Hiding a hot water cylinder without blocking it

Loft conversions often end up with the hot water cylinder in the room, tucked under the slope where nothing else fits. It works, but nobody wants to look at it from bed.

Why sliding doors

Hinged doors under a slope have two problems. They can only be so tall before they hit the ceiling, and they swing out into a room that is usually short of floor space already.

Two sliding doors fix both. They follow the slope, they never swing, and either door can slide right across. Whoever services the cylinder can get at either end without anything being taken apart.

Building the frame

In a loft, the floor, the wall and the slope are never quite square to each other. So the frame goes up to a laser line, not to the room.

The top of the frame follows the ceiling. The bottom track sits flat and level on the floor, because that is what the doors run on.

Before you box in a cylinder or a boiler, ask whoever services it how much room they need. Then leave a bit more.

See every photo of this job.