What are Pocket Doors?
In the UK there is an increasingly stark requirement for high quality housing, however, as population densities increase and average property sizes decrease, the need to develop innovative ways of utilising the finite space available is facilitating the development of new products and solutions.
The Portman pocket door system is ideal where design flexibility and space saving are of prime importance. Being able to slide a kitchen, bedroom or bathroom door within a wall and out of the way saves about 6% of the overall floor area or 10 sq ft per door.
Designed and produced in the UK, the Portman pocket door system comprises the latest sliding door technology, quality robust components and an exceptionally easy installation. With Portman, specifying pocket door options is easy. Any standard timber door blank or frameless glass panel can be used and there are no bottom rails mounted into the flooring creating a dust trap or trip hazard. Door leaves are held in place to prevent wobble or sway. High quality rollers and bearing surfaces will provide years of maintenance free service and consistent high performance.
Are Pocket Doors good for ease of use and accessibility?
For most people, opening a manual door is a combination of gripping and depressing a lever handle, pulling/pushing whilst ‘side stepping’ the arc of the door and then moving forwards or backwards with the door.
To carry out this exercise is much harder if the user has, for example, poor grip, reduced muscle power and balance. Getting close enough to, or reaching for, the handle can be difficult. Harder again, if one has to move ones body or mobility aid out of the path of the door as one is trying to open it, and indeed hold it open whilst trying to pass through.
This is compounded, yet again if the hands are needed to hold a cane or crutches, move a wheelchair or frame. Other factors increasing the degree of difficulty include door closers, small lobbies, narrow corridors and small clear opening widths.
Little wonder that, to many people – a door is a significant barrier. The Portman Pocket Door System reduces some of the typical swing door barriers presented to disabled people, thereby making buildings and dwellings more independently accessible or ‘inclusive’.
What guarantee do you offer?
Portman pocket kits are guaranteed for 10 years against faulty materials. In our experience, once the system is correctly installed there is very little to actually go wrong and unless the door is abused nothing ever goes wrong.
Essential components have been repeatedly tested to in excess to 250,000 complete open and closed cycles and checked throughout to evaluate any potential fail points. Portman kits are fundamentally designed to be used in internal domestic applications. They may also be used in some commercial/public applications, however it very much depends on where in the building they are to be sited and how they are to be used. Our recommendation is (broadly using the BS EN categorisation system) that Portman kits are suitable under "Category of Use" for Grades 1 or 2 applications/locations; these being up to, "Medium frequency environments, for use by people with some incentive to exercise care but where there is some chance of accidents occurring or of misuse". We would not without recommend for site situations that fall into higher grades, within Grade 3 or 4 whereby doors may be subject to frequent usage or violent usage, for example pupil areas in schools/colleges, shopping centres or sports centres.
What are the maximum door leaf sizes that can be accommodated within the system?
(Ex Stock)
Our standard range for timber/timber framed doors can accommodate individual door leaves up to 2700mm high and 1500mm wide by 44mm thick (max individual leaf weight 80Kg) and frameless glass panels up to 2700mm high and 1500mm wide.
The FD30 kit has a maximum leaf size of 2700mm high and 1500mm wide for a single door leaf
Portman has height and width size breaks within the range so that the client isn't having to pay for and then throw away significant quantities of material.
(Specials)
Individual door leaves over 2700mm high and 1500mm wide can be supplied by special request.
What are the lead times?
We can usually organise any kit Ex works in 5-7 working days. This will be confirmed on the PO confirmation. As standard kits are delivered on a courier which is a 1-2 day service.
Door leaves are usually on a slightly longer lead time as these are made-to-order. Typically this is 3-4 weeks although some may require longer.
What's special about Portman?
We're very proud that our designers went back to basics and came up with an intelligent and unique patented proposition.
- The Portman cassette is constructed from exceptionally rigid Z profiles that interlock together to create a unit that is height adjustable. The benefit in this is that unlike other systems that only accept one exact leaf size Portman can accommodate on-site variations or changes without having to send it back and order a different kit (or having to try to modify it on site)
- The Portman Z section is exceptionally easy to affix the plasterboard to. We provide just the right self drilling screws to get a good fix and ensure the screws don't penetrate to deep and risk scratching the door face – we know we've screwed in hundreds of them in testing. There is also enough surface area should you wish to bond your plasterboard onto the Portman frame.
- Quality components. Delrin covered ball bearing rollers. White powder coated anodised aluminium track. Pre punched floor channel. Pre formed door linings. Soft brush seals. Pre cut plasterboard profiles for frameless wall openings. All of these are specifically designed and manufactured to make installation easy and gives years of trouble free performance
Do Portman pocket doors come complete with the door leaves?
As standard the Pocket kits do not include a door leaf. Please see the timber door leaf section from which a basic selection can be made. Once we've received your enquiry we will contact you to discuss your door leaf requirement. Due to the huge potential variations involved with the door leaf itself we feel it's better to have that discussion rather than rely purely on a selection being made on the website.
Regards frameless glass door leaves we do not supply these. Usually a glass panel suitable for use as a door can be sourced from a local specialist and prepared to suit the frameless glass P7001 and P7300 kits.
