How to turn bifold door into a double door
I have a closet door that measures 36 inches wide and 81 1/8" tall. Our builder used bifold doors on all the closets and I just never liked the look and how they cut off some of your access where the doors fold. So I thought french doors would look much nicer AND give me easy access to the sides of the closet. Bonus there won't be a big swing radius of a standard door it would be half of that. Here's what I did and hopefully it can work for your closet!
The measurements of the bifold door I have 35.5” wide by 79” tall. So each smaller door is 17 3/4” wide. This leaves me with half inch of spacing.
Materials
1 piece of scrap wood (I used a 1x2)
wood filler
Drill or Screwdriver
Step 1 - Remove the bifold door
They have a top track that the wheel goes on and you can use a flathead screwdriver or anything flat that can fit between the wheel and the track to release the wheel out on the top. Do this with the bifold door opened slightly to make it a little easier. Once that pops out you then lift up on the door and out at the bottom this should come right out. You can then take the track off by unscrewing it from the top of the door frame.
Step 2 - Remove hinges
Remove the hinges attaching the bifold door together. There's usually 3 hinges that are about 2.5 inches. This will leave screw holes that can be patched with wood filler.
Step 3 - Remove any small trim
Next remove any small trim you have on the left and right side. I had 3/4" cove molding that came off easily leaving me just the door frame (No door jam) where I can then attach the door hinges. I left the trim at the top so that it can fill in the space.
Step 4 - Attach door hinges
I did not router or chisel out where the hinges sit on the door or on the door frame, this is because that extra padding from the hinges made it so my double doors came together at 1/8" at the center. If you find your doors need more space then you may need to router them out. I used 3 hinges on each side to attach the doors. One near the top, bottom and middle. It's helpful to use a 3/4" piece of scrap wood for your door to sit on so you will have the same amount of space at the bottom of both doors. Do the same thing on the other side and adjust if you need to so they line up at the top.
Step 5 - Add the door stop and latches
Add a piece of scrap wood at the top of the two doors where they meet. This will be your stopper for when you close the doors. I used a magnetic latch on each door attached to the stopper.
I then removed the door knob and added handles on each side. I had to fill the whole where the knob was, they're usually in the center of one side of the bifold door. And that's it! Enjoy your new (but not really) closet doors!