Since I moved back into my apartment I wanted to have a doorway from the bedroom to the bathroom, instead of having to go all the way around. So I used a jigsaw to cut the wall out. First I cut the drywall out of the closet. I used a drill with a very large bit and drilled holes everywhere so that I knew what was back behind the wall first. There isn’t an electrical outlet in there but I just wanted to make sure that nothing else was there. Then I drilled holes up and down the drywall that met the edge of the 2 x 4’s so that I would have a guide to use of where to cut when I went into the bathroom and started on the other side. My nice measuring tape is lost again anyway. I do t believe that this is a load bearing wall but in case it is I looked up on YouTube how to create a doorway in that circumstance. The YouTube channel ‘This Old House’ had one that was pretty easy to follow. So when the time comes for me to remove that one 2 x 4 that is right in the middle then I will follow that. I will have to build a frame using 4 boards that is bigger than the opening and you screw everything together and then remove it. Before removing it you have to use a large header board underneath the half cut board and screw that in permanently. It’s something like that
Have you seen those neat storage ideas on Pinterest? Where you remove only one wall on o w side of the 2×4’s and then you leave them intact as well. If you have a small closet you could remove the walls all the way around just on the inside to create more space. It really works. I have seen ideas as well for kitchen pantries, especially if you don’t have one! A person could do that just for a couple of spaces, place horizontal 2×4’s in between for shelves, then place a door on the front, attaching the hinges in the 2×4. Or maybe you have a couple of walls in your kitchen that were framed badly! If there is a lot of space in between the wall of one room that joins the wall of another room, you could cut one side down and you would have that extra space for a pantry. Just don’t remove the 2×4’s and it only takes a couple of hours. Maybe you have a random closet door that just hangs in one of the bedrooms. Use that for the door on the front of that pantry. No one will even know that it’s missing! Paint it yellow or pink to hide it even more! Think of all of those doors in the basement. You could make French doors out of those, upstairs somewhere. Especially if they have glass windows in them. You cannot enjoy them downstairs! Bring them up and attach them on a different doorways upstairs. The doors that you buy at the hardware store are either pre-hung (with the frame) or slabs (without a frame) the slabs are cheaper. that is really what you are doing when you remove a door from the frame. Yes it swings right or left, but it’s because of the hinges (they can be reversed) and the door knob which can be changed and reversed. Then you have to chisel out the hole on the other side of the door frame. It’s very easy with a hammer and chisel. Just measure and mark around the plate when you place it onto the frame in conjunction with the door lock.
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