# Widen Closet Door



## mchipser (Sep 21, 2009)

So we are having another munchkin soon and I wanted to get the current spare room available for the new arrival. The closet situation in that room is very odd, 7' in length, 2' in depth and only a standard 34" door which leaves a ton of unusable space, unless I wanted to move things around getting stuff in and out..

I am pretty positive the wall is load bearing, so my plan to to build a temporary wall on both outside of the closet and inside the closet during demo, and during the widening. Placing a new header and framing in the new door, then I can remove the temp walls. 

During this I am also having to move an electrical outlet, but i also want to put a light in the closet.. Can i wire it from the current wall socket I am having to move anyway?

This spare room is also fairly long and only has one fan in the ceiling, so i was planning on removing the current fan socket and splitting the room into thirds and adding 2 fans.. 

After I was done with the door, lights and fans I was going to have a drywall guy come in and tape, float, and fix all the holes in the walls (old fan location, current TV location, and sheetrock around the door / closet)

Does all this sound like a good plan? I got one quote so far to have someone else do it, and I think it was a little outrageous.. 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


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## ron45 (Feb 25, 2014)

If you cut a hole in the closet ceiling you can look and see if the wall is load bearing. May save you some money and time.


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## mchipser (Sep 21, 2009)

I know it is load bearing by looking in the attic, since this is a one story house..

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## Ron6519 (Mar 28, 2007)

mchipser said:


> I know it is load bearing by looking in the attic, since this is a one story house..
> 
> Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk


So you're saying the ceiling joists are running perpendicular the closet door wall? That would be a load bearing wall. Parallel to the wall would not be load bearing.
"Since it's a one story house " doesn't make it load bearing.


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## mako1 (Jan 7, 2014)

I don't see why you would have to build a temporary wall on the outside and inside of the closet.The main factor would be is the roof joist and rafters or is it trusses.If joists are they spliced on top of this wall?Some pictures of the structure would sure help.It's easily doable either way.I would not want to give an uniformed opinion or have you do more work than necessary either way.


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## mchipser (Sep 21, 2009)

Ron6519 said:


> So you're saying the ceiling joists are running perpendicular the closet door wall? That would be a load bearing wall. Parallel to the wall would not be load bearing.
> "Since it's a one story house " doesn't make it load bearing.


Yes they run perpendicular to the wall, I'll get up in the attic to take pictures once I have some time.. 

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## mchipser (Sep 21, 2009)

mchipser said:


> Yes they run perpendicular to the wall, I'll get up in the attic to take pictures once I have some time..
> 
> Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk


You can see the support braces from the roof tied in the that wall here









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## Ron6519 (Mar 28, 2007)

You do realize this photo does not relate to the closet wall underneath. It's just a photo of an attic.
Open the wall, put in a header of a 2x 8 to carry the load and put in 2- 24" doors.


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## mchipser (Sep 21, 2009)

Opened the wall.. Now to go buy some materials..









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## mchipser (Sep 21, 2009)

So hit the first snag.. I'm not sure how to move the outlet since the wire is encased in the fire block foam..




















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## wkearney99 (Apr 8, 2009)

If there's enough slack in the wire then just move it. Potentially by pulling the wire back up to the attic and then back down through a new hole. If the wire's not long enough then consider adding a junction box in the attic and extending the wire to wherever you want to put the new outlet. Obviously you should turn the power off (via the electrical panel) to the outlet first!

Fireblocking foam is often reddish in color. If you need a new hole then fill the old one and around the new one from a can bought at your local hardware/builder store. Just be mindful that crap sticks to everything, don't get it on anything you don't want ruined.


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## mchipser (Sep 21, 2009)

Electrical outlet has been moved and the new light is operational.. I didn't have enough slack to put the outlet in the same exact spot as the standard location, is that OK? Or should I go the junction box route? I still need to staple the wire down also..








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## wkearney99 (Apr 8, 2009)

It's your house, you're free to put the outlet where ever you'd like. Following code is always a good thing, safety-wise. And standard placement lends itself to people being able to use things in an expected way. But moving the outlet up/down a bit isn't going to be much of a problem.

