Moving stud wall with fire door...re-use?

[jay679]

Hi all. I have what is effectively a corridor leading from my front door to a room. There is a small area of (non load bearing) stud wall with a fire door in it that effectively cuts this corridor in half, leaving a very, very small area adjacent to the front door to effectively be the hall. I want to push this wall/door back along the corridor by about 5 feet to give a more spacious feel as you enter the house (also it will give a lot more room for my dogs/shopping etc when coming in/out).

There are no electrics involved so it should be a fairly simple job, with the exception of sorting out the coving/skirting/flooring etc. The fire door will still serve its purpose in the new location.

My question is - is it possible/easy to remove the frame with door still hung, to re-use in the new wall I will build. It would make things a lot easier as the door weighs a ton, and has three large hinges and a self-closer fitted.

I cannot see how/where the frame is fitted as presumably the screws/nails have been filled and covered or are underneath the door stops.

My thoughts are to remove the architrave/skirting/coving and plasterboard and then try and sever the fixings between the door frame and studwork. I do not have a reciprocating saw, but do have an oscillating tool which may work? Obviously I would secure the two sides of the bottom of the frame with a temporary cross brace before removing to keep it square.

Is this the right way to go about it?

Many thanks.

 

[gregers]

yep
as you say the screws may well be hiding behind the stops?or just look very carefully for and marks to indicate filling etc,and then just dig out the filler using a gash screwdriver to expose the head of the screws.

if you find it is nailed then just cut the fixings with whatever you have,even just a hacksaw blade,hard work but doable.

 

[Richthebuilder]

I'd fix a Batton on the bottom of the frame, 1 foot up while the door is on, take the door off from the hinges on the frame side, it's only 12 screws else it'll be very awkward to move then fix it in your new stud work and reverse the process