Bi fold doors: has anybody thought.....

[cowboy70]

Hello all,

We have a 2016 Era 70x. The bi fold bathroom doors seem to take up a lot of space and always get in the way. I hate dealing with the doors in the middle of the night! Not the best design or application IMO.

I was thinking about removing the doors and installing a tension rod with a curtain. The curvature of the doors reduce the walkway space and area around the fridge and microwave. The flat curtain would not intrude into the walkway. Removal seems simple enough, just mounted with screws.
Re-installing should not be too difficult.

I was wondering if anyone else had this idea (or a better one) or has done it. If there are any downsides or pitfalls to this that you see, please let me know.

Thanks!

[Jlo11111]

We have the same problem in our van. We're in the process of building out a new van and are going with this:

https://www.stoett.com/nautilus/

[MWeiner]

Originally Posted by cowboy70

Hello all,

We have a 2016 Era 70x. The bi fold bathroom doors seem to take up a lot of space and always get in the way. I hate dealing with the doors in the middle of the night! Not the best design or application IMO.

I was thinking about removing the doors and installing a tension rod with a curtain. The curvature of the doors reduce the walkway space and area around the fridge and microwave. The flat curtain would not intrude into the walkway. Removal seems simple enough, just mounted with screws.
Re-installing should not be too difficult.

.

I was wondering if anyone else had this idea (or a better one) or has done it. If there are any downsides or pitfalls to this that you see, please let me know.

Thanks!

While it might seem like a good idea you're changing the inside complexion of your factory build and it will in my opinion decrease the value of your 2016 Era. It's still a relatively new van, only four years old.

How many times do you really get up in the middle of the night.... leave a small night light on somewhere else just to give you a little illumination....if you think it's too difficult to deal with the doors. We have two doors on our bathroom as well that lock in the center.

Our doors are on "piano hinges"... I would never think of removing them.... Nothing is going to be easy about removing them and deciding later that you want the original doors back.

Finally, the sliding doors I've seen and they are prone to coming loose or rattling... I think once you encounter this, you will find it much worse than two doors....

I did look the Nautilus RV Retractable Shower Door in the other post, BUT.... they are building their own custom homemade RV..... different story...yours is a factory built Winnebago.... don't change anything like that in your rig.

Forget the tension rod and curtain, are you kidding?
The door gives you more privacy and sound insulation.... plus a curtain is going to get ratty looking and dirty.

My two cents worth ��.

[fletch460]

I think I understand your problem. Would an accordian type work?

as far as value I dont think it would hurt anything. Putting them back on would not be hard if needed to.

[cowboy70]

Originally Posted by MWeiner

While it might seem like a good idea you're changing the inside complexion of your factory build and it will in my opinion decrease the value of your 2016 Era. It's still a relatively new van, only four years old.

How many times do you really get up in the middle of the night.... leave a small night light on somewhere else just to give you a little illumination....if you think it's too difficult to deal with the doors. We have two doors on our bathroom as well that lock in the center.

Our doors are on "piano hinges"... I would never think of removing them.... Nothing is going to be easy about removing them and deciding later that you want the original doors back.

Finally, the sliding doors I've seen and they are prone to coming loose or rattling... I think once you encounter this, you will find it much worse than two doors....

I did look the Nautilus RV Retractable Shower Door in the other post, BUT.... they are building their own custom homemade RV..... different story...yours is a factory built Winnebago.... don't change anything like that in your rig.

Forget the tension rod and curtain, are you kidding?
The door gives you more privacy and sound insulation.... plus a curtain is going to get ratty looking and dirty.

My two cents worth ��.

I am not making any permanent changes - only temporary.
The removal would be as easy as unscrewing the hinges from the door frame. Not taking anything off the doors. We do not have piano hinges, only 5-6 hinges hold each door assembly to the frame. If my solution does not satisfy or we sell the RV, the doors would just be re-installed to OEM configuration.

Not really worried about sound insulation or privacy. Just my wife and myself. The curtain would be washed as necessary. I am just experimenting with an idea to get a little more space.

Thanks for the info!

[cowboy70]

Originally Posted by fletch460

I think I understand your problem. Would an accordian type work?

as far as value I dont think it would hurt anything. Putting them back on would not be hard if needed to.

Have not checked into the accordion type yet - thanks!

[magicbus]

“ I am not making any permanent changes - only temporary. ” I have a pile in the corner of my barn for when the “resale” day comes. Sofa, table, table post... and bits and pieces.

[cowboy70]

Originally Posted by magicbus

“ I am not making any permanent changes - only temporary. ” I have a pile in the corner of my barn for when the “resale” day comes. Sofa, table, table post... and bits and pieces.

I was hoping that a sale would not be necessary ........but, I already have a new RV cover and a factory cabinet ready to go!

[Jlo11111]

Take a look at the Nautilus doors. Easy to install with minimal impact to the existing van and they take up no space in the aisle or in the bathroom whether open or closed. There's nothing in them that could make them rattle and they look a hell of a lot better than accordion-type doors. I can't imagine them impacting the resale value of your van one penny and I think most folks would prefer them. I have big beautiful wood doors in my van now. Pretty to look at, but they are always in the way. They just don't work in a Class B.

[W4KMA]

Your layout may not allow you to do something like I did, but here goes. The bathroom door in my 2000 Bounder swung into the "hallway". It would not lay flat against the wall because of the door knobs. To me it was always a pain in the rear because it always seemed to be in the way. My solution was to replace it with a sliding door, hung on the inside of the bathroom. I basically made a pocket door without the pocket. It's one of my favorite mods. The top track is this one: https://johnsonhardware.com/2610f-wa...-door-hardware. I also used their "Soft Close" hardware on each end of the door track. This hardware doesn't let the door slam when reaching the end of its travel. The last couple inches of movement are soft and this hardware holds the door in position until you exert a little force to move it. It stays in place when traveling. https://johnsonhardware.com/1060-soft-close-kit. Because I wanted to paint the door, I didn't reuse the existing door. I bought a flat, hollow core, lauan door from Lowes. My installation required trimming of a couple inches off the bottom which is easy enough. There is hardware available to keep the bottom of the door from swinging in the breeze but I opted for a different approach. I fabricated a 1/4" wide x 1/4" high "tongue" across the bottom edge of the door. I then used some 1/4" x 1.5" pine (Lowes) to make a two piece threshold. The tongue travels in the 1/4" space between the threshold pieces, creating a sort of "track" for the bottom of the door to follow. The movement of the door and the way it functions are great. I have yet to finish the painting and some trim moulding but if you would like a couple pictures, let me know.

[cowboy70]

Originally Posted by W4KMA

Your layout may not allow you to do something like I did, but here goes. The bathroom door in my 2000 Bounder swung into the "hallway". It would not lay flat against the wall because of the door knobs. To me it was always a pain in the rear because it always seemed to be in the way. My solution was to replace it with a sliding door, hung on the inside of the bathroom. I basically made a pocket door without the pocket. It's one of my favorite mods.

That sounds like a great idea! Would like to see some pics.
Thanks

[W4KMA]

I still have to stain the threshold, add some trim and paint everything, but it operates fine and takes up very little room inside the bathroom.

[cowboy70]

Originally Posted by W4KMA

I still have to stain the threshold, add some trim and paint everything, but it operates fine and takes up very little room inside the bathroom.

That is a great idea & installation! Thanks for the pics.