I’ve got one hand in my pocket door… and the other is prying off trim.
Okay, so I’m no lyricist (I’ll leave that up to Alanis) but here’s an example of our scrappy, learn-as-we-go, figure-this-out-if-it-kills-us approach to home improvement. We usually don’t know what the heck we’re doing, but diving in and giving things the ol’ college try is usually the road to success (and that way we get to gain experience as we go, so we might have a smidge of know-how the next time something needs work).
This is our half bath. It has a pocket door.
The pocket door has been jammed for, oh, about six months. So long that the phrase “Don’t look, I’m peeing” stopped sounding odd and gross. That’s right, it became the normal courtesy warning around here when one of us was too lazy to walk across the house to the full bath (with a functional door to block the view). Yup, we don’t pee in front of each other like nearly all of our married friends who think we’re weird for being so shy. Gotta keep some mystery around here.
Anyway, we knew we had to remedy the door issue before moving in the next few weeks, but why we decided to start it one random Wednesday night at 8:30pm I’ll never know. But we did. Even though we didn’t have the first clue what needed to be done. Thank goodness for Google.
The all-knowing Internet gave us an assortment of potential attack plans. Many of them involved cutting large holes in the wall to diagnose the problem. Sigh. We really wanted to avoid having to re-drywall anything. So we decided to start slower. Like maybe-some-grease-will-do-the-trick slower:
The WD-40 helped, but mostly because it helped us better understand the issue. The wheels seemed to keep popping off of the track because the door wasn’t hanging level anymore. It looked like it sat lower at the back, meaning when you slid it into the wall the bottom corner would catch on the floor, jamming the door and causing the wheels to jump the track.
We noticed there was an adjustable screw on the front set of wheels that could raise/lower that end of the door, helping with our it’s-not-level issue. Only problem was that we had to pry off the trim on the top of the door to access it.
This is where the project started to go crazy and we got tunnel vision when it came to the task at hand (thereby forgetting to take good photos or make any attempt at containing our mess).
We ended up having to take off the side trim too. Just so we could remove the door entirely from the track so that I could walk it out to the garage (in a rainstorm) and saw off about an inch of door on the bottom. Apologies to our neighbors for using a circular saw at 10pm (hopefully the rain and the closed garage door drowned me out).
With the slightly shorter door back inside, we popped it back on the track and… voila! No more sticking. No more jamming into the floor. No more falling off the track. Now we just had to reinstall the trim, caulk some nail holes, and touch up some paint. Our reaction was as follows: did we really just fix it? Without even waking the baby?
Well, I’d say it’s 95% better than it was. If you get all Arnold Scwartzeneger on it and push or pull it too hard/quickly it still jumps off of the track. BUT, now that the door is shorter it’s a zero-tool, three-second fix to lift it up slightly and place it back on track. No trim removal necessary. And the baby didn’t wake up once during deconstruction or reconstruction (even though we were prying and hammering our hearts out). Why didn’t we discover that she’d sleep through noise like that sooner? Either way, good to know.
It’s so nice to have the ol’ pocket door back in business after months of broken-ness (so we can now close the door instead of screaming the ol’ “Don’t look, I’m peeing!” refrain across the house).
And that, my friends, is no small victory.
So that’s really how we problem solve around here. Googling, trial and error, and crossed fingers. Here’s another post about gaining DIY confidence with zero experience as you go. Have you guys had success with the same fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants method? Any other pocket door issues or coups going on? Any other couples who don’t pee in front of each other, or are we the only ones?
Well done on the fix-it job!
I love pocket doors, but my grandmother (who had them in her home) had hers get stuck and she just hung up a shower curtain in its place, haha.
At least it’s fixed now! :]
ohh watch out with the big gaps under the door… ours is similar and we can hear EVERYTHING!
We have a bunch of pocket doors and they are always jumping off the tracks – usually due to little children opening or closing them too roughly. Luckily, ours are fairly easy to get back on the tracks. I hope we never have to totally remove them like you did!
I refuse to pee in front of my Husband, some things are private and I see no reason to break down that barrier with my husband of all people! I still want him to find me attractive as much as I want to find him attractive, bathroom business has no part in that equation. So I think you two are perfectly normal.
Congrats! It’s one of those “why did we wait so long to fix this” projects :)
My husband and I also have bodily function privacy rules (that extend outside of the bathroom.) Your signifigant other should be the person that you most want to impress! Wow them with DIY skills and keep pee (etc.) private!
A job very well done. I am so not a fan of pocket doors, maybe its just my luck that every single one I have encountered always jams lol. We had one of those in our old house as well, except it was to the MAIN washroom (yup lucky me).
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Hi J & S, we don’t pee in front of each other either! It just doesn’t feel right to me. But I think you’re probably right that most couples do.
