It’s easy to take a closet door for granted; it quietly does its job and serves its purpose of opening and concealing all the stuff you have stored behind it. Closet doors that fold and slide easily can be a pleasure to operate, but downright annoying when they are difficult to open and close. Their hinging mechanism should allow the door panels to swing wide open for easy access to whatever is inside.
If you have bifold doors in a bedroom or hallway that resist easy opening and closing, consider replacing the door panels and hardware, and make it easy to operate and more attractive. You’ll find a range of door styles from plain front solid core to louver, Shaker and arch top. Take a walk through a home center to see what’s available.
To remove and replace a bifold door unit with paneled wooden doors in a 60-inch-wide opening, a carpenter will charge $625, which includes labor and material. If you have carpentry skills and tools, you can do it yourself for $320, the cost of the door panels and new hardware, and save 49%.
Take a look at bifold door hardware at www.johnsonhardware.com, a door hardware manufacturer’s website. You can download installation instructions from the Resources tab to learn what’s involved.
After you’ve removed the old hardware and panels, it’s a good time to clean out the closet (another DIY project) and patch any holes left from the old hardware.
To find more DIY project costs and to post comments and questions, visit www.diyornot.com and m.diyornot.com on smartphones.
Pro Cost — DIY Cost — Pro time — DIY Time — DIY Savings — Percent Saved
$625 — $320 — 6.0 — 8.0 — $305 — 49 Percent
