A single shoji door can be hung from a rail and slide in/out of the pocket. If there is no pocket, a rail can be mounted on the wall, above the door opening and the hanging shoji door can slide open in front of the wall, barn door style.
For large wardrobes we provide sliding shoji doors. For smaller wardrobes we provide a solution with bifold shoji doors.
We can provide hinged shoji door(s) or bifold shoji doors for closets.
We build and size your shoji doors or screens to custom fit your space. Typical door widths are: 30', 36", 40" and 48". Typical heights are 80", 84" and 92". Any custom width or height can be ordered.
Most of our shoji designs are made using mahogany (Philippine or African). Both are strong but fine grained, medium to dark colored woods. We also build in beech or maple, which have a denser grain and are even lighter in color, and upon request we will build your shoji in any type of custom wood, such as cherry, walnut, koa, teak or oak.
We typically use a a proprietary blend of oils that is designed for exterior use. It provides a natural look to the wood and protects it for use in bathrooms and lanais or even in exterior doors. We can provide many other wood finishes if you so desire.
We have a selection of modern laminated rice papers which are very natural looking and beautiful when the light is diffused through it. This material is far more practical than real rice paper and is very durable and washable. We carry a choice of available colors. We can print (or even paint) on the paper to complement your design. In addition to laminated paper, there are many different types of decorative plastics and plexiglass that can be substituted. Please call us if you have a special insert material in mind that you are not quite sure of.
For extra strength or for exterior projects we can use white glass or plexi glass in our shoji doors.
Many people worry about damage to the rice paper in daily use (or by visiting kids).
The modern day laminated rice papers are very strong. We can provide a .45 mm thick version that is super strong. In addition, we can "sandwich" a piece of thin plexiglass between two layers of rice paper to make the screen impenetrable; all this while maintaining the look of the traditional shoji screen. Our door frames are 1 3/8" thick (the same as a regular door) and make a very strong surrounding frame for the shoji screens. Each corner of our door/screen frame is joined with an internal mortise and tenon construction to provide maximum strength. The rice paper is fastened to a separate inner frame that easily can be removed in the very rare case that a repair needs to be made.
Shoji doors provide a limited amount of sound dampening. We can install a sheet of 1/4" thick plexi glass between two sheets of laminated rice paper to provide the most dampening available.
We typically use a a proprietary blend of oils that is designed for exterior use. It provides a natural look to the wood and protects it for use in bathrooms and lanais or even in exterior doors. We can provide many other wood finishes if you so desire.
We make a top and bottom wood track for exclusive use with our shoji doors. This track system has been designed for smooth sliding action and easy cleaning. You can specify how many screens per track you would like, if you wish to push all shoji screens to one side, you need the same number of tracks as you have screens.
For shoji doors or screens that hang from the ceiling we use a durable and high quality metal track (rail or rails) which eliminates the need for any bottom track. Typically, we install anti-sway hardware. All doors are grooved at the bottom side. A pin is placed in the groove under the first door (the master) and screwed into the floor. The master door can travel the length of the pin, which is hidden from sight under the door. The second door is connected by a hook attached to the master door that grabs in the groove of the second door. A hook on the end of the second door grabs into the groove of the third door, etc. In this way, all doors are connected at the bottom and can't sway because of the pin hidden under the master door. The pin and the hooks are hidden from view.
We have designed a self supporting header that holds the the top track or hanging rails. This header allows ventilation and is as stiff as a truss. Installation is greatly simplified as the header only needs to be supported at its ends.
Doors are closed, the two identical front doors meet in the middle of the front track.
The middle doors butt in the center, which causes two door outer frames to meet in the middle. The door positions from left to right are back, front, front, back.
Doors are closed and overlap.
Note that when the doors are open this causes a different front view than when the doors butt in the center.
Just about any application that can be done with a regular door can be done with shoji. Bifold, multifold, hinged and freestanding are some other typical applications that we have done for our customers. We welcome your input in the design and enjoy developing new and unique creations.
Look below to see some traditional popular shoji grid designs that have been made in the past. Perhaps you will like one of these patterns or they will help to inspire your own design. Remember, the spacial relationship of the pattern will change in relation to the height and width of the frame it is in. In addition, we design many custom grids where we bend the wood to free form. Many of our contemporary grids are designed in that way. We are delighted to work with you to help create the design and look you want.
