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Tips for under stairs storage creation?

Hi There -

I have been a silent reader of this community and have implemented quite a few of the projects that were shown up here. Having flexed my hands outside of the house I think I am now ready to do something inside (would be perfect for the winter that would come up).

I live in a double storey built around 13-15 years ago. There is space below the stairs that is currently covered that i would like to open up with a door to use for storage. I did some search with stud finder and find a gap for the door width and also opened the switch socket and peeked in a bit. I would like to what is the best way to assess if I can open to a door width and build it as a storage? Would like to avoid damage to the gypsum board as less as i can (havent been great in fixing them :)).

I also know that there is a house few streets away with my same layout and they do have storage below the stairs.

Thanks,

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EricL

Hello @J-P

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's marvellous to have you join us, and thank you for sharing your question about using the bottom of your stairs for storage.

Before I make any recommendations, would it be possible for you to post a photo of the stairs and the covered portion? This will give our members a chance to assess how the stairs were covered. We can then make recommendations on how to proceed. Some of the things we'll be looking for is how the stair cover was covered up and finished. Can the panel be removed with minimum damage? What tools will you be needing to remove the panel?

If you need a hand posting the photos, please let me know.

Eric

J-P

Hi Eric - Thanks for your welcome and response. Here are the pics attached. The sixth picture is the view from the right side of fifth. Let me know if you need more pics. It is covered with plasterboard (curved on the sides and straight on end in second pic).

I don’t have any special tools for plasterboard cutting but have free utility knife and other things.

The first four pics is the house with same layout

where they have opened up and put a door

MitchellMc

Hi @J-P,

Given the houses have the same layout, it appears entirely possible that you could install a door in the same location. Bear in mind that the other house might have had additional stud work installed to compensate for what needs to be removed for the doorway. In a perfect world, you'd be able to cut the plaster away and expose two vertical framing timbers, one on either side of the space where a door jamb can be installed within. What's the width of the space, and where are the timbers located? Doors typically go down to 520mm wide, so hopefully, there should be something pre-made that can be installed. Here are a couple of helpful step-by-step guides: How to install a door jamb and How to install a door.

If you get stuck after installing the door jamb, we do offer an in-home door installation service.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

J-P

I just took the stud finder again and realized there could be 3 vertical studs. I think the center one would be load bearing. What is my best option. Can I cut a portion a plaster at the bottom, put a camera to inspect and then put it back as neat as I can?

MitchellMc

With any manipulation or removal of framing structure, you first must assess whether something is structural and essential for the rigidity of the structure @J-P. You can open up the plaster and check inside. However, if there is a third verticle timber in the middle, you will not be able to tell whether it is structural. Only an experienced professional can assess the surrounding stud work to determine whether a section can be removed.

You might like to have a carpenter come in and at least do the work of opening the wall and adjusting any stud work. In saying that, by the time you pay the call-out fee, it likely wouldn't cost a whole heap more for him to install the door jamb. You could then install the door yourself to save some money.

Mitchell

J-P

That makes sense. Let me try to find some carpenters (wasn’t sure who was the tradie that I should be looking for). Thanks for all the advice.

MitchellMc

Please keep us updated, @J-P, and reach out again if you get stuck.

Mitchell

J-P

Hi @MitchellMc , @EricL - got the quote from a carpenter. It was 2k to open the cavity and install door jamb, architrave, door and paint all of them. I will find out if he is interested in just opening the cavity and do the door jamb.

But in the meantime I want to see if I can do this myself. So few questions/tips would help:

1. how do I safely open a small area of the board that I can stick my head in and see? What tools to use and how do I temporarily close until I do the big work?

2. How do I then open full area and put a door jamb. Any tips on that?

3. What raw materials to procure (what are the exact names to search for is where I am lost)

Thanks,

EricL

Hi @J-P

Do you still have access to your inspection camera? If you do, is it a proper cable inspection camera? If it is, I suggest drilling a small hole in the panel so that you can slide the inspection camera in the wall.

However, if you wish to make a bigger cut in the panel, I suggest having a look at the Craftright 3 In 1 Multi Saw Set. This saw set will allow you to cut into timber and plasterboard covers. Please use your stud finder to make sure that there are no electrical conduits where are cutting into. Try to keep the cut as clean as possible so that you can re-use the panel that you've cut out.

Please make sure to wear personal protection such as gloves, goggles and a dust mask when cutting into the panel.

Here are some handy step-by-step guides:

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

J-P

Hi @EricL - don’t have a proper inspection camera. I was referring to my phone camera. Will try opening with the saw and let you know

J-P

@EricL , @MitchellMc - gathered courage and time to tear it open today. Gladly it was lot better than what I imagined. Here are some videos of how it looks

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1r3fbnWp8fNwtG7ydz4We_GnXxe7xtkxA/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18zFCdx65gz1CH_TnKxDY0hrNXfb5Yj88/view?usp=drivesdk

few questions:

1. The gap between the studs is 450mm and the stud on the right wouldnt give enough space to put architrave on the outside. Can I add another stud as the height of the door frame and add a vertical stud on top to the entire width?

2. I need to remove the stud on the left to create more space for door. Don’t think it is load bearing but I am still planning to put 2 more to the left of it before I remove this. Would that be fine?

3. Also any tips on the order to further demolition to course along the way becos of some rookie mistakes?

Thanks in advance for all great advices.

Thanks,

MitchellMc

Hi @J-P,

Take a look at this discussion on How to install a door in an internal wall. I've added some renderings to that discussion that should give you a basic idea of how to frame out the door. You can add timberwork to frame your door into your cavity. You could assume that if you add additional studs, you'd be able to remove the one in the way. However, you need to determine whether the wall is load-bearing before doing any work. As mentioned previously, you'll need a professional to assess the wall. There's not a huge concern here as you are not removing the wall entirely, but from a duty-of-care standpoint, I need to recommend you first establish if the wall is loadbearing before suggesting you can manipulate it.

The next step in the demolition process will be cutting the plaster back to the required width so you can install your additional timberwork and remove the ones obstructing the doorway. Don't cut the plaster back beyond this, as we want to keep the wall sheet intact so the architraves cover the edges of the cutout.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

J-P

@MitchellMc - Thanks for your recommendation at the right time. I was planning on removing the plasterboard completely on the inside to put a stud (full size to the left of the existing one that I remove. But based on what I see in the other discussion, I can probably get away without that and just add a frame. (Will also get it assessed from someone who is an expert on this). I think the frame will do portion of load bearing that existing stud might be doing.

Thanks for your help.

J-P

Finally finished it today after working for about 3 months

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/t5/Living-and-Bedroom/Under-Stairs-Storage/m-p/170788#M9278

@MitchellMc / @EricL - Thanks for your guidance

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