cut a door into cupboard attic space


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Old 02-17-16, 05:38 AM
Q
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cut a door into cupboard attic space

This room is an attic space converted to a bedroom.
At either side of the room, there is a small space about 10ft x 3ft.
One side has storage but the other is closed off.
I would like to cut a similar door into the panelling to create extra storage.
What would be the best way of doing that?
Could I just cut straight in with a circular saw? The angle is a bit awkward.



 
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Old 02-17-16, 05:48 AM
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Door

You will need to remove the boards and frame the new door opening.
 
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Old 02-17-16, 06:03 AM
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Opening up a whole can of worms on this one.
You would not only have to add the door framing with a header but then you have to cut out the bottom plate, add a plywood floor cut so it fills in the gap left from the old bottom plate, add walls and some form of ceiling then insulation in the new walls.
Once that walls opened up all you'll see is rafters and insulation, without sealing it up cold air is going to come in through the sides of the door and the whole door will be cold.
 
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Old 02-17-16, 06:24 AM
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The existing door doesn't seem to have any of that but seems to work. It looks like it just has some 1x3s to hold the panelling as a door and hinges.
It is also just insulation and rafters and vapor barrier, no ceiling.
Here are some pics of the existing:











 
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Old 02-17-16, 06:33 AM
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On one hand, it could turn into a whole lot of work with little return, but, on the other hand, I am a proponent of having access to as much of a house as possible, not necessarily for storage, but in order to know how well things are sealed up, check for leaks, etc. Practically speaking, the space is tight enough that you're not going to squeeze much in there anyway, only whatever fits within arms reach, so I would keep it simple, cut an access to fit between two existing studs, retain whatever insulation is there for the back of the door, add a weather strip on the back side of the framing to seal air leaks, and call it a day. If that's tongue and groove, maybe you can work some nails out, and cut the back off one of the grooves in order to set it back in place. Otherwise, I would probably cut it with an oscillating saw.
 
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Old 02-17-16, 07:17 AM
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I don't really understand why the door needs insulation on the back of it - could you explain? The existing space has insulation and is warm, there are no cold air leaks.

Only issue I have is that an oscillating saw / multi tool doesn't always seem to make the straightest cuts, they tend to veer off a little bit - is there any way to keep them straight?

It is tongue and groove but I think it would need a little bit of room for the hinge and door to close?

The existing door has no frame, just a 1x3 on the backside to hold the wood in place, I guess you could call that a frame but it's not like a door frame. Between 2 studs makes sense as the studs would act as the frame but then you only get 16" of working space?
 
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Old 02-17-16, 08:18 AM
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Door

Between 2 studs makes sense as the studs would act as the frame but then you only get 16" of working space?
You need to know where the studs are located. Could it be that there are no studs since it is a very low wall?
 
 

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