How to Build Internal Sliding Doors

Open the old door and remove the screws holding the hinges to the jamb, and then set the old door aside. Cut through the paint on the edges of the trim around the doorway, using a utility knife.

Insert a putty knife into the space between the trim and the wall. Slide a pry bar between the putty knife and the trim, pulling the pry bar toward you to remove it.

Measure the width of the sliding door you are installing. Mark the same length from the edge of the doorway to the wall adjacent to the doorway, at the height of the top and bottom of the doorway. Connect the marks with a vertical line, using a carpenter’s square to ensure it is straight. Draw horizontal lines from the markings to the edge of the doorway.

Cut through the nails holding the doorjamb to the studs, using a reciprocating saw and a blade made for cutting metal. Slide the doorjamb pieces out of the door opening. Cut along the lines you marked on the wall, using a drywall saw, and then pull off the drywall inside the cutout.

Cut through the drywall up to six inches above the doorway, and then remove the drywall. Cut through the nails holding the old door’s header to the studs above the doorway. Cut through the wall studs with the reciprocating saw, along the edge of the cutout, and remove the stud pieces from the cutout.

Cut a new 2-by-4 that measures the same length as the width of the old doorway plus the cutout. Hold the board along the top of the doorway and cutout, and drive nails through the board and into the wall studs. Measure and cut the sliding door’s track with a handsaw, so it fits inside the top of the cutout.

Hold the track along the new header board, inside the cutout area. Drive wood screws through the mounting brackets on either end of the track, anchoring it to the header and adjacent wall stud.

Measure the distance from the floor to the header board, inside the cutout, and then cut the split studs to the same length. Position the split stud’s mounting brackets on the floor in the cutout, spacing them a foot apart from each other. Drive wood screws through the mounting holes on the brackets and into the floor.

Insert the bottom end of the split studs into the mounting brackets. Swing the top end of the split studs so they sit against the header board. Drive nails at an angle through the ends of the split studs and into the header board.

Hold the door vertical at the end of the track. Insert the wheels on the top of the door into the track piece, and then slide the door into the cutout area, between the split studs. Cut drywall sheets to the size of the cutout you made in the wall, and then attach the drywall to the wall studs using wood screws.

Apply drywall tape to the seams between the drywall patches. Spread an even layer of drywall compound onto the seams, using a putty knife. Allow the compound to dry before applying at least one more coat. Sand the dried compound with fine-grit sandpaper so it matches the wall around it, and then paint the new drywall.