I have a client who is wanting (nearly) floor to ceiling built-ins in a finished basement space. The room is roughly 20'x20' and the proposed design is for 3 out of the 4 walls to be full wall-to-wall built ins (open bookshelves on 1 wall, open storage "cubbies" and a built in entertainment center type area on the other 2 walls.) The desire is for these last 2 walls (not the bookshelf wall) to have sliding doors all the way across that are the same height as the built-ins (which will be about 75-80" tall.) They will be built tight to the ceiling (visually), but "float" about 16" or so off the floor for a variety of reasons. Future flooring replacement, modern aesthetics, vacuuming under, etc.
The material will be a high quality pre-finished ply, likely maple, with solid wood face frames for the bookcase wall, and possibly just solid wood edge banding through out the cubby area, though it may all get solid wood face frames.
I've made sliding doors before with (smaller) furniture sized pieces in a Shoji style, but not with door panels this large (aside from installing pocket doors in residential carpentry work.) I haven't determined width yet, but the overall height is pretty well established at around 6'+.
The nitty gritty of the built in design details are yet to be worked out. The desired style is more modern and the flush door slab look has been talked about as being preferable. Think about Ikea's design sensibilities and you've got a general idea...minimal, modern, sleek, all one wood tone. The clients suggested using some of the same 3/4" pre-finished plywood as the actual sliding doors, but I find myself a bit skeptical about the doors staying flat at that size (they will probably be about the size of a typical passage door (~32" wide x75-80" tall) In this case, the raw ply edges would need to be edge banded with solid wood.
Is the warping / bowing a valid concern that I have? Is there any way that they wouldn't warp? The space is a finished basement that is climate controlled and dehumidified in the summer, for what it's worth.
Clearly, using 3/4" pre-finished plywood with some solid edge banding is easier and less labor than veneering or building proper frame and panel doors, which is likely why the client suggested it, but it just doesn't sit well with me. I've said as much during our initial meeting and left the decision open ended for the moment until I come back with some alternatives.
What about 3/4" MDF core veneered on all 6 sides. I'm not very experienced with veneering, though I have access to good veneering equipment.
I think what I'd prefer as the fabricator / builder is to build a frame and panel style door with solid wood frame and a floating ply panel with a tight reveal (1/16"?) and have it all be in the same plane along the front. You get a lot of that flush look, but also a lot of strength. Whose to say that this construction will be less prone to warping and bowing in the end, though?
Raised panel is not in the running, aesthetically . I personally think that a flat panel with tight reveals could be a really nice look, though I haven't presented it to the clients yet. see this link for what I picture, aesthetically, sans carved handles --> http://www.deanpulver.com/built-in/#/bend-kitch/ Credit to Dean Pulver, who I've seen in FWW magazine over the years, for the inspiration here. This is obviously a kitchen, with different cabinet layout than what I'm working on, but the aesthetics and overall look is very appealing.
What do you guys think? Any experience with large sliding doors like this? Sliding door hardware/tracks or simply wood to wood with grooves and rabbets is another decision to be made, but part of that hinges on ultimate material choice for the doors.
Thanks for any input!