Overhead Hoists and Sliding Doors

We’ve already talked about how hoists can pass between rooms with traditional systems, but what about if you have a sliding door? This is a question that gets brought up a lot with architects and specifiers who are looking at how these two objects can interact with one another without clashing or causing a problem.

Fortunately, it is possible to have an overhead hoist system and a sliding door work together. Read on to find out how you can make it work.

Jump Straight To –

• What’s the issue with hoists and sliding doors?
• How to make hoists and sliding doors work
• What we recommend with hoists and sliding doors
• What we don’t recommend

What’s the issue with hoists and sliding doors?

The biggest challenge with hoist tracking and sliding doors is the way that the tracks interact. As you can imagine, a sliding door will run across the doorway on a single track.

The hoist system tracking runs perpendicular to this and will go straight through the door rail and clash. So how do we overcome this issue?

How to make hoists and sliding doors work

Just like a hoist unit, a sliding door is moved along the rail using a trolley system. The only way we can make these two components work together is by having the trolley of the sliding door to be able to bridge the gap where the hoist tracking intersects it.

This means that the door will remain fixed to the track even when passing over the gap where the hoist tracking will be.

This is a particularly easier solution for double-leaf doors, where there are two doors that part in the middle and then slide outwards. Single leaf doors tend to be a bit trickier, which is why this trolley solution is so useful.

What we recommend with hoists and sliding doors

There are two companies that we work with that provide overhead hoist and sliding door solutions.

Firstly, there is Eclisse. We work with Eclisse more regularly because their doors are bespoke to each and every client.

You can specify the size, shape, and colour and rest assured that their trolley system works perfectly over hoist tracking.

Another company we have worked with is Kone.

Their sliding doors are magnetic and can be controlled manually or electrically to provide the easiest movement for the user. This means that no rails are needed, so the overhead hoist track can pass through with no problems at all.

What we don’t recommend

There is one thing that we try and stay away from when working with sliding door systems; we don’t use big cut-outs. This is where there is a big section above the door header is cut-out.

As you can probably imagine, these kinds of cut-outs can let through a lot of noise (because quite simply, there’s no wall). They can also let through smells, and steam if it’s connecting to an en-suite.

In conclusion, it is difficult to imagine a solution between overhead hoist tracking and sliding door rails, but it is possible. By using a door with a trolley that can bridge the gaps in the rails, we can ensure that hoists can move from room-to-room with ease.

If you’ve got any questions about overhead hoists and sliding doors, then feel free to get in touch!