Narrowing The Doorway: How To Reduce The Passage In Width And Height For An Interior Door, Using Drywall And Other Materials

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Narrowing The Doorway: How To Reduce The Passage In Width And Height For An Interior Door, Using Drywall And Other Materials
Narrowing The Doorway: How To Reduce The Passage In Width And Height For An Interior Door, Using Drywall And Other Materials

Video: Narrowing The Doorway: How To Reduce The Passage In Width And Height For An Interior Door, Using Drywall And Other Materials

Video: Narrowing The Doorway: How To Reduce The Passage In Width And Height For An Interior Door, Using Drywall And Other Materials
Video: How to Cut Down a Door | Height and Width Adjustments 2024, March
Anonim

The task of narrowing the doorway is faced by those who have started a major overhaul in their own home or when it is too large to install a standard interior door. In any case, the solution to this problem is quite feasible even for those who are not particularly "friendly" with repairs, but want to make this work independent. It will require a tool, additional materials and some free time.

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Types and forms

Overhaul involves redevelopment, but this terrible word does not always mean moving walls. A minor redevelopment includes a change in the width of the doorway. You can narrow it down using three main methods, which are described below. But before work, you need to decide on the shape of the future opening:

  • Rectangular. Doesn't require extensive work. All that is required is to narrow the opening and maintain its correct geometric shape;
  • Semicircular. In another way, it is called an arch. To create an arched shape, you will have to narrow the opening in the upper part using a metal structure or aerated concrete;
  • Complex. A triangular or any other curly shape will require a skilled craftsman and lightweight materials like drywall. Usually it is created without a door and is an arch, so light materials will do for its refinement.

For subsequent installation of the door leaf, only the rectangular shape of the opening is suitable. If the opening is too wide or you want to put a standard door instead of an arch, then you will have to change its dimensions.

Significantly or insignificantly - depends on the width.

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Training

The first and one of the most important stages is preparing the doorway for changes.

It consists of several points:

  • Cleaning the doorway from unnecessary: an old door or arch, platbands, boxes and other things. This step is necessary in the event that work on changing the opening will be carried out in a re-purchased apartment or in your own, but not new. It is also necessary to clean the doorway in order to assess the condition of the walls. Sometimes it so happens that the opening will have to be further expanded due to the dilapidated walls, and only after strengthening them to lay a new "foundation".
  • Repositioning electrical wiring and other communications, which the new opening can harm. If any of them are laid close to the doorway, then the line will have to be shifted.
  • Assessment of the "bare" opening for the strength of the walls and the choice of the method of its reduction. At this stage, the choice of material is also made.

The prepared opening must be clean, the brickwork of the wall or concrete must be visible. Before narrowing, you need to make a markup: put a metal rule on the floor close to each of the walls. It should rest against the plaster of the wall.

Next, draw a line from one wall to another and observe this proportion when creating a narrowing structure.

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Operating procedure

There are several ways to reduce the opening, each of which is based on the selected material and the method of its fastening.

Brickwork

The most durable way to narrow the opening is to use bricks or concrete blocks. It is suitable for strengthening walls for further installation of an interior or entrance door. For this, ordinary brick or aerated concrete blocks can be used.

The latter are distinguished by their high density and easy cutting (as opposed to brittle bricks).

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This will require the following tools and materials:

  • Blocks or bricks along the width of the opening in the amount that will practically cover the "extra" part;
  • 2 steel corners;
  • Masonry cement;
  • Sheathing material (chipboard, drywall);
  • Fasteners;
  • Drill or hammer drill;
  • Construction trowel;
  • Screwdriver;
  • Level;
  • Ruler / tape measure;
  • Pencil;
  • Cutting tool for cutting aerated blocks.

To prepare the cement mortar, you will need a container, a construction mixer, and gloves.

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Dirty work, but the only sure thing to create a reliable structure.

