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Install a Trackless Bi-Fold Closet Door on a Laminate Floor:


Install a Pivot Bracket Without Violating the Floating Floor Concept

© 2008 by ; all rights reserved; content may not be copied, rewritten, or republished without author’s written permission. Author’s Google profile

Bi-Fold Closet Door on a Laminate Floor


Bi-fold closet door on a laminate floor


This article was updated on 7/01/20.

Reader Mark Sick sent in this method he used to mount a trackless bi-fold closet door on his laminate floor. Eliminating the track is important on a floating floor system.

What does “floating flooring system” mean? It means that unlike glued or nailed down hardwood, these click-together planks and underlayment are allowed to move to a very tiny degree. 1/4” gap is maintained at all walls to allow for expansion and contraction.

Additionally, many manufacturers, such as Pergo, recommend installing an expansion strip in rooms that are longer or wider than 30’

Tools and Material List

Don’t want to tackle the job yourself? Fixing up the house? Find the best local carpenter. The hiring process is basically the same procedure as finding a reputable roofing contractor. But if you are doing it yourself, gird yourself with these tools:

  • Electric drill
  • 2 drill bits, 1 for the screw into the subfloor, and 1 for the larger hole in the laminate
  • Tape measure
  • Bi-fold door and pivot bracket with screw
  • Metal sleeve from Home Depot (less than $1.00) which can be found in the specialty hardware drawers. It is essentially a very short piece of pipe. For the laminate and pad that Mark installed, he purchased a 5/8” sleeve.

Trackless Door Pivot Bracket Installation

If you need woodworking tools, Rockler Woodworking and Hardware is the most reliable merchant out there, in my experience.

  1. Run laminate flooring into your closet.

  2. Position the pivot bracket on the laminate floor and mark the location to drill the bottom hole for the pivot bracket.

  3. Drill through the laminate into the subfloor using a bit size and type appropriate for the size of the screw for the pivot bracket and the subfloor (concrete or wood). I like to use a hammer drill and Tapcon screws when attaching to concrete.

  4. Use a 7/8” or 1” regular bit or a paddle bit and drill through the laminate only while centering on the hole drilled in step 3 above. Note that the bottom side of the pivot bracket will sit on top of the hole so the larger hole will not be visible when the bracket is installed. This larger hole ensures that the floating floor concept is not compromised.

  5. Get a metal sleeve from Home Depot or some place similar(less than $1.00) which can be found in the specialty hardware drawers. For the laminate and pad that Mark installed, he purchased a 5/8” sleeve as mentioned above.

  6. Bi-Fold Closet Door Mounting Bracket on a Laminate Floor Screw the pivot bracket into the subfloor. The screw for this goes through the screw hole in the bottom of the bracket and through the metal sleeve and then into the subfloor. If installing on a wood sub-floor, Mark says he would probably put a washer between the floor and the bottom of the sleeve.

  7. Screw the 2 screws for the side of the pivot bracket into the wall.

Mark Offers Some Concluding Observations

“When installed, it appears that the bottom of the pivot bracket is sitting on the laminate floor but the bottom of the bracket is actually about 1/16” above the laminate.

All of the weight of the door is actually sitting on the top of the metal sleeve rather than on the laminate. There is about a 1/4” gap all around the sleeve so the floor can float under the door pivot bracket.

The easiest way to get the hole in the subfloor exactly centered in the 7/8” hole in the laminate is to first use a drill bit sized for the screw that will attach the bracket for the door and drill through the laminate into the subfloor. Then, use the 7/8” bit and use the hole drilled for the bracket screw as a pilot to enlarge the hole in the laminate to 7/8”.

Once again, many thanks to Mark for devising and sharing this excellent solution for installing a trackless closet door on a laminate floor and sharing it with the DIY community!


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About the Webmaster:

Photo of Kelly R. SmithKelly R. Smith was a commercial carpenter for 20 years before returning to night school at the University of Houston where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science. After working at NASA for a few years, he went on to develop software for the transportation and financial and energy trading industries. He has been writing, in one capacity or another, since he could hold a pencil. As a freelance writer now, he specializes in producing articles and blog content for a variety of clients. His personal blog is at I Can Fix Up My Home Blog where he muses on many different topics.

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