Replies

1. 
   Cami_A | Dec 12, 2001 07:43am | #1

   *
   Mike, here's a link to another forum that might give you a few ideas.
   http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/remodel/msg0823001725298.html?136
   (You can skip the first twenty or so posts where they debate the legality and impracticality of secret rooms...)

1. 
   Michael_Rimoldi | Dec 12, 2001 07:55am | #2

   *Cami, Excellent find! Thanks. And yeah, the first legal debate about secret and hidden roomdoors was worth skipping.Mike

1. 
   Mongo_ | Dec 12, 2001 09:16am | #3

   *It certainly depends on the design and weight of the door, but Soss hinges can be used to hinge two boards that are butted together. No hinge barrel is visible. They are especially effective in stain-grade work if the two pieces that are hinged are ripped from the same board.

1. 
   calvin_ | Dec 12, 2001 02:15pm | #4

   *Try this link for the book "How to hide almost anything". Might be something in it to help you.http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/misc/pop.html/102-1497618-7047350

1. 
   Boss_Hog | Dec 12, 2001 02:31pm | #5

   *This has been discussed a time or 2 in the past - You might try searching the archives.

2. 
   teo_ | Dec 12, 2001 10:08pm | #6

   *You have to go all the way- a bookcase with the appropiate book to trigger it.

3. 
   xJohn_Sprung | Dec 12, 2001 11:28pm | #7

   *Back in the late 1970's I got to visit the old Bela Lugosi house just before it was demoed to make way for the Cahuenga offramp from the southbound Hollywood freeway. He used a bookcase balanced to pivot around a vertical pipe in the middle. BTW, Lugosi predicted that his house would be "shooken down", and he put a curse on whatever would be built there afterward. So, if you're superstitious, avoid that offramp and get off at Vine street. ;-)-- J.S.

4. 
   Andy_W | Dec 14, 2001 08:15am | #8

   *Michael:By fluke I came across this link and thought it was too good to forget. Guess I was right! Hope it is of some use.Andywww.hiddendoors.com

5. 
   Ron_Portwine | Dec 14, 2001 06:58pm | #9

   *I built a hidden compartment in the back of the master closet for a customer. The compartment was not very deep, about 7-8 inches, you had another 7 inches to work with due to the depth of the two stud walls. Anyhow, we used a mirror for the door. I epoxied hinges and a magnet to the back of the mirror. I framed the opening a few inches smaller than the mirror. To improve the look of being fixed to the wall, we glued eight plastic (brackets) to the mirror edges and also glued screwheads into the brackets where they touched the wall. The customer wanted to do this for two reasons. 1. He wanted to keep his hunting rifles and hand guns hidden from his young children and he wanted a place to store valuables.

6. 
   Jim_Walters | Dec 16, 2001 03:19pm | #10

   *Here's one I built to hide a gun room in a guys bedroom. It