Weird wardrobe space between two bedrooms.

VincentHanna

VincentHanna

VincentHanna

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30 Jul 2013
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Our house is a 1980's build.

The main bedroom and spare bedroom are side to side but there is a void between them

The main bedroom has a clothes rail and some shelving built in this void that I use as my wardrobe. This is accessed via a standard door. Internally it's 80cm deep and 1 meter wide.

The spare bedroom has a larger clothes rail and shelving in the void, again accessed via a standard door. Internally it's 80cm deep and 2 metres wide.

Ideally I would like to completely block up the door to it in the spare room, so it just looks like a wall and then access the full space from the main bedroom only - perhaps with mirrored sliding doors and so it's more like a proper wardrobe with some lights inside.

Where do I start?
 
I think I did this if I understand correctly - 2 flush to wall built in wardrobes in 2 adjoining bedrooms. We removed all the wardrobes and voids to make 1 room bigger (it was about 3 or 4 ft deep). Im my classic style outsourced to a decorator who did it up all nice for somewhere south of £1000, including painting etc IIRC. Was well worth it.
 
Well it sounds like you took the void out and used the extra space? That sounds cheaper and is an option. The room would be 2.7 ft wider.

But really I'm looking to completely block access to the void in bedroom 2 then in bedroom 1, get somebody to build a proper wardrobe inside and slap some sliding mirrored doors on it.
 
Usually internal walls are just timber studs with plaster board attached on both sides.

You can, or pay someone to demolish the wall and door frame in bedroom 1, then follow a guide to remove a door from an internal wall (for bedroom 2) - need to remove frame, put in timbers (same thickness as used on existing wall), and plaster board on both sides. You then need to plaster where the door is, fit a new bit of skirting board and decorate the wall.

That will leave you in a position to pay for fitted wardrobes for bedroom 1 or get something that sort of fits from IKEA.

A joiner can probably get this all done for you (worth getting a few quotes), they may bring in laborers to do the demolishing and a plasterer to apply the new plaster. Built in fitted wardrobes are expensive though, even if built from MDF (very labour intensive).
 
VincentHanna said:
Well it sounds like you took the void out and used the extra space? That sounds cheaper and is an option. The room would be 2.7 ft wider.

But really I'm looking to completely block access to the void in bedroom 2 then in bedroom 1, get somebody to build a proper wardrobe inside and slap some sliding mirrored doors on it.
Click to expand...

Yes exactly that, so not what you were asking sorry
 
radderfire said:
Post pics for better advice.
Click to expand...

Main Bedroom - "wardrobe". (Excuse the mess)

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TCFoASAh.jpg


The space is approx 100cm wide x 80cm deep

"Wardrobe" closed, door to bedroom open:

fZvFAg4h.jpg


Spare Bedroom:

j0XExgkh.jpg


You can't see from the last photo, but this wardrobe is 200cm wide inside and has a partition wall which separates both wardrobes.

In both bedrooms I also want the aertex ceilings gone and in the spare bedroom I want to get rid of that pink that the previous occupants painted.
 
I'm not an expert but I'm answering because I told you to post pics :)

Essentially it seems you want to block up one door in the spare room, then open up the void to create a bigger wardrobe in the main bedroom.

I'd say the first thing you need to consider is what type the wall is in the main bedroom that you want to remove, and whether it is loadbearing or not. You also need to consider what services might be present in the wall, i.e. water pipes and electricity cables. I believe you can tell what type of wall it is by knocking on it. A stud wall will sound hollow, and a brick wall won't. Anyway, I'm sure some DIY experts will be along to comment shortly.
 
Oh it's definitely not load bearing, only the wall behind the lego ferris wheel in the last picture is load bearing (the side of the house) and I'm sure it doesn't have any pipes there as it's nowhere near any bathroom.
 
Basic steps would be something like:

1: Remove both the doors and put them out of the way. Gut all the internals of the storage spaces.
2: Remove door framing/architrave in spare bedroom (doing so will likely damage some of the existing plasterboard)
3: Build the framing back up internally as required so that you can mount additional plasterboard across where the spare room door is. So use timber to make a floor plate and top plate and timber and joists in between to mount the plasterboard to.
4: Mount plasterboard and tape/fill/finish. Put skirting board over the new bit of plasterboard wall.
5: Finish the new wall, paint etc.

Now onto main bedroom:

1: Remove acrhitrave/framing and then demolish the plasterboard space required down to the actual timber behind it being left behind.
2: Remove timber remaining, assuming it is not supporting anything other than just the plasterboard partition wall that was there.
3: Finish the wall sides so that there is timber there to mount your sliding wardrobe end points to
4: Buy sliding wardrobe parts and tracks etc. Fit sliding wardrobe to the space.

I've no idea how much that would cost a trader to do for you. Probably a couple of grand.

As for the ceilings, just get a plasterer in to skim the ceiling. They will knock off the majority of the high points of the artex and then plaster it with a couple of layers. A good plasterer will make it look really good and smooth, and then you can paint it yourself to save money. You must wait until the plaster is properly dry before doing the mist coat, unless you use specific stuff which can go on pretty soon after - which I don't recommend. Cost for both ceilings to be skimmed will probably be somewhere between 200-500 a room depending on location and room size.
 
VincentHanna said:
Oh it's definitely not load bearing, only the wall behind the lego ferris wheel in the last picture is load bearing (the side of the house) and I'm sure it doesn't have any pipes there as it's nowhere near any bathroom.
Click to expand...
Just because its a stud wall doesn't mean its not load bearing - it could be holding up some ceiling/loft timberwork, so do check.

Do these wardrobe 'voids' overlap in some way, as one is 1m wide and one is 2m wide so they can't be exactly back to back?
 
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