# Closing off Doorway in Plaster Wall



## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

I just did it recently...

Remove the door....

Then starting at the bottom, pull the door frame away from the wall. The best tool is a flat crow bar. Once you have the bottom pulled away, you can then pull the top down. You basically just peal it off.

Once you have it off....frame it out....studs top and bottom...on the sides and in the middle. Now you have a nice surface to attach your new drywall to.

Your biggest problem is going to be drywall depth. Chances are it's around 1" thick...give or take an 1/8".

Three ways to do this....

1. Fir out both sides with strips of wood ripped to the thickness so that new drywall is flush with your old wall.

2. When install the new studs, line up one side so that your drywall would be flush...now you only have to fir out the other side.

3. Rip down 2x6 studs to the width you need to have your new drywall flush. This would be my preference....it's less work than ripping firing strips.

Don't worry about the cracks....just fill them with mud and move on.


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## wkearney99 (Apr 8, 2009)

Before you rip it apart, consider it's resale value. Sometimes they're worth a bit more if the frame is included. That being a possibility, consider taking the frame and door out as one unit. Remove the facing trim molding and then use a sawzall with a 12" blade to cut the frame loose from the surrounding structure. Tack a board across both sides to hold the frame square to the door before removing it. That'll help keep it all together. Then just tap in any cut nails left sticking out.

I second the #3 suggestion to use larger lumber and rip it down to the needed dimensions. This is likely to be a lot less work than trying to use furring strips or multiple layers of drywall to match the thickness of the existing walls.

As for the floor baseboard, unless you have old pieces of the same stuff on-hand it's often easier to replace a whole section rather than try to patch with new material. There might be trim inside of old closets or in other locations that could be moved and used here. Using mitered joints is better than butt joints for this sort of thing, as that tends to be easier to hide the transition.

Baseboards were a lot more varied in the past, no two lumber yards would cut them the same way. Modern stuff rarely comes close. You could spend a some money to have knives made to match your trim, but that's going to be pretty expensive. 

Your hardest part is going to be hiding the appearance of the new patch. The way the paint layers look is hard to replicate. So you may find yourself sanding down a fair bit of the existing paint in order to have that whole wall look like one unpatched surface. Be prepared to deal with lead pain dust and use respirators accordingly.


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## paparocks (Jun 29, 2011)

ddawg16 said:


> I just did it recently...
> 
> Remove the door....
> 
> ...


+1 very good advice


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## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

You may loose some plaster---the pry bar will knock loose a lot if you do not trim back the plaster in the area you are going to pry---

I suggest gently chipping back the plaster with a hammer and chisel in the places where you need to pry---

An angle grinder with a diamond blade is quick---but the mess is awful---so hand chip an opening to pry---


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## bobdod04 (Aug 10, 2013)

Thanks for the advice guys. I dont plan on selling this as its going into a new door way that i plan to put in for a new bathroom. I think i will also only close off one side completely. The other side will be turned into a recessed shelf. Ill chip out some of the plaster as suggested, its coming off in places already anyways. Will probably wait to finish this untill i set up power to my table saw in the basement, but thats for another day. 

It will be a challenge to match the patched area, especially since the existing plaster walls are a bit wavey in places. I think ill have to use some joint compound to get it to blend in a bit. Maybe a few layers of paint will help ad well. Once i get my table saw up and running i will rip 2x6s as suggested and put up 5/8 sheet rock just a hair below flush.


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