I want to install an interior door in an existing wall in my home. I have a 2 story home with all bedrooms upstairs and also a big bonus room over the garage. Both of these locations have seperate stairways, thus it is a lot of walking and stair climbing to get from the bonus room back to my master bedroom. My solution to this problem is to add a door that connects the bonus room (closet) to the master bathroom. This would give us a quick short cut and also bathroom access without stairs from the bonus room. We have a large bonus room closet and I am going to take down the shelf that is on the wall where the door will be located. I have enough room to add new shelves inside the closet on another wall that will be out of the way. Inside our master bathroom small toilet room is where the door will open on the other side. I hammered a long skiny screwdriver through the (drywall) wall to make sure everything would line up and work out. Everything looks fine, the door will just have to open up into the bonus room closet because of the toilet location. I want to install a 24" inch wide door to keep it small but accessible. The wall is load bearing, I checked the attic and the framing (with plywood) from this wall goes all the way to the roof in the attic.

I have a few questions ...
Should I buy a new 24" pre-hung door, or can I just buy the hinges, casings, jambs etc. without buying the actual door slab? We would just take the door off the master bath/toilet doorway entry and leave it open ... would this be difficult or save any money?

Next, do I just start taking off the floor trim from both walls and start cutting the rough opening out? I marked all the studs in the wall and I can use one of the them for one side of the door ... my guess is that this might make it a little easier. I know I am going to have to frame out the opening and install a strong header on top and do some drywall work when finished. There shouldn't be any wiring or pipes in the wall but I guess there is anyways a chance. I assume that I will also have to support the wall in some manner while installing the door. I just need some help trying to get this all planned out. Any info would be appreciated!

 

I've done the same thing for a customer, and the only problem I had was the height. You say you have proper height and width, then that is good. Do exploratory surgery first, by taking out a 12 x12 piece of sheetrock in the middle and see what super structure, wires, pipes, etc. exist in the cavity. For a 26" rough opening, you won't need to support the wall during construction, but you will need to put in a header, so plan on cutting out 29" total width so you will have king studs, jack studs, header. By all means install a prehung door. It is so much easier.

 

Thanks for the info ... I am getting ready to clean out the closet and make a hole to check out the wall. Then on to the store to buy a door ... I hope I can find the place where I can match the doors up, our house is only 3 years old. Also tried calling a framer cousin for assistance.

 

I cut a hole in the wall and checked ... everything is empty inside the wall, no wires, pipes, etc. Got my prehung door and hardware, paint, three 2x4x8 studs for framing. I guess I need to start the big cut out. How do I get the studs out that are in the way? And put the new ones in? And put the header in? Questions, questions, questions. Thanks for the help.

 

Had a buddy come over and got my door all in tonight. Just need some paint and I will be all done. The only problem we had was the bathroom floor was about an inch taller than the bonus room. But shouldn't be that big of a deal ... having the door installed is going to be great!

 

Great! You should be able to find a transition piece in the flooring department of your big box stores that will make the drop from the bathroom to the bonus room a little more unnoticeable. Glad you got it in.

 

I also need to figure out something to hide the floor in the new doorway. My vinyl floor has stables around the edge, which is now visible in the doorway. Also have about four inches for subfloor visble in the doorway, then the floor drops an inch down to the carpet in the bonus room. Any ideas or suggestions?

 

In the tile section, you may find thresholds with a drop lip for this application. I usually make my own, as I don't particularly like the ones they have, or they aren't just right. Do you have access to a table saw? If so, you can make your own, just be careful. Figure out the profile you want, draw it on the edge of a piece of oak stock, and run it through the saw cutting only what is necessary to leave you the profile you want.