Guidance to measuring & fitting our TAMdoûr Horizontal door
Fitting into a Campervan / RV / Motorhome -
Please remember every project is different and our doors are used in many applications this is the main reason why we don’t supply fitting instructions, you will need some DIY skills to fit these doors but planning a preparation to lay the track is key to fitting our doors.
Advice for checking if our doors will work for your project -
A Tambour door sits on a groove low friction track inside the opening of your room, the track is fixed above and below the door and needs to slide between the two with ideally 0-0.5mm gap inside at the top track however you need to make a height allowance when ordering of 3/4mm under your total height as the difference can be made up by packing down the top track or using an adjustable batton to fix the top track to allow you to lower the track down on top of the door, we will always aim to achieve the exact mm requested however our manufacturing allowance is upto 4mm, if you have not accounted for this you will need to cut a few mm off the height, this is very simple see instructions how to cut our tambour doors -
If it is just a small amount to reduce in size, take it off the top of the door, if it’s a large amount to take off, split the difference and cut both the top and bottom to keep the handle as central as possible.
We provided an L shaped trim it is fixed inside at either left or right edge of opening ( see gallery of pictures for support ) you can measure your width from here to the far side opening we do recommend a slight overhang on the tail end so it overlaps inside.
The bottom track will need to be fixed to the floor / Tray / A level surface inside the shower room, with enough distance away from your opening to avoid your door from touching or scratching your inside wall on opening, it is recommended to bond / glue the track and not screwed as this will affect the low friction track (bond not supplied) once you have found a suitable location for this track you can take your measurement from here to where the top track will be fixed.
A popular choice which we strongly recommend to use an adjustable height fixed batten to bond the top track to inside to ensure a perfect level height and an easier fit to insert the door but you can fix to the ceiling if your height is perfectly level and even height at the open and close area.
The tambour door will slide across the inside, Imagine holding a piece of thin bendy ply board if you had to slide this inside and around would it be stopped by anything mounted on the wall or roof inside? Would track be to close to your opening to touch your inside wall on opening risking damage you’re perfectly finished front Tambour Door? you may need to make adjustments to the room inside to support this type of door, for example make the floor level and add a adjustable level batton to fix the top track too, remove or cover any sharp edges along the wall the tambour door will slide across to protect the front of the door when in its open position.
Some customers have a straight track slide across hiding the door inside behind a side wall but most customers have to opt for a slide inside 90-degree turn to be able to fully open the door.
Depth requirements inside is the width of the door minus 40mm door handle slat, leaving the handle slat at the opening - for example if your door width is 600mm the door will need to slide 560mm inside leaving 40mm handle at the opening
Measurements we need to build your bespoke door -
Height - Hight including track (Things to check do you have a roof camber to stop the door from sliding fully this means you may have to reduce your height to slide under the slope to gain more depth inside to allow for your door width.
Width - inside edge plus an optional 30-50 mm excess past opening on the tail end
Handle - We need to know which side you require the handle? This will be when standing outside looking in (leave note in checkout special instructions)
Door Colour?
Handle colour?
90-degree corner?
Price displayed are for standard track to upgrade to the flexible this would be an additional £24.99 (if a curved close measure the door width around the curve area)
How to order online -
Gather the information above, choose the colour door and handle option available online, select the closest size to your door measurements on our dropped size options and leave notes at the checkout, special order instructions
Fitting Guidance - for Campervan / RV / Motorhome W/C Shower room
Your door ordered will include enough track and corners to fully open your door, We will be provided track in long strips to cut to size.
Your door will be provided height including track, it will also come with parts an L shape trim the same colour as the door which can be used in 2 ways either to fix inside the opening to act as a door stop or to hide the curve of the track on the tail end of the door if you have no side wall to hide the corner, Magnetic tape that can be fixed to a door stop to work with the integrated magnetic within the door.
Preparation - Ensure the area at the time of order has not affected, height of the door ordered the depth of the space the door will side into and no obstructions, Always ensure the total height is the same height around the open and close areas.
If the this is area is not height level the door could either slip out of the track it to high or get stuck if to small, fix these issues before moving onto the first step.
Standard rigid track and 90 degree corners -
Step 1 - Cut the track to size and bond the bottom track to the tray or floor the area you took the measurements from, (inside opening and around the side or straight slide for the full open) (you can use popular bond like sikaflex or C.T.1) leave to dry over night. (Note this track is designed to be either recessed bonded or surface bonded)
Flexible track -
Step 1 - build the bottom flex track to double width of the door (see video on YouTube for support https://youtu.be/lGOnZ-6iJy0 ) bond and tack the track into place with thin pin nails into the desired shape for the open and close ensuring the track has not to close to your opening edges to avoid the front of the door being marked on opening, once bonded wait to dry overnight remove the pin nails.
Step 2 - once dry add the door and then mark up the top track level in height and parallel to the bottom track. ( if you have high spots ensure the top track is the correct height all the way around (pack out track if needed) this would be highlighted at preparation.
If you have decided to batten around the top inside to reduce the door height fix the track to this batten and mark up the track batten height for fixing.
Note - Battening the top track is the easier fitting option to insert the door and to ensure a perfect level height track.
Step 3 - insert the door, there are 2 ways to insert the door into the track tilt door to side feed in the door into the tracks at an angle and straight up once in or if you are battening the top track fix the track to the batten and then add the door to the bottom track and then pop on the track and batten to the inside wall.
Step 4 - Once the door is in the track and sliding even. Add the L shape plastic to the inside left for your to stop against (short side fixes to wall (screw or bond) cut the magnetic tape to size and attached to the door handle magnetic, then take off backing tape and close against the L shape door stop the ensure a perfectly aligned magnetic close.
Note - You can remove the fibreglass tape if you are happy with the fit and slide, wipe off sticky reduce if any with a soft cloth, if you have to much of a gap between the top of the door and the top inside track removing the tape will cause the door to lose support, the door will tilt due to not enough support from the top track, This will affect the smooth slide of the door when opening and closing, time spent making sure the top track is perfect in height will help for a perfect slide, this is why we recommend a adjustable height batton for the top track to fix too.
If you plan to replace the tape we recommend looking at this supplier on Amazon for waterproof fabric tape. -
WELSTIK Thin Gaff Tape 50MM*30.2M Gaffa Tape Matt Cloth Tape,
There are a few videos on youtube of different people who are buildiing with similar projects to yours they maybe from different suppliers but the theory is very similar.