A cavity sliding door is a type of door that opens by sliding to one side and into an opening or cavity in the wall. Most homeowners prefer to use a cavity sliding door for their interior rooms because of its sleek look and space saving benefit (for options see cavity sliding doors product brochures).

Manufacturers of this type of door maintain that a cavity sliding door can save you up to 6% more space than the regular hinged door, a feature that owners of compact homes and small living areas value. A cavity sliding door does not use hinges to swing the door open and it does not rely on a doorknob or a deadbolt to lock it shut. This does not mean that your cavity sliding door is unable to be locked.

A cavity sliding door is specially constructed so that it can be concealed behind a hole in the wall when it is opened. The wall cavity or pocket is measured to accommodate the horizontal steel reinforced bars and the sliding door without a doorknob or deadbolt. To keep a cavity sliding door closed, you may choose from among three types:

Passage pull

Also referred to as flush, a passage pull is a small and hollow metal piece that is attached to one side of the cavity sliding door. The flush pull allows your fingers to grasp the door to open or close it. When the cavity sliding door is closed, the pull simply latches on to the jamb without locking the door. This may be used for areas that do not require much privacy such as closet doors, between rooms, family rooms and living rooms.

Privacy lock pull

The privacy pull is similar to the passage pull except that it has a latch that you may turn on one side of the cavity sliding door to hook on to the strike plate installed on the other surface. A privacy lock is ideal for areas that need privacy such as the bathroom, bedroom and other interior rooms.

Pocket door lock with key

This type of lock provides the most security among all cavity sliding door mechanisms as it comes with a key that you can use to lock your cavity sliding door.