How To Make A Hidden Door In Drywall – Guide From Expert!

A hidden door can be a great addition to your home. You can use it for storage, as a secret escape route, or for any other purpose you see fit. Drywall is the most popular material used in building hidden doors. But if you don’t have access to drywall, you can use other materials like wood or metal.

What Do You Need To Make A Hidden Door in Drywall?

Tools:

Materials:

• Solid-core interior slab door. Get one sized for your existing jamb

• ½×8 poplar for side stiles. Get two 10-footers.

• ½×4 poplar for rails & center stile. Get three 8-footers.

• ½×6 poplar for baseboard & top rail. Get one 6-footer.

• 1-inch wood screws 

• Butler- or pantry-door hardware kit

• 18-gauge brad nails

• Wood glue

• 120-grit sandpaper

• Caulk
• Primer and paint

After Shopping for all the tools & materials, now let’s get to work. Follow the steps below properly: 

How To Make A Hidden Door In Drywall – Step By Step Guide

Install the Pin Hardware

Remove any door stops so that the door can swing in both directions. To make the adjustments to the hardware instructions, trace the pin sockets on the head and side jambs and recess it half the thickness of the door to keep the door rails from binding. Use a Forstner bit to drill holes. You can secure it with 1-inch wood screws. The door has a pin on it. If you want your door to fit in the jamb, you’ll need to rip it down.

Attach the Spring

Cut out a notch from the bottom corner of the door using the jigsaw. Put the hardware in place. You can mark the floor by dropping a plumb bob from the pinhole. The spring hardware should be centered on the mark when you position the door. Use a level to check for plumb, screw the spring hardware to the floor with wood screws, and prop the door open.

Install the Corner Baseboards

Use Measure Tape from the edge of the door to the adjacent baseboard. To cover the wide gap between the door and jamb, cut a piece of baseboard to that length and use a 45 degree cut along the end. The gap is facing the miter. Put wood glue on the back of the piece and tack it in place with a pneumatic brad gun and 18-gauge brads. On the other side of the door, do the same.

Mark the Baseboard for the Hardware

you need to measure between the two installed pieces of baseboard to fit across the bottom of the door and use the miter saw to cut the piece to fit. To mark the door with a recess in the back of the board, you need to hold the baseboard and tap it with a hammer.

Rout and Fasten the Baseboard

Attach the baseboard to your work surface by tracing the outline for the recess. Put a 14 inch straight bit in your router, set the depth to 14 inches, and put the waste material in the recess. You can use a mallet and chisel instead of a router. Attach the baseboard to the door with glue and tack and make sure the top edge of the door is aligned with the neighbors.

Notch the Base Cap & Cut the Side Stiles

To allow the sides to butt against the baseboard, you’ll need to notch the base cap molding on the adjacent walls with a chisel or multitool.” Use a 12 scrap against the door wall as a guide to cutting. Measure from the top edge of the baseboard to the ceiling and cut the stiles to length.

Scribe the Stiles

The door should swing freely if one side of the head jamb is crossed. The wall must be scribed to fit the stile that dies into it. Take a board that is wider than necessary, plumb it against the wall, and make a second mark on the edge. The legs of the compass should set the space between the two marks. Now plumb the board again, and use the compass to mark the wall-side edge. You can cut along the line with a jigsaw or circular saw. Do the same thing with the opposite-side stile.

Mark for the Rails

Use a level as a straightedge to outline the paneling pattern onto the door and wall. The design calls for four sets of intersecting rails. “To allow the door rails to clear the side stiles, you’ll have to cut a 45-degree notch into the edge of the rails.” To mark the edge of the stile, mark with a scrap of 124 and dry fit it alongside the door. The same thing can be done when you mark the opposite door.

Rout the Edge

Flush the edge of the table with the work surface. The 45 degrees piloted chamfer bit is needed. If the depth is adjusted, the bit stops just shy of cutting through the face of the stile. The notch is between the marks. The same thing happened with the second stile.

Clean the Cut

To clean up the notch, use a wood chisel to remove the material in the corners that the router bit can’t reach.” The wood file is used to finish the notch.

Attach the Side Stiles

There is a bead of wood glue on the back of the doorjamb. To hide the gap at the jamb, put the stile into place and tack it down. The opposite door should be installed. Measure the span between the sides of the center stile board and divide by 2 to get the length for each rail, then cut them to size on a saw.

Add the Rails

You can use the furring strips to prop up the rails on the door by cutting them between the baseboards and the line for the lower rail. Attach the back of the rail to the door with glue, rest it on the strips, and tack it to the door. The door has a top-right rail.

Add the Center Stile

To fit between the baseboards and the top of the door, measure and cut the  ½×4 center stile. Put wood glue on the backside of the door, nestled against the rails, and butted against the baseboards. Attach it with 18-gauge brads.

Finish the Door

Install the remaining two-door rails, use the furring strips as spacers and glue them.

Extend the Center Stile

Measure, cut, and install a rail between the sides of the ceiling. Here, the top rail dies into a newel post, and a notched piece connects it to the right-hand side stile. If you cut the uppermost section of the center stile, you will be able to open the door with just enough clearance. Attach it in place with glue and tack.

Scribe the Rail

The upper right-hand rail should be measured, cut, and installed. It has to be scribed to die into the diagonal rail at our site. Cut the rail a little longer than needed, then dry-fit the piece with its corner overlapping the diagonal board. To mark the cutline with a utility knife, align a straightedge with the intersecting slope and use it as a guide, as illustrated. Now cut off the excess with a miter saw. Cover the gap above the door by gluing and tacking the rail with its bottom edge aligned with the end of the middle stile you just inserted.

Final Thought

We hope you follow all the steps above on how to make a hidden door in drywall and get a nice, invisible, hidden door in drywall. If you think you cannot do it, consult a door expert.

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