It’s Demo Day 2 and frankly we didn’t even know there was going to be a day two! The original plan was to finish all of the demo between the old bathroom and the vanity room and leave it at that for a while. There are a ton of projects in this room so my goal was to prioritize them as best I could around contractor work getting done. Moving a doorway was the last thing I had planned.
Once the demo was “finished”, our plumber stopped by so that we could go over the plan and make sure we both had everything we needed to move forward with next steps of the project. We learned that we needed to rip up the plywood floor so that he could see the plumbing pipes underneath. Only problem is, that means pulling up the floor right in front of our closet door.
Moving the closet door became top priority.
For now, we’re moving all the clothing to a spare bedroom and it is a DISASTER. All I can say is we need to get this project done quickly because it looks like a bomb went off in there.
Once the clothing was gone, I started taking down the shelfs. I plan to reuse them in the closet for now so I tried to salvage as much of the demo as possible. Eventually we will be redoing the closet, but this project came a lot faster than we had planned so the Master Bathroom comes first.
How to Move a Doorway
To take out the doorframe, I took the door off the hinges and then used a crowbar to pry off the molding. (for an example, check out the video above!) The molding was the hard part to get off and I’m sure there’s a more strategic way to do it, but I just scored the edges, wedged my crowbar into the crack and pried it off. Scoring the edges is an important step to help avoid the paint ripping as you pry the molding away.
Once that was out, the interior frame came out pretty easily.
Next came building out the wall. Since the studs for the doorframe were already there, the new wall really only needed two things: a base and a stud through the middle of the opening. I started by fitting the bottom piece of wood and screwing it to the floor.
For this type of work, we’re using construction screws which are perfect for attaching studs. You can also use a nail gun if you have one.
The final stud needs to fit TIGHT. Do you see me hammering it into place in the video? It should be that tight of a fit. The better your studs fit the stronger your wall will be. This will help avoid your wall from having structural issues in the future.
Finally, I fit the drywall and secured it in place.
I did go ahead and demo the new doorway for the closet first so that we can get into the room, but there is a still a long way to go there. Plus this room is going to need to be taped, spackled, and painted AND the closet need to be rebuilt! WOOF.
Next, I go ahead and build the new doorframe for our awesome doors.
This project is forcing me to learn so many new skills that I never imagined I’d learn ever let alone so quickly. The biggest projects are yet to come. Stay tuned and watch this master bathroom turn into something incredible!
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