My mother was watching House Hunters

[conuly]

And the couple was raving about how the charming old house they were looking at had "pocket doors" and I'm just - folks, we live in a house with pocket doors, and lots of 'em. Do you know why this feature is so rare? When those doors break - and sooner or later everything breaks! - they are a massive, massive pain to fix. Are you particularly handy? No? Then don't do it.

I just googled this, and they start out by telling you to cut an access hole in the drywall and just no.

Comments

[dine]

my parents' house is v. old, and had gorgeous, with multiple panes of glass, pocket doors between living and dinging rooms - though I only know that from photos of my toddler years, as one came off its rails. the walls are actual plaster, and the only way to get to them was to rip up the hardwood floorboards upstairs - which dad absolutely said 'no' to. so he just nailed up narrow boards over the gap in the framing, painted it to match, and it's now part of the woodwork. when they finally sell the house, I've no idea if the new buyers will be willing to put in the time/work to get them fixed, but I kind of think they might just become a bit of history. wonder how long it'll take before they're forgotten altogether?

[conuly]

That was the right call here.