# Bifold doors



## learning (Mar 25, 2008)

I'm not sure if this thread belongs here, but what the hell.

I have a utility closet adjacent to my kitchen; its a big closet containing the washer, dryer, furnance, waterheater, etc.  There are two seperate openings seperated by a column.  So I have a double set of 36 wide bifold doors that make up an entire wall in the kitchen.  The door are in bad shape and i need to replace them.  

I'd like to do something nice, but all the bifolds that i've seen are wood (the kitchen floor and cabinents are already wood) or primed white.  I'm worried about painting primed doors.  I might consider spray painting the doors, but they must be half louvered to provide ventilation.  I would add french doors but i would still need the ventilation.  

Any thoughts on painting the primed doors?  Other half louvered door thoughts?  

Thanks.


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## Square Eye (Mar 25, 2008)

You can get a good finish on primered louvered doors if you take your time. The primer actually makes it easier to paint because you'll need less paint to get a good finish. Using a brush is aggrevating because it is so easy to get a run on the backside. You can't see until it's too late PLUS, it's hard to get in the area between the louvers on some doors. A sprayer is the best way to go, with light coats. But it seems to me that with all of the wood in that room, it would look better to stain and poly a wood door. ??


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## inspectorD (Mar 25, 2008)

This is the new stuff I have been seeing, only folks did it in the 1800's
There is a cool way to vent the room and with your situation it may work.
Folks on a recent job had a similar issue. We installed some regular doors, then made a vent for over the door. Kind of like the old windows folks used to have in thier homes which they could tilt open. But this was a couple of metal louvers painted the same color as the wall, in the header space and facing up. We did the math and it was plenty of ventilation for the room....and no vented door.
Just another option if you have room over door and no solid header. It looked nice.


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