Hidden Door


javachip24k
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Doing a finish basement for a customer, so he decided to incorporate a hidden door to his office. So I made a quick door for him in Sketchup, just to give him an Idea what it will look like. This was made just to give him an idea, but if you willing to spend a little time it can be done with other custom features. 

 

This door just needs simple modification, like broken arch 22", hidden hinges dropped to 15", hardware on one side, etc. Included is a few images how it displays in the view and plan.

 

Enjoy!

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Hidden Door.calibz

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  • 2 years later...

One issue with swinging bookcases is that they tend to rack, even if they are well made locally. Just slight racking, and you've got a problem. There are outfits that sell these bookcase doors prefabricated with internal metal rigid frames, and I wouldn't consider anything else.  

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On ‎24‎/‎07‎/‎2017 at 4:45 AM, parkwest said:

If you have a 6 inch thick door you will need to bevel the edges where the two doors meet to be able to open the door... maybe attach a molding to one door along that edge to cover the gap?

 

I think you may also have to shape the top of the door arches to allow the doors to close or they will bind on the top frame before they close.

I remember I once had a thick door with a sloping top and we had to gradually bevel the top of the door to allow it to close.

From memory we needed to bevel more on the hinge side of the door top and gradually easing to nothing on the handle side top.

Then again, I could be wrong on this as it was a long time ago - but still worth keeping in mind and trying to find out if what I am saying is correct.

There would be nothing worse that getting something like that made and then finding out that the doors won't close!

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20 minutes ago, javatom said:

Picture it as an angled door and the binding at the top may become clear.  Glenn is right.

Good one... as soon as I read "angled door" I could see the pinch point.

 

Thanks, javatom 

 

Books are very heavy... I still like the idea of sliding bookshelves... just wondering how to cover the rollers on the bottom without having to step over the baseboard???

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7 hours ago, parkwest said:

I have a hard time visualizing why the top of the doors would need to be beveled, Glenn.

It's a hard thing to describe.

It has to do with the top of the door meeting the head jam at an angle whereby the height of the door is higher than the head jamb at the meeting point - due to the sloping head jamb.

I would imagine the thicker the door, the greater the problem.

And I would think that the same thing would happen with arch top doors.

 

This may help explain what is happening:

 

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Thanks Glenn! I think I understand how and where the pinch points are.  

 

Reminded me of the round doors we put on a tunnel years ago where we had the full perimeter beveled except the flat floor part so we had no binding.

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  • 6 years later...

I realize this is an older post that Andy from UK brought to front with his reply. 

 

Adding input, I had a request for a hidden door within a closet to access a hidden gun room. Obviously a 12" deep shoe rack style door would not open without a bevel. The bevel / muntin would tend to make the hidden part pointless. In my situation I was able to address this by mounting the door on a tracked upright that was also hinged, allowing door to push back and then open on the hinges. Admittedly, my door was a small unit so not much weight to handle although weight was not a factor using a caster for support. if needed. 

 

This setup will also take care of arches or angle top units. It would require a wingwall of sorts to mount the track to if a sidewall is not available as was in my design. 

 

Just my opinion offered to those of you who tend to be DIY oriented as I am. LOL

 

 

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