Re: Install Pocket Door On Load Bearing Wall Why not stick a header in there and frame the wall back out for the pocket door. Generally, when the wall in question runs parallel to the floor joists above, it is not a load-bearing wall. Attach to the ceiling by screwing through the frame into the ceiling joists. The frame is made up of a box inside the wall, a sliding system (track) located in the upper part that allows the door panel to slide inside the wall and a vertical metal door stop that receives the closing door. To install a pocket door in an existing wall, you have to remove drywall, and it's easier to uncover the entire wall instead of trying to work in a limited opening.

A bumper at the rear of the frame or the side of the door keeps the door from sliding too far into the wall, and guides at the floor keep the door from rattling inside the frame. Glue and screw together the 2-by-4s to build a pony wall (a smaller, non-load-bearing wall) for hanging the track for the pocket doors.
The cross braces above the door indicate that it may be (I have not seen that type of bracing before except in load bearing walls). If it is a load bearing wall, you should build a temporary support wall or at least use a couple of jack posts & … Make sure that the wall is not load bearing. If the wall is load bearing, a temporary wall will need to built using 2x8 plates on the floor and ceiling and 2x4 studs at an angle to support any weight from the floors above. And what that means is this: if you start knocking out parts of that wall, then the second floor or the roof will start to sag (and possibly collapse). Make sure the frame is level. Barn doors, on the other hand, install across the doorway and along the outside of the adjacent wall.

2. If the wall height is not tall enough to install a proper sized header at the taller pocket door height, it may be possible to install the header in the attic, on top of the wall, under the attic load. The door slides between split jambs inside the wall. A load bearing wall carries weight from floors and/or roof above, while a partition wall merely separates two rooms. In addition, a load-bearing wall 1 may not have enough space inside to conceal the door, which would make the installation of a pocket door impossible without redistributing the load. The spacer may be the bottom plate? I hate pocket doors so not a lot of experience with them but I would do that before doubling up a wall. Before you decide to install a pocket door, you should get an engineer to examine the wall to determine whether or not it's a load-bearing one. That’s why the header has to be twice as big. Steps: Before doing any work, determine if the wall is load bearing or non-load bearing. When you remove a load bearing wall, you have to add a beam to carry the weight the wall supported (see Figure A, with accompanying details, in Additional Information, below).

But if the wall runs perpendicular (at a 90-degree angle) to the joists, there is a good chance that it is load-bearing. You first need to know if the wall that the door will be in is a LOAD-BEARING WALL.

If in doubt, consult a structural engineer. I suggest you hire a professional and get a permit to accept the liability involved for insurance purposes. You put the pocket door in and the hardware for it and you leave the exposed part and then it slides into the wall and that part gets covered with drywall. However, there are cases where a bearing wall is parallel to the joists. The frame for sliding pocket doors is a metal structure enabling the door to disappear inside a wall (both solid and stud wall). A pocket door hangs on carriers that travel on an overhead track. It’s not – in a normal door, if it’s a two-foot door, it’s going to be a 26, 28-inch header.