Steps
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How to Build a Hidden Door
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Overview for How to Install a Secret Swinging Door
Step One
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How to Build a Hidden Door
Overview for How to Install a Secret Swinging Door
Illustration by Gregory Nemec
Saturday Hang the door and chamfer the stiles (Steps 2–11).
SUNDAY Finish the paneling (Steps 12–18).
Download the cultist for How to install a secret swinging door here.
Cut List
½x8 poplar side stiles. Cut to fit.
½x6 poplar baseboards. Cut to fit.
½x4 poplar rails and center stile. Cut to fit.
If you're building this project in an existing doorway, you'll first need to deal with any door stops to allow the door to swing in both directions. To remove stops on a site-built jamb, score along each stop with a utility knife and use a pry bar to remove it. Stops on factory-made jambs aren't easily removed, so instead use ½-inch-thick furring strips to pad out the jamb on either side of the stop, then simply buy a narrower door to fit. Either way, make sure to fill any gaps or cracks with wood filler and sand the jamb smooth before beginning the project.
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Install the Pin Hardware
Step Two
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How to Build a Hidden Door
Install the Pin Hardware
Remove any door stops to allow the door to swing in both directions. Trace the pin socket on the head jamb, making these adjustments to the hardware instructions: Inset it an extra ½ inch from the side jamb, to keep the door rails from binding, and recess it only half the thickness of your door, to bring the face of the door flush with the jamb. Use a Forstner bit to drill overlapping holes, and press the socket in place. Check its location, as shown, and secure it with 1-inch wood screws. Install the pin on the door. The socket placement will move your door over by ½ inch, so you may need to rip it down to get it to fit in the jamb.
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Install the Corner Baseboards
Step Four
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How to Build a Hidden Door
Install the Corner Baseboards
Measure from the adjacent baseboard to the edge of the door. Cut a piece of baseboard to that length, making a 45 degree miter cut along the end covering the wide gap between the door and jamb. The miter faces the gap. Apply wood glue to the back of the piece and tack it in place, as shown, with a pneumatic brad gun and 18-gauge brads. Do the same at the opposite side of the door.
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Mark the Baseboard for the Hardware
Step Five
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How to Build a Hidden Door
Mark the Baseboard for the Hardware
Measure between the two installed pieces of baseboard, and use the miter saw to cut the piece to fit across the bottom of the door, with straight cuts at each end. The spring hardware stands proud of the door, so you'll need to make a recess in the back of the board; to mark it, hold the baseboard in place and tap it with a hammer, creating an impression on the back.
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Rout and Fasten the Baseboard
Step Six
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How to Build a Hidden Door
Rout and Fasten the Baseboard
Trace the outline for the recess and clamp the baseboard to your work surface, facedown. With a ¼-inch straight bit in your router, set the depth to ¼ inch and rout the outline for the recess, then rout out the waste material inside it. (You can also use a sharp 1-inch chisel and a mallet instead of a router.) Fit the baseboard against your door, making sure it sits flat against the door with its top edge aligned with its neighbors, then glue and tack it in place.
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Cut the Side Stiles and Notch the Base Cap
Step Seven
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How to Build a Hidden Door
Cut the Side Stiles and Notch the Base Cap
To allow the side stiles to butt against the baseboard, you'll need to notch the base cap molding on the adjacent walls using a sharp chisel or an oscillating multitool fitted with a flush-cutting blade. Hold a ½× scrap against the door wall, and use it as a guide to make the cut, as shown. Now, measure from the top edge of your baseboard to the ceiling, and cut the stiles to length.
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Attach the Side Stiles
Step Twelve
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How to Build a Hidden Door
Attach the Side Stiles
Run a bead of wood glue along the edge of the left-hand doorjamb and on the back of the stile. Press the stile into place, concealing the gap at the jamb, and tack it down, as shown. Install the opposite stile. Next, hold the center stile board alongside a side stile and measure the span between it and the opposite stile; divide by 2 to get the length for each rail, then cut them to size on a miter saw.
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Add the Center Stile
Step Fourteen
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How to Build a Hidden Door
Add the Center Stile
Measure and cut the ½×4 center stile to fit between the baseboard and the top of the door. Apply wood glue to its back side, and press it onto the door, nestled against the two installed rails and butted against the baseboard. Tack it in place with 18-gauge brads.
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Extend the Center Stile
Step Sixteen
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How to Build a Hidden Door
Extend the Center Stile
Measure, cut, and install a ½×6 rail to fit between the side stiles along the ceiling. In this case, the top rail dies into a newel post, and a notched piece connects it on a diagonal to the right-hand side stile. Measure and cut the uppermost section of the center stile so that it extends below the jamb—allowing just enough clearance for the door to open. Glue and tack it in place, as shown.