I have recently removed some light hollow wardrobe doors from a frame made of 2 x 2's and have just had delivered some reclaimed pine doors to put in their place.
I want to know if the frame made of 2×2's will be strong enough to hold the doors.
They are 78" x 27" and both doors would be hanging off one of the 2 x 2's. The frame is attached to the ceiling, floor and walls at both sides.
Doors – Hanging Internal Doors – is a frame made from 2 x 2’s strong enough
doorsframehanging
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Ideally this should be screwed/anchored into a joist for maximum support. However, if you really want to use a drywall anchor, you should use a toggle bolt or a ceiling anchor. Instead of just screwing into the wall, these expand to several times their size which gives you a good hold, especially when the force is pulling directly down. 10lbs might be pushing it though, it will depend on the thickness of your drywall and the overall condition. The worst case is you just have to patch the hole and repaint; drywall is pretty forgiving like that!
That's a hard thing to google. I can offer 2 possible approaches:
1.) I think you could do something like these doors with battens:
You would have to turn the battens 90 degrees from the drawing since your facing boards are horizontal. The most important part would be the vertical battens on the left and right side. This would effectively form a frame with the top and bottom boards.
2.) If you want the frame to be truly internal, you could build a mortise-and-tenoned rectangular frame, and then apply facing boards to both sides. For more info on this, I would google "frame and panel doors". You could do the simple rectangle, like cabinet doors, and leave out the panel. This frame then could be sandwhiched between layers of facing boards. If you don't feel like doing mortise and tenons, substitute loose tenons, biscuits, dowels joints, pocket screws, etc.
Either way, screws or nails should be fine for attaching the facing boards to the frame. If you use nails, hammer them in at slightly varying angles to prevent the boards from pulling straight out.
Also, leave a little space between the facing boards. Here in the US, I would use a dime as a spacer, but you could use a couple business cards, or a small drill bit, or measure a millimeter, etc. This allows the wood to expand and contract with temperature and humidity changes.
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Best Answer
Weight of doors is critical here. A solid pine door 1.5" thick = 1/8 cubic foot per square foot * 30 lbs/cubic foot = 4.25 pounds per square foot. If it were a normal sized door 6'6" x 2'6" you have about 16 square feet so something like 70 pounds.
If it's pine veneer on particle board it may be over 100. If it's 5/16" cottage plank with Z bracing is could be almost as light as your present doors.
A normal door is hung from doubled studs. One goes up to the ceiling, one goes to the top of the frame. Is it actually a 2x2 or is it a 2x4 mounted edgeways?
Try this: Open the door a few inches. Put a level along the length of the top of the door, or use a clamp, and clamp it to the door.
Now hang your weight on the top corner of the door. Does the level deflect? How much? Repeat this test with the door at 90 degrees. If you get more deflection here, you likely have a 2x4 set edgeways. It's stiffer in that direction.
Repeat this test with your front door. Compare the deflections. If your closet door only deflects a bit more than your front door, you are fine. If it deflects a lot more, then you need to beef up the frame.