What does a soft-close mechanism do for a pocket door?

The pocket door is an innovative design feature which has a primary objective – in most cases – to create space in a room. The process of opening and closing the door along the same horizontal axis means it doesn’t encroach into a room like a traditional hinged door, and hence this opens up the space immediately behind the door, and enables you to do much more with it. Pocket doors also have a contemporary visual appeal, due to this neat and seamless operation, and enable versatility in an open plan setting, by opening and closing domestic space as and when you need it. So pocket doors offer major opportunities for transformational lifestyle changes, and the range of accessories supplied by MB Direct add some neat and practical subtlety to that too, and there is no better example of that than the soft-close feature.

What is the soft-close mechanism?

It may surprise you how often a door is opened and closed during a day, which is why you need it to be properly installed, and manufactured from quality materials and using a quality design spec. You get all this with a pocket door, but the simple act of opening and closing a door numerous times a day can cause its own problems. These include:

Young children slamming a door open or closed with no awareness of noise or potential damage
Someone in a hurry or who is agitated slamming the door open or closed
A wind tunnel being created when external doors are left open, and this slamming the pocket door open or closed

The soft-close mechanism is a simple device that is fitted onto the top surface of the pocket door. It takes control of the door at a certain point of the closing action and enables it to take the remainder of that journey in a controlled manner, meaning it comes to rest in the closed position softly and neatly, much like you can also do with kitchen drawers or cabinets. The anti-slam nature of this mechanism means it is impossible to slam the door shut, and if you install the soft-close and open with anti-slam accessory, you can apply this soft operation to both the closing and opening action.

How does the soft-close mechanism benefit the pocket door?

By installing a soft-close mechanism you can extend the lifespan of the pocket door and also bring lifestyle enhancements to the home. So the soft-close mechanism will:

Damage – Prevent damage to the door, the frame and the surrounding wall by controlling the closing operation and avoiding the door slamming shut.
Noise – Got the kids at home all day over the weekend or the school holidays? Avoid the repetitive banging of the door slamming shut, which drives you mad all day. Ensuring that a door is always shut also prevents sound transmission from room to room.
Security – Some internal doors have a locking mechanism which only engages if the door is properly rested in the closed position. By avoiding the door slamming shut, and potentially bouncing out of this closed position, you can guarantee that the lock will engage and provide the security and peace of mind that you need.
Efficiency – You always know that a door will properly shut and won’t be left open, which means thermal insulation is good and there will be no cold/hot air transmission between rooms. This will enable you to maintain stable temperatures in each room, thus reducing energy bills.
Safety – The soft-close/anti-slam mechanism taking control of the closing operation means that a person can’t be struck by the door or trap their fingers when it closes, hence this is an important safety feature. This is particularly relevant if you have people in the home with limited or restricted mobility, the soft-close feature enables them to pass through the door more easily, without being struck by it.

Order the soft-close mechanism online from MB Direct

The soft-close mechanism is a simple and innovative design which is easy to install, and which can be retro fitted to an existing pocket door system. So the soft-close mechanism is often an enhancement to the pocket door system which brings welcome change to the home. If you have double pocket doors you will need to order two soft-close mechanisms. The mechanism can only control one pocket door, so if you have double doors, you will need two mechanisms working independently of each other. So check out our soft-close mechanism online along with our other accessories, and order online today.