Partition bulkhead door styles

[Mobilesport]

French doors that swing shut like saloon doors

A single door that swings opens

A slide door

Decisions decisions

 

[masterplumber]

If you have the room for it to slide, that will be out of the way the most. Otherwise I like the the idea of saloon doors.

 

[highdesertranger]

I vote for a pocket door. less space taken up plus you can open and close it without worrying about having the area clear. highdesertranger

 

[Mobilesport]

If you have the room for it to slide, that will be out of the way the most. Otherwise I like the the idea of saloon doors.

That's what I have now and they're pretty sweet because right when you walk through to the back they instantly slam shut behind you ( slam shut in a quiet way)

 

[Mobilesport]

I vote for a pocket door.  less space taken up plus you can open and close it without worrying about having the area clear.  highdesertranger

Sounds interesting I'll have to look into them

 

[flying kurbmaster]

I used a couple of good quality drawer sliders, then made a door out of panelling, 1x as a frame with a piece of insulation in between, scewed the door to the slider one top one bottom. works good.

 

[Mobilesport]

I vote for a pocket door.  less space taken up plus you can open and close it without worrying about having the area clear.  highdesertranger

It seems the pocket door would be best but i'm thinking I can build french doors stronger because I can install thick strong hinges and lock , if someone was to get in the cab and try to kick the door in it would slow them down tremendously. .
All my other doors are already very secure.

 

[bullfrog]

A pocket door that does not come completely out of the containing wall and keys into a slot when closed would be about as secure as you can get.

 

[Mobilesport]

A pocket door that does not come completely out of the containing wall and keys into a slot when closed would be about as secure as you can get.

Ok , good to know , pocket door it is

 

[speedhighway46]

One caution on pocket doors in a mobile application. We have several PDs in our home which have worked great for the past 37 years. PDs can be removed and/or releveled by lifting the door off the track. One of our grand daughters when she was four or five didn't get the idea of just sliding the door open and would always "lift and slide" the door over. We always knew she had used the bathroom because the opening end of the door was always off the track! This door was a sold wood six panel design; pretty heavy for a small child!

For what it's worth . . .

 

[AngryVanMan]

I planned on the pocket door on heavy ball bearing drawer slides as well, man I thought I had the corner on that idea! I have to agree with Speed, I don't think the house-style track kits would be ideal in the mobile setting, too many degrees of freedom.

I'm worried about partition thickness if I build mine in wood, so I'll probably use sheet material in steel or aluminum depending on what deals I can find locally. I'm really squeezing a lot into this build. Plus, if I can swing it, the metal will probably be a nice piece of mind bonus for a "security partition."

 

[BlackNBlue]

I'm in the same place in my stepvan build. The van has two-piece French doors, but after I upgraded the driver's seat, one doesn't open very far, and with 4" of insulation, that might be a problem. Also, the more seams there are to seal, the less airtight it will be.

For that matter, how thick is the insulation in your build? If it's little to none, you have more options.

I had not considered a pocket door! Even though the front doors in my van are that style. I'd have to think about how to make the insulation work.

For now, my default plan (again, 4"+ walls) is to have the front door just be an insert, held in place by 2-4 latches on either side (only one side at a time, and there's a back door in case some joker tries to lock me in). Part of the reasoning is to use the existing double doors as the insert's outer paneling, for stealth reasons. But it might become a hassle to lift it in and out all the time?