- #Diy hidden bookcase door how to#
- #Diy hidden bookcase door install#
- #Diy hidden bookcase door professional#
RELATED: 36 Easy Ways to Protect Your Home From Break-Ins If you install a secret bookcase door, make contingencies for emergencies.
#Diy hidden bookcase door professional#
You can’t get that kind of professional design and installation from a non-custom solution online. When the door is ready, it takes expertise to install it to ensure it blends in with the space and provides the security desired. They’ll come to your home, inspect the structure, and take measurements before heading back to their shop to design the door with a CAD program. However, these doors are of the novelty variety, so don’t expect to install the Bat Cave door from an off-the-shelf selection.įor security doors, it’s best to hire a professional. A DIYer can tackle the job with the right tools, enough time, and plenty of patience. There are prefabricated hidden doors available online from retailers like Wayfair, The Home Depot, and Lowe’s. Bubble levels just don’t tend to provide enough precision for the best result.” Can you DIY a hidden bookshelf door? Humble suggests spending a little money on a precision level: “When installing a secret door, a laser level is a good investment. They must be very secure and stable or else the door will sag and not work properly. According to Humble, the rough door opening (the space between the framing, sans door) is as important as the door itself: “If the walls are not flat, the opening is not plumb, or the floor is not level,” he says, “it’s almost impossible to make a good secret door work in that location.”Īnother important detail to consider is the stud connections. Hidden Door Store installs around 50 hidden doors each year, so they’ve seen it all. Wall framing plays a role in a hidden door’s viability. Consider carefully the consequences of bypassing local codes. How you handle your local building regulations is up to you, but these codes exist for safety reasons. Since these doors are “secret,” many homeowners prefer to keep them that way (especially if they’re hiding valuables). Novelty or space-saving doors are probably fine in most areas, but the nature of a security door warrants informing your local building department of its existence. He also says that even experienced DIYers should expect to spend as much as 10 times longer installing the door than even the longest estimate, as there is a lot to know about these “niche” passageways (sorry, we couldn’t help it). Humble says the lead time on his pre-designed doors is currently 1 to 2 months. Whether you order a novelty door and install it yourself or you pay a professional to design and build a custom door, it’s going to take time. Hidden bookcase doors take a lot longer to install than you think. Shelves, mirrors, custom trim work, exotic wood species, and security features like deadbolts, bulletproofing, are all options you can customize for those treasures. If your secret door is hiding a vault of gold coins and other collectibles, your design options are nearly endless. Are you okay paying for labor, or do you want to order an inexpensive door and install it yourself? If you’re on a tight budget, consider how you want to spend it. Secret doors and bookcases can run the gamut in terms of pricing, ranging from $1,000 to $25,000 or more. RELATED: What to Do If Someone Breaks Into Your House What’s your budget?
Creating a novelty hidden door bookcase is much easier. Do you want to install a hidden door for security or for novelty? Do you need a secure, hidden room to retreat to, or are you just trying to make the most out of your tiny space by installing a bookshelf in a doorway?Īccording to Humble, security doors involve a ton of engineering and design, and even many experienced cabinetmakers and woodworkers lack the expertise to pull them off. The first detail to nail down is why you want the door in the first place. What’s the door’s purpose: security or novelty? To help shed some light on these details, we asked Steve Humble, president and founder of the Hidden Door Store, for some advice.
#Diy hidden bookcase door how to#
If you’re considering installing a hidden door or bookcase, it helps to do some homework about what’s involved in how to build a hidden bookcase door before you can live your best caped-crusading life.
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