Doors – Do all sliding glass patio doors come pre-assembled in one piece

doorssound-proofing

I'm doing a soundproofing project in my basement, setting up a small home recording studio, and I need a door that doesn't swing. Looking at other studios, I notice that they often go with a double set of exterior sliding glass patio doors (air gap in between). I think this is a great solution since patio doors are designed to be air tight and insulate well (in Canada anyways) and shouldn't let a lot of sound through.

My problem is that all the patio doors I can find come with pre-assembled frames (72"x80"), and I won't be able to fit it around the turn in my basement stairs.

Where can I find glass exterior doors that come in pieces so that I can actually get it down to the basement?

Any other soundproof non-swinging door ideas out there? DIY options?

Best Answer

A swinging door would be very convenient in this case since you can very easily find a thick door, seal any gaps and install sound insulation. However, if you really won't be able to install a swinging door you might find this helpful:

Door:

You could install a soundproofing sliding door, with roughly the same money. I suggest installing above the door entry a slider. Now you can find a really cheap wooden sliding door that fits around the turn. You don't need to go for a glass door, it is more expensive and will be more difficult to soundproof. A swinging door will do just as fine if you tweak it and add some rollers on top of it. This is what requires the most effort because you need to be very precise with the measurements, in order to leave as small gaps as possible. (In fact, we did the same on a door we couldn't replace because it was too old, and we weren't able to find doors with those dimensions).

Soundproofing:

If the door is really cheap, then it is also probably hollow and that won't block the sound. You can install soundproofing material of your choice (you can find really good deals for old foam mattresses which do the job) on the side of the door that is always shown whether it is open or closed. Lastly, however good the measurements are, there will always be gaps on the sides. To eliminate this, you can glue some sort of soundproofing strips on the 2 walls on the side, the ledge above and on the bottom part of the door, so that they are a tight fit for the door.

I hope this helps!