Small closet built out into a room.
Closets are important features in the usability of a home or room. In some areas, storage is a huge factor when selling a house or apartment. A room should be large enough to support a closet, and installing the closet should make sense in how the house and room function. A closet should be deep enough to hang clothing and support a standard size door. A better closet might include custom shelving, walk-in size, a light fixture activated by the door, cedar lining and other features. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Design your closet by measuring your space and determining the best location for the closet in the room. Often this will be adjacent to the entry door. A short wall is added for closet depth, connected to a longer wall for closet width, creating an L shape. Usually the door is positioned in the center of the longer wall. A good closet design makes the closet look like it has always been in the room. Minimum closet depth is from 27 to 30 inches. This will allow clothing hangers to hang properly.
2. Move a stud finder along the walls in the areas where you want to attach your new wall. You should tie the new closet wall studs into the existing wall when possible. This is easy to do where studs are positioned. Move the stud finder along the ceiling to locate the joists. Mark the location of your joists on the ceiling inside the closet.
3. Measure and position painter's tape on the floor to show the size of the closet. (Make your walls 4 inches thick by using two lines of tape showing the wall thickness.) Mark off the location of the door. (Design your door opening based on the rough opening needed to install the door in the size you have chosen.) Cut carpet along the center of the wall thickness. Do not cut across the door opening as you may want to use the existing carpet.
4. Unhook the carpet from the tack strips along the existing walls and fold the carpet back at the closet door entrance. Cut the padding to remove the padding from where the new walls will be installed.
5. Measure, cut with a table saw and install 2-by-4 inch-boards along the floor. These boards are called plates. Nail the 2-by-4 inch board directly to the subfloor with the 4 inch side down. Allow for your rough opening for your door. Measure, cut and install your additional plates.
6. Measure, cut and install 2-by-4-inch boards across the ceiling, nailing into the floor joists of the floor above, or if there is no floor above, the ceiling joists. These are also plates. (If a wall is parallel to your joists you will need to open the ceiling and add blocking to provide a nailing surface. If you open your ceiling. try to contain the damage to the closet side only.)
7. Attach your vertical wall studs to each existing side wall first, when possible. Measure and cut the stud to fit between the top and bottom plates. Place the stud against the existing wall and toenail the stud to the top and bottom plates with two nails in each. Measure 16 inches from the center of your stud and mark your plates. Install your corner studs next. Install a stud 1 1/2 inches to the outside of your rough opening on both sides of the door. Space your remaining studs 16 inches on center for the remainder of your walls. Most walls will have one stud with less than 16 inches of space to a corner, opening or wall. Try to position this smaller space close to your door opening in case you want to install a light switch near the door at a later date.
8. Measure and cut two pieces of 2-by-4 inch board to fit your rough opening door height. Position one board against the 2-by-4 inch stud you have already nailed in place on the side closest to the door. Nail the studs together. Repeat for both sides. Cut a piece of 2-by-4 inch board to span the top of the two shorter boards as a header. Nail the header board in place. Measure from the header to the top plate and cut cripple studs (short lengths of 2-by-4-inch board) nailed at 16 inches on center above the door header. Nail these in place.
9. Measure and cut drywall to fit over the walls. Use a drywall straight edge and a utility knife. Cut along the edge of the straight edge with the knife. Bend the board away from the cut and snap the board. Cut along the crease on the back side to cut the back paper with the knife. Cut your drywall to start and stop half way across a stud so you have a surface to screw to with your drywall screws and screwdriver. Attach your drywall to the studs using drywall screws every 12 to 18 inches at studs and edges.
10. Apply fiberglass mesh tape over your drywall seams. Apply joint compound at your inside corner joints and place paper drywall corner tape into the joint compound. Embed the tape with a wide drywall knife and joint compound. Apply joint compound over your screw holes and mesh tape and remove the excess by scraping with a wide drywall knife. Attach a drywall corner to any outside corner. Cut and screw the drywall outside corner to the drywall and studs. Apply joint compound and smooth it away from the corner. Allow the compound one hour to dry. Sand with a sanding block. Apply a second coat of joint compound with a wider knife and feather the edges away from the seams. Allow the compound to dry and sand for a smooth finish.
11. Position a pre-hung door in your closet door opening. A pre-hung door is already hinged and attached to the jambs. The door should open into the room. Place a level on the jamb where the hinges are mounted. Insert wood shims between the jamb and the 2-by-4-inch boards above each hinge and in the center of the jamb. Use the taper on the shims to make the jamb level and straight. Screw deck screws through the jamb and shims, into the 2-by-4-inch studs. Level, shim and screw the top and door knob side jamb so that the door is level and there is even spacing of 1/8-inch between the door and jambs on all sides. The door should open and shut easily. Break off the shims even with the 2-by-4-inch studs.
12. Attach door trim molding around both sides of the door. Measure from the floor to the center of the top jamb wood. Cut door molding at a 45-degree angle with the pointed edge to the top and outside using a miter saw. Measure and cut for the opposites side of the door in the same way. Measure from the center of the left side jamb to the center of the right side jamb. Cut door molding with this measurement as the bottom, inside measurement. Cut each end at a 45-degree angle with one point to the top left and the other point to the top right. Fit the three moldings around the door and nail the moldings with finish nails so that the moldings are straight and level. Repeat for the other side of the door.
13. Measure from the wall to the edge of the door molding. Cut baseboard trim at a 90-degree angle on the side closest to the door trim and at a 45-degree angle in the corner adjacent to the wall. Nail your trim with a finish nailer. Repeat and trim around the outside and inside wall making your cuts to fit your closet shape. Fill your nail holes with wood fill using a putty knife.
14. Cut tack strips to fit adjacent to your baseboard trim moldings. Nail the tack strips to the floor. Do not put tack strip across a doorway. Stretch your carpet toward the walls and press the carpet into the tack strip. Cut off any excess carpet after all of the carpet is pressed into place.
15. Attach a doorknob by sliding the decorative plate and the center section of the doorknob through the pre-drilled knob hole on the door. Insert the opposite side plate and knob through the other side of the hole and screw the two sections together (based on the manufacturer's instructions for your knob choice). Screw the plates together. Screw the strike plate into the pre-cut hole in the jamb using a screwdriver.
Tags: joint compound, 2-by-4 inch, door opening, Measure from, rough opening, your drywall
