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I suppose the idea is sound will be muffled because it has to squeeze into the door pocket and hike all the way around the wider door before it can pop out on the other side.

No.

Be wary of a door with a "pattern" on it.

Example, if you did that with a six panel door, with the door closed you'd have an uneven exposure with regards to the left and right stiles on the door.

If this were the route you choose, a better bet may be to use a standard 32" door in a 32" pocket, but biscuit and glue a 3 or 4" wide extension to the stile on the pocket side.

When closed, onnly the original 32" door would be exposed. The 4" attachment would remain buried in the pocket.

once its framed u can,t get a bigger door in the opening. It won,t make a bit of difference as far as sound.

You hang the oversized door while you're building the pocket.

I've done this several times with oversized arched pocket doors, but I build the doors myself.

Thanks, you all...mongo, it wouldn't be a door with any pattern on it--just a solid core flush door (modern design here). I think we'll be able to do it at least with one of the *three* pocket doors we're using, namely the one we haven't framed in yet, but not with the others since it would be too much of a hassle to reframe that little area...it would try our friend's patience too much.

We'll put solid core doors in all of them, at least, to help with the noise somewhat.

If the pocket trim is installed correctly there is no problem getting a larger door installed (or removed).
The top jamb piece on one side of a pocket door need to be removable to get any door in (or out) unless you want the hardware to show all the time (and even worse when the door is closed).
A larger door will help with sound by blocking the path around the pocket edge of the door, and also allows a floor rail to keep the door captive even when closed.
I use aluminum angle in the floor of the pocket with a matching groove in the bottom of the door. A 1/8 groove with 1/16 aluminum only allows 1/32 of Âswing for the door. This allows the trim on the pocket side to have a tight clearance to the door to help with sound also. I set the trim about 1/16 off the door.
You can either buy a wider door, or plane 2x lumber down to match the door thickness and then screw it to the pocket edge of the door. I use 3-4 inches if I can, but have gone as low as 2 inches.
After attaching the wood (or getting the wider door) groove the bottom for the aluminum angle using a router. The groove should be 1/16 wider than the aluminum thickness and be stopped just short of the show edge of the door.
The angle is cut to length and fastened in the pocket so it catches only about 1 inch of door when the door is closed.
For bathrooms I also add one or two stop beads on the jamb opposite the pocket to block sight and reduce sound there.
I have yet to find any decent new hardware for the latch on a bathroom. The cheap ones fit in a notch cut into the door and do not work very well. Antique ones can be a problem to chase down, and I have gone as far as making them a couple times from brass.

fly - what doors are you using?

How much room in the wall do you need to put in a pocket door? For a 32" door .. do you need only 32" of wall sapce to tuck it into or more??

I'd like to put a pocket door in a 5'4" wide space to separate the bath shower/toilet room from the vanity/laundry area.

Trying to finalize my door schedule so re-reading pocket door threads... so hope some one with knowlege will jump in.

In ideal cirucumstances, it sounds like a 5'4" wall should accomodate only a 28" opening but a 32" door should be used to deal with sound.

Unfortunately I need a wider opening between the two rooms - what is the maxium opening that I could do for a pocket door in a 5'4" wall? 30" opening with a 32" frame/door?

sorry, miruca, I didn't see this thread...

As I understand it, you need 32" plus trim width on one side, and enough on the other side at least for trim.

I'm not goign to be able to put in the 36" door after all (framer friend not willing to make changes) so I'm going to have to hope that whatever we choose for drywall/sound insulation will help enough...It's not what I would have wanted now that I know but then again it was up to me to have done my research enough ahead of time...