Stages of work:

  • Select blocks / bricks suitable for the width of the opening or cut aerated concrete according to the required parameters;
  • Install metal corners in the grooves of the wall: they will become the frame for the blocks. It is important to choose reliable and durable corners, they will hold the entire concrete or brick structure;
  • Secure the corners with self-tapping screws, nails;
  • Start laying the brick from the very bottom. Filling the entire height of the opening with brick will not work, but try to do it as much as possible;
  • Go over the structure with a construction float and remove excess cement;
  • Let the masonry dry for a day and only then carry out the rest of the work;
  • Cover it with drywall or similar decorative material, or simply plaster.
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Brick or aerated concrete must be placed on the mortar. The remaining gap at the top must be filled with any suitable material - foam, wood filler, foam, depending on the size of the "gap". Another important point is the treatment of the stone wall with an antifungal and anti-mold composition. It is known that brick can absorb water and is an excellent breeding ground for mold, mildew and other unpleasant phenomena. Therefore, you need to protect the wall from destructive consequences.

If you decide to plaster a new wall, be aware that the brick may absorb the first layers into itself, and the structure will have to be processed again - with the same plaster or primer.

The main disadvantage in this method is labor intensity, but the main plus is reliability. If there is a choice about what to choose - brick or aerated concrete, choose the latter. It is easy to work with aerated concrete or foam blocks - cut, saw, lay, drill.

This material is lighter in weight than brick, but in no way inferior to it in terms of its quality characteristics.

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Using a bar

This method is one of the simplest and most common. The whole point is to pick up a beam according to the width of the opening and install it. It is important to determine the ideal width of the material, it will be much easier to adjust to the height. Otherwise, when the beam is larger than the width of the opening, it will have to be "wedged" and adjusted to the standards.

For work, you will need the following materials and tools:

  • Beam, 20-30 mm less than the cross-section of the opening;
  • Long nails or self-tapping screws for fixing the timber and short ones for decoration;
  • Primer, decorative panels;
  • Drill or hammer drill;
  • Hammer or screwdriver;
  • Plane;
  • Level, measuring tape, pencil.
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Once the blank is found, you need:

  • Attach the timber to the opening and evaluate how well it covers part of it. If the thickness of the material slightly protrudes beyond the opening, you need to clean up the edge with a plane or make it slightly smaller so that the decor is flush with the wall;
  • Fasten the workpiece with fasteners without hats - they can interfere with further finishing of the opening. If they are with hats, then they need to be driven directly into the wood;
  • To secure the bars, it is good to use a hammer, which can be used to adjust the slope of those very bars;
  • Next, trim the surface with a decorative panel. Attach them to small screws.
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With such an overlap of the opening, it is worth considering the fact that this material does not have great strength. It will not work if in the future it is planned to install a heavy solid wood door, since it simply will not withstand it. This method is unlikely to be suitable for the bathroom, as it can deform in the course of its "life". Timber - wood that absorbs moisture well, can swell or crack.

A little advice from experienced installers: use polyurethane foam to seal the cracks. It will additionally strengthen the structure and make it airtight. Moisture will not penetrate into a high-quality foamed workpiece.

If the structure is subject to wallpapering or painting, then it must be properly primed.

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Using drywall

This method is also popular due to its low cost, material availability and purity. Drywall does not have the proper strength, which means that it can be used to narrow the opening by no more than 10 cm. The essence of this method is to create a metal frame and sheath it with gypsum board.

The stages of work are as follows:

  • Draw a diagram of the future frame and its fastenings, indicating the dimensions (metal profile, suspensions);
  • Cut out the details of the future frame from the metal profile, equal to the height and width of the opening;
  • Make holes in the upper part of the opening - hangers on which the future structure will be held. Make suspensions about 15 cm wide from each other, not more often;
  • Assemble the metal case and secure it;
  • Cover it with drywall. The use of a screwdriver will significantly reduce the installation time;
  • To eliminate irregularities, bayonets, use a putty;
  • The last step is to treat the entire surface with soil.
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This method of narrowing the opening is not the most durable.

It is usually used to adjust the width to refine an opening without a door using an arch. To enhance the strength of the structure, you can fill it from the inside with expanded polystyrene bars.

You can reduce the opening using ordinary plaster, if you plan to do this slightly. The essence of this method is the use of a cement-based mixture. It is applied in several layers in order to narrow the width by 2-5 cm.

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You will learn more about how to narrow a doorway in the following video.

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