Sealing up overdoor area

Hi,

im wondering if anyone can help me. I want to get rid of all the overdoor areas over the bedroom doors in my house - you know the rectangle area that often has either a glass pane or wooden insert. i was going to nail on battons inside the frame then fit plasterboard and then plaster over it to level it up with the rest of the wall. the only problem is that the frame around the rectangle is painted in gloss white so i take it i cant just plaster over this?

Any advise on the best way forward would be great.

thanks.

i call them fanlights.

why not fix the plasterboard over the fanlight frame, introducing a central upright for added strength?

you could double board as to allow for a skim bead.

that is if i'm picturing right?

This is what I did to the very same thing in our house.(3 doors). The height of each door, 6'-6''x 2'-6" wide. Above each door was a panel with glass in it, say another 12" high, total height:7'- 6". Just across the top of the door was part of the frame,(the 2'-6" horizontal bit) with the glass panel bit over the top of that. I cut the top panel out with a saw. The glass in our panels stopped about an inch from the bottom of the frame for ventilation. I cut the frame horizontaly to the left and the right of the panel, and that was it. That left me with a 6'-6" door frame with a hole above it where the panel had been. I then framed it up to suit the thickness of the plasterboard, taped it, put on new architraves and when it was painte/ decorated, you'd never know it had been done. I hope understand what I mean.

Roughcaster.

thanks for the replys, i'll try that, just to clarify - can i put the tape on over the gloss paint on the edge of the frame or would i need to sand the paint off?

I wouldn't put a tape onto wood at all, but if you do,definitely sand off the gloss paint, and maybe put some PVA onto the wood, and tape the first coat directly onto it while it is still wet. Another thing, after sanding off the paint, maybe roughen up the surface of the wood a little, to give the tape adhesive something extra to grip on to.

Roughcaster.

That's great, thanks for that, with 6 doors to do it looks like i'll be sanding most of tomorrow so !

As an aside, we always call them the "Borrowed Lights" - for example, the bedroom is 'borrowing' the light from say, the hall.