I’ve always wanted a pocket door for my closet, but now, maybe you’ve changed my mind. My husband is ok with public peeing, but I just can’t. Got to keep some air of dignity about me!
Sad to say after 6 years of being together, I have no quams about peeing in front of my Husband. HE does NOT like for me to see him pee…which is fine by me. But funny how HES the modest one. I figure, weve had a baby together so hes already seen too much :) Nice job on the door fix, and keeping the magic alive with a little modesty :)
married 28 years and we are definitely “Pee in private” couple.
8 years together and we’ve never peed in front of each other. Once, ONCE, when we had one bathroom I had to pee while my husband was in the shower. But there were strict no listening, no peeking, keep the water running and the curtain closed agreements.
I smiled at the photo of WD40. My hubby says one only needs two things to fix EVERYTHING – duct tape and WD40. If it should move and it’s not moving, use WD40. If it’s moving and it shouldn’t, use duct tape :)
2 Things, I’m in the process of painting our half bath just like yours, so excited! I went to home depot to get the color, wishes by glidden. The paint guy informed me that they still had the color but have changed the name to eloquent ivory. Just thought y’all might like to know. :)
My husband and I shut the door to the bathroom AND the pocket door to the toilet. No you’re not weird.
So funny they changed the name, but so glad it still exists!
xo,
s
good job!
PS I too have issues peeing in front of the hubby… he doesn’t care so much lol
Great job! You guys are too cute! Congrats on being smart parents too!!! My parents were never “quiet” while I was sleeping. Thanks to them….I can now sleep through a thunderstorm and have NO CLUE it happened the night before. Thank you mom and dad!!! :) You’re going to need that good baby when you move into the new house! If you’re anything like me….most of my projects get done in the wee hours!
Years ago, I had a similar bathroom-door-doesn’t-close problem in my apartment in Munich. I was dating a nice fellow at the time and he was always a bit shy about the issue and even tried to fix the door to no avail. He moved away and about a year later came to visit. We had ended on good terms and it was lovely to see him. He came over to my place and as we were getting ready to leave he had to use the bathroom. And he says with a smile, “so has that door been fixed or is peeing still a spectator sport at your place?”
Great job on the repair! My answer to most issues is ‘google it’!
I’m with you guys on the no peeing in front of significant others – gotta keep the last bit of mystery/privacy in the relationship.
I’m with you on the no-peeing in front of eachother. I just think that’s plain weird.
Good job on the door!
Great job! We don’t pee in front of each other either. Like you, I prefer to keep the mystery in the relationship.
John,
I tried the DIY fix w/my Kitchen Aid mixer. I was full steam and ready especially looking that I could save a few hundred dollars, but lost momentum and will be buying a new one. Despite this, I always turn to Google for solutions to my life’s most difficult issues.
After 22 years of marriage living in a one bathroom home, there is no mystery left in our relationship. And that’s hard to recapture, so more power to you for keeping it!
I will say I have a friend who has been married for going on 50 years who has never even *foofed* in front of her husband. When I asked how in the world that was even possible, she said, well, you just go to the bathroom if you have to do that. My next question – do you have to pull down your pants if you’re going to the bathroom just to fart?
Still makes me laugh thinking about it – sorry if it’s TMI!
You’re not the only ones! My hubs & I have been married for 6 years and we’ve never peed in front of each other. And yes, our friends think we’re weird. :) It’s nice to know we aren’t the only ones either :-)
Whoo hoo! So glad to see Dan and I aren’t alone in our “no bathroom-related functions in plain view of the other person” rule!
Thanks for the post. We have had a jammed pocket door since we bought our house a month ago. I look forward to trying some of these tips.
We live in a tiny one bedroom apartment with one tiny bathroom, so we definitely pee in front of each other…sometimes you’ve just gotta go!
Good work! When my first baby was born, my pediatrician told me to run the vacuum when the baby was sleeping, right away, and the baby would learn to sleep through loud noises. It worked, and I never had any problems with either of my children waking up when I wanted to do something that was noisy.
I’m wondering what the “mystery” is about each other peeing, but whatever. So yes, we pee in front of each other…probably every day, haha.
Wanted to jump in here and say that the husband and I also keep all bathroom issues private. In fact I don’t even want to know the particulars, I said it’s like Schroedinger’s cat. Once you close the door you could be doing anything and I don’t know/don’t want to know.
I love pocket doors. In my dream kitchen, there is a pocket door leading the a walk-in closet sized pantry.
My husband is definitely not modest with me. He’s the typical man: release it when you have to (make a joke or funny face while youre doing it) and if you don’t want to see me pee dont walk by the master bathroom. Me, on the other hand, keeps all southern bodily functions in the bathroom. I guess I’m just old school. – Good job on the door! I’ve made a mental note on your fix so if I ever have a pocket door problem, I won’t have to google it (I google everything too). :)
we have been married 4 yrs and never would pee in front of each other. its good to keep something private
I heart pocket doors but they can be so troublesome. Thanks for the tips. We realized eight months after painting that one side of the pocket door to our kitchen was left unpainted! That is what we get for “paying” our family to help us with bottles of wine and beer . . .
Good job on keeping some mystery in your lives! I wish I could go back to that… but now with two kids… I get zero privacy. (Let alone the non-mysterious way the kids came outta me..) I wish I could reclaim some of that mystery back. I actually saw on Dr. Phil (Or was it Dr. Oz?) that you should close the bathroom door if you’re having issues in your marriage….
Anywho… Great job on your door job!!!
i too agree that some things need to be left to the imagination in a relationship.
google will solve almost anything, good job!
I LOVE the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants approach, but my hubby is WAY too cautious. And oddly enough, though he’s the cautious one, I’m the one that insists on a little added “mystery”. We, too, are private pee-ers. Power to the pee-ple! :-P
Just saw the post on your new house’s plan. Consider closing in the area where the sink is and opening up the rest of the bathroom to the sink area. Now you really have an en suite!
did this bathroom initially have a pocket door or did you all diy and add one? i ask because we have a half bath that i think would benefit from a pocket door. the bathroom is about the size of a postage stamp and the door takes up room!
Hey Elizabeth,
The pocket door has always been there (we think it’s original to the house). We definitely have appreciated the space saving perks of it.
xo,
s
i won’t let my husband see me pee! He thinks I’m ridiculous…but I know he’ll thank me later. ;)
Hey,not peeing in front of each other is NORMAL. I mean I do not want to know what my husband looks like peeing or doing number two. We have been married for 8yrs. So I hear you on not wanting to have that “mystery” broken. Plus in 8yrs mayeb heard each other fart like 3x. Our friends have contest and ya….as hard as I might laugh at a fart, like most normal people do, I am so thankful my hubby does not “dutch oven” me.=)
My hubby and I have been married for about two years, and use the toilet in privacy. Well, once in a while we’ll make an exception if someone’s in the shower already, as long as the glass is good and fogged up! We’ll see if that changes in the next few years and with the arrival of children, but I doubt it. It’s less about prudishness and more about wanting to retain some small amount of privacy – we share literally EVERYTHING else in our lives, this at least we can keep to ourselves!
My fiance and I have been together for four years now, lived together for three…and we have no shame about peeing in front of each other. I have yet to fart in front of him though.
Because I’m classy like that. ;-)
Thirty three years married and we still have a privacy rule. Some things are better done alone! susan
We NEVER pee in front of each other either. That is not intimacy…it is just icky. Some things should be kept private.
Sorry, I agree with Danielle — don’t understand the “mystery” of not peeing (or whatever) in front of each other. There are no bodily function secrets in this 24 year marriage. Others’ MMV and all that, though.
Good job on the door fix! I was excited to see you were posting about pocket doors because I’d like to put one on our half bath — as you note above the space-saving advantage is great. Our house is about 80 years old so who knows what we’ll find in the wall if we bust it out?
My husband and I have been together for 5 years… but there is almost nothing private, lol. I will walk in and sit on the edge of the tub while he is in there, doing… whatever he is doing. The ONLY time there is a shut-door-go-away policy is when one of us is sick at our stomachs… I’m not one to have someone cater to me while I’m yakking.
My parents put a piece of painters tape across the pocket door when my children arrive because they break it EVERY SINGLE TIME we visit!! Who’s brilliant idea was it to have a door that can’t be opened without jumping the track in the first place? hmmmmmm something to ponder…….
Wow I’m Impressed you fixed it in just one evening & that too in a rainstorm. Thanks for all your inspiration. I wish between my husband and me we had one-tenth of your DIY chops….then perhaps our to-do list wouldn’t seem so long or insurmountable. Did y’all use any tools to pry off the trim? Also somewhat related – we’ve been thinking of painting all the trim in our house but I’m worried about the fumes from the oil based primer. Would u recommend that we pry off the trim – do the painting in the garage and then bring it back it in & reattach after all the paint is dry or do you see any problems with that approach?
Ack! We would never remove trim, paint it, and rehang it! You’ll likely get it dinged up a bit from prying it, and some of the paint will likely get chipped or marred from nailing it back in place. Even the paint pros (and novices alike) prefer to paint the trim in place. You can definitely run some fans and crack some windows and even go stay with friends/family while things dry and air out though. Hope it helps!
Oh and as for what we used to pry off the trim, ours was especially stubborn, so we needed a crowbar along with a hammer and a flathead screwdriver to knock it off. Good luck!
xo,
s
I have been married 14 years, my husband watched me give birth twice, and we absolutely do not use the toilet in front of one another!