Blocking Up A Cupboard Door Way

Feb 10 2008

Step By Step Guide To.. Top Tip: Keep The Door To Reinstate In The Future

This is a cute little DIY job, especially for people with a tenement or Victorian-style property. Now let me make this perfectly clear, I love storage and would never advise anybody to remove it, simply because you always need somewhere to stuff all those little tricks and trinkets into and, let's face it, there is never enough space.

But it doesn't always make sense to have a cupboard on a main wall if it prevents you from properly furnishing your home or, for example, obstructing where you need to hang a radiator. But if needs must and you want to fill over the doorway, then it's a very simple job and it should be done in a way that allows it to be reinstated in the future. So it's always a good idea to keep a hold of the door if possible.

The job itself is a simple case of removing the door facings and the door. Remember, you're not a demolition company, so leave the shelves in place as they can simply be covered over.

STEP 1

Remove the timber facings, starting at the top, and prise the facing off, taking care not to damage the wall.

STEP 2

Remove the door. The hardest part will be the hinge screws, under 100 years of paint. Open the screw heads with a screwdriver and hammer.

STEP 3

If there are shelves, use them as part of your frame. Measure the depth of the plasterboard and mark this as the starting point of the frame.

STEP 4

Make sure your timber frame is plumb and level (you know what these old houses are like - all over the place). If necessary, use packers to achieve this.

STEP 5

Use any shelves as part of your frame for they are built into the wall and will provide a solid support. In this case, I used 2in by 1in timber batons to form the rest of the frame.

STEP 6

Measure and cut the plasterboard to fit over the opening and make sure you have a new blade in the Stanley knife as it makes life so much easier.

STEP 7

Mark the position of the frame before you place the plasterboard over it, as you will never find a way to fit the board into the frame if you can't see it.

STEP 8

Use the spirit level to mark the position of the timber frame and simply drive home the dry wall screws, spacing them every six inches, making sure they connect with the frame behind the plasterboard.

STEP 9

Job's done.

Here's what you'll need..

Tools

Stanley knife

Spirit level

Hammer

Saw

Drill

Wrecking bar

Materials

Plasterboard

Timber batons

2in nails

Dry wall screws