Recommendation points
- List of materials required for mounting a 70 mm opening
- List of required tools
- Installation description
The article describes how to reduce the interior opening and fit it under a 2000ร800 mm door. On the example of one single apartment, the entire installation process is shown in stages, the description is illustrated with step-by-step photographs.
Often, when renovating apartments, it becomes necessary to move the doorway or install an interior partition. Modern technologies make it possible to do this quickly and inexpensively. Anyone, even a novice master, can carry out the installation of such drywall structures..
After dismantling the old homemade arch, a large opening was formed. The task was set: prepare it under the door and move the switch closer to the door. It was decided to make a partition with an opening from metal profiles.
Based on the actual wall thickness, metal profiles are selected to match its size. For example, if the wall is 70 mm thick, then the profile size should be 50 mm. That is, two centimeters less. This difference is compensated by drywall, which is fixed with self-tapping screws to the profile.
List of materials required for mounting a 70 mm opening
- Drywall sheet size 2500x1200x9.5 mm.
- Guide profile PN 50ร40 โ 4 pieces.
- Rack profile PS 50ร50 โ 6 pieces.
- Wooden block 40x30x200 mm.
- Self-tapping screws 2.5ร35 mm.
- Polyurethane foam.
- Socket for installing the switch in drywall.
- VVG cable 2ร1.5-2.5 m.
- Electrical adapter terminal block.
List of required tools
- Puncher.
- Small grinder.
- Metal scissors.
- Drill.
- Screwdriver.
- Building level or plumb line.
- Roulette.
- Construction or office knife.
- Polyurethane foam.
Installation description
First, side vertical profiles are installed on both sides of the opening. To do this, pre-fixed to the wall strips of chipboard or bars equal to the wall thickness. Then, stepping back from each edge of the wall by 10 mm, the profile is fixed to the strips using self-tapping screws.
In a similar way, a guide profile is installed to a brick wall, it is fixed with dowels with self-tapping screws. To make the profiles stand strictly vertical, a building level or plumb line is used.
After installing the vertical profiles, the horizontal ones are mounted. Having measured the distance between the installed vertical profiles with a tape measure, a guide piece of the profile of the required length is cut off. Then this segment is inserted into vertical guides and fixed with self-tapping screws to the upper partition.
Before inserting and securing a line, you can use it as a ruler. Attaching a segment to the vertical guides below, a line is drawn along the floor with a marker along this ruler. This will be the lower part of the opening..
Now you need to decide on the width and location of the opening. An interior door, as a rule, has dimensions of 2000ร800 mm. The opening must be made with a small margin to compensate for distortions and to fill with polyurethane foam. The optimal size of the opening is 2050ร870 mm.
The place where the door will be installed can be chosen arbitrarily, the main thing is that it is not located too close to the bearing wall, but is about 200 mm away from it. Marking 200 mm on the floor along the marked line from the wall and adding another 870 mm, marks are made with a marker. Then the sections of the profile of the required length are screwed to the floor with self-tapping screws..
The turn of the vertical rack profiles has come, which are fixed during assembly and form a rather rigid structure โ a rack.
Having measured the distance between the floor and the upper profile, using the grinder, the racks of the required length are cut.
Three uprights are required for a 1700 mm wide partition. To strengthen the rigidity of the rack-mount profiles, a wooden block of 40x30x200 mm is additionally used. It is inserted inside the profile and fixed with self-tapping screws, as shown in the photo.
Racks reinforced in this way can withstand the load of heavy interior doors much better. And the anchor screws holding the door frame hold on to the bar better than to the thin metal of the profile.
With the help of a level, the racks sawn off to the size are installed strictly vertically in the opening. It is necessary to control the selected size of the opening โ 870 mm.
Then you need to move the switch closer to the doorway. For this, the cable is extended by connecting through an adapter terminal block. A small ditch is made in the plaster for the cable, and it is laid inside the partition.
Then the drywall is cut into strips of the required length and width. Using self-tapping screws, drywall strips are fixed to the profiles. Rack profiles must be drilled under the self-tapping screws with a drill with a diameter of 3 mm.
With a saw crown in the drywall, holes are made for the switch socket. The plastic socket is installed in the hole in the drywall and fixed with special clips.
It remains only to install the switch and fill all the voids with polyurethane foam. After the foam has hardened, its protruding pieces must be cut off and putty with gypsum plaster..
Iโm curious to know, what are the potential drawbacks or challenges that one might face when attempting a DIY installation of a partition with an opening under the door? Are there any specific tools or techniques that would be recommended to ensure a successful installation?