works well, was far easier and cheaper to build than one with double row of doors and it looks good.

Good luck

[arms]

actually mirrored glass can be cut from 3600 mm long sheets the problem is that by law any mirrored door can only be a maximum square meterage in size ,i have installed doors 3200 high but from memory they could only be 900 mm wide to fall within the law