blocking up a door

[ewans]

all, i need to block up a door between two rooms. Can anyone point in the direction of a good step by step guide on to appraoch this.

thanks
ewans

 

[Richard C]

Depends on what the existing wall is made of; if it's stud work then use timber & plasterboard & skim that level. If its block work use the appropriate thickness blocks, a base plaster &, again, skim level. If you want an actual step by step guide covering all the basic, then I would suggest you spend some time trawling with Google or buy yourself a DIY book!

 

[ewans]

Ok so ive done a fair amount of googling and basically found nothing specific or particularly helpful.

The wall the door is currently in is brick not plasterboard or the old style wood lath and plaster. The door was added to the wall by the previous owner of the flat so they put in a concrete lintel above the door. The floor on either side of the wall are the original, far from flat, floorboards.

One side of the wall is a bathroom, the other side will be dining end of a large kitchen diner.

So far I have the following:

1. Strip the wallpaper from around the door frame on both sides of the wall
2. Remove the door and frame
3. brick up using some kind of lightweight block
4. pva the blockwork
5. plaster with a damp tolerant cement based plaster as one side of the wall is a bathroom
6. sand down any excess
7. re paper

alternatively

1. Strip the wallpaper from around the door frame on both sides of the wall
2. Remove the outer door and frame
3. put an internal frame back into the door space including intermediate studs for fixing plasterboard to
4. fit plasterboard to the frame and tape joints
5. plaster with a damp tolerant cement based plaster as one side of the wall is a bathroom
6. sand down any excess
7. re paper

Have i missed anything?

Which approach is more suitable, blockword or plasterboard?

Trying to work it out for myself but any advice is apprechaited.

e

 

[Richard C]

If it’s brick, no question I would use method 1. Using stud will make your life a little easier if you only have basic DIY skills but you will always be able to tell there was a door there & there is a big risk of cracks developing in the plaster around the door aperture as the expansion characteristics of the bricks & timber/plasterboard will be different. I wouldn’t bother with the damp resistant cement based plaster in the bathroom. On block work use Browning or Hardwall with a Multifinish skim; if you go for stud, I would use Aquapanel on the bathroom side rather than plasterboard & finish both with a Multifinish skim.

Personally I would block up the door opening using a block thickness that will put you around 8-12mm below the surrounding wall if you can & Hardwall the blocks out level with the surrounding wall. Once dry, apply a couple of overlapping layers of reinforcing tape all around the join & then skim the whole wall; if this is beyond your capabilities, get a plasterer in but doing it this way you will more or less guarantee no one will ever see the join!

 

[ewans]

Thanks Richard C, that helps.

Only reaminaing question would be how to secure/tie in the new brickwork to the existing wall. or if i even need to do this?

 

[Richard C]

As you build up the wall, screw angle brackets each side into the existing wall so the longest part of the bracket will be buried in the new mortar bed. For blocks, start above the first course on one side & the 2nd on the other so they are staggered & fit them every other course.