Build a closet as a family project, learning together.
Probably the one thing in your house that you can't have too much of is storage space. Closets, for instance, always seem to be in short supply. A closet organizes, stores, hides and protects the essentials of daily life and the memories of yesterday. When your house doesn't offer the closet space you need, building a new one is a simple, inexpensive option. Frame a wall for a room-length closet, or two walls if you plan to enclose the corner of a room. Hang wall coverings, shelves or clothes rods as desired, and finish with a door to create your custom-built closet. It takes only an afternoon. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Remove all furnishings in the area where you wish to install the closet, clearing back several extra feet to ensure an obstacle-free work area.
2. Find the studs -- the vertical wood framing in a wall -- in the wall you will use for the closet back along with any adjacent walls that you incorporate into closet side walls. Use a stud finder or tap on the wall to identify where it sounds and feels solid. Studs are typically 16 -- but sometimes 24 -- inches apart. Repeat for the joists in the ceiling. Anchoring your new walls to existing framing ensures sturdy construction.
3. Run a tape measure from the back wall outward, along the adjacent side wall, first near the floor and then again near the ceiling. Measure the closet depth desired and mark on the wall clearly. Repeat on the opposite wall if you are building a closet between two existing walls. Measure the width of the closet and measure out from that point instead if you need to build a side wall along with the front. Mark the ceiling and floor using masking or duct tape.
4. Measure the height of the room from floor to ceiling. Find the length of the front wall. If you are building a side wall, find the length of the side wall run but subtract 3½ inches to account for the thickness of the front wall.
5. Cut two 2-by-4-inch boards measuring the length of each wall needed. These will form your plates; you'll sandwich the studs between them.
6. Subtract 3½ inches -- the thickness of the plates plus a little extra clearance -- from the room height. Cut additional 2-by-4s to this length to form the wall studs. Plan for one stud per 16 inches, plus one extra for each side of a corner if you build two or more walls. Thus, a room-length wall doesn't require any extras, but a front and side wall construction uses two extra studs.
7. Lay each wall's plates side by side on the floor and mark across both at the same time every 16 inches. Leave a gap, measuring the width of the rough door opening required plus an additional 3 inches, to allow for further framing, where desired to form the closet entry. See the manufacturer's specifications to determine the size.
8. Lay the plates on edge and place the studs on their thinnest edge similarly. Align a stud with each line on the plates, beginning flush at the end of the plates and ending the same way. Nail through the plates into the stud ends to secure.
9. Erect the front wall, positioning it according to the wall, floor and ceiling marks previously made. Check for plumb -- straight up and down -- with a level. Shove shims under the wall to wedge in place securely. Nail, staggering two at a time every 8 inches, through the bottom plate into the floor and through the end studs into the side wall. Attach along the ceiling into the joists where possible. Repeat for additional walls.
10. Cut three 2-by-4s 12 inches long. Nail each to the last stud in a corner, if applicable, spacing equally along the height of the wall. Slide the remaining stud in place beside the blocks, and nail at an angle through the top and bottom of the stud into the plates -- a process called toenailing.
11. Measure and cut a 2-by-4 to span the width of the door opening. Toenail between the studs at the rough opening height to create a header for the door. Cut the floor plate below the header at this time. It must be removed to create the complete opening.
12. Cut additional blocks, one for each 12 inches of width, to stretch between the header and the top plate. Nail through the header into the end, and toenail through the opposite end of the block into the top plate.
13. Measure the distance from the floor to the header. Cut two studs to this dimension. Nail in place, securing to the stud beside the opening and toenailing into the header. This helps support the weight of the header and, consequently, the door.
14. Insulate as desired and install your preferred wall covering. Outfit the closet with shelves and clothes rods according to taste. Finish with hanging a door and covering the attachment with trim to complete.
Tags: side wall, front wall, along with, clothes rods, door opening