One note of caution, the wires on the right, be sure to remember they're attached that way. You'd want to avoid putting up wall fasteners (hooks, nails, shelves, whatever) later and hitting them.

That's quite a Dusty Deputy rig you've got there! I've got one of them on my Festool CT26 and it does a fantastic job.


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## mchipser (Sep 21, 2009)

I think I'll add the junction box just to make it right.. 

I built the vortex cart based on Jay Bates plans.. 

http://jayscustomcreations.com/2015/01/make-a-shopvac-and-cyclone-shop-cart/

I'm jealous of any tool with the name Festool..

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## Ron6519 (Mar 28, 2007)

It's against code to hide a junction box in the wall.
If you want to extend the line, go into the attic and run a longer piece of wire.


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## mchipser (Sep 21, 2009)

Can I put the junction box in the attic?

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## wkearney99 (Apr 8, 2009)

It is indeed a bad plan, and against code, to put a junction box inside of somewhere that's not accessible. It's perfectly fine to put one up in the attic to be used as an in-between point for whatever new wire length is needed. As long as that box remains open to a place where someone could get to it.

The point of not having a hidden junction box is to avoid having wire connections hidden somewhere. Any time wires are joined code requires that be inside an enclosure. And that there's a way to get into that enclosure in order to inspect the connections. There are some narrowly defined cases where in-line splices could possibly be utilized but for DIY/homeowner purposes it's best to stick with junction boxes. The boxes are typically less expensive anyway.

But it looks like you've already got it moved, so is there even a need for a box? If you have enough slack/length of the existing wire then just move it to where ever works for you.


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## mchipser (Sep 21, 2009)

If code states it needs to be a certain height off the ground I want to make sure that I meet code, mainly so when I sell the house I don't have any questions..

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## wkearney99 (Apr 8, 2009)

It's a bit of a stretch to think code will matter for something like this, or just about anything, when it comes time to sell. Lots of folks get their underwear in a bunch wailing about how there will be some dire consequences when it comes time to sell if something isn't "done to code". Code isn't law, but it's a damned good set of guidelines when it comes to building things. There are some localities that require work be done in accordance with code, but this does not make the "code" equivalent to legislative law. There's no "code police" going to swoop in during a sale and invalidate anything.

So stand down on worrying about that, especially not for something THIS trivial.

Besides, if/when you get around to selling, what matters more is whether or not there's clear signs that work was done, and whether or not there were permits issued/inspected for it. Do a good job, make it look good, and nobody's ever going to have need to care.


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## mchipser (Sep 21, 2009)

I think I am going to move it down, junction box in the attic just to make it appear there was no work done.. 

Any who, got the old header out of the way and the new one installed..








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## wkearney99 (Apr 8, 2009)

mchipser said:


> I think I am going to move it down, junction box in the attic just to make it appear there was no work done..


Given how much else is going to get done, that seems a bit like a waste, but hey, it's up to you. Think about it, who's going to walk into the space (other than you) that's ever going to notice an outlet's position?


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## mchipser (Sep 21, 2009)

How much leeway is there with the rough opening of the door? At first I was going with the 2" wider than the door (48+2=50") but when I want to HD the door said 50.5" should I be worried about that extra half inch? I assume the molding will cover it..


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## wkearney99 (Apr 8, 2009)

When you mount a door you typically shim in-between the jamb and the rough opening. That and the closer you get to the door, the closer your drywall screws can be anchored. It's best to keep any overhang of the drywall to 1/2" or so.


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## mchipser (Sep 21, 2009)

Had my helpers helping me clean up before I get the drywall tomorrow.. 










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## mchipser (Sep 21, 2009)

The wall is tapped, floated, and textured..

I had a friend come over and help me with finishing the sheetrock.. 












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## mchipser (Sep 21, 2009)

Painting complete, need to install the trim and then do the touch up paint on the trim.. Then need to figure out what flooring I'm going to get..

Thanks for all the help!!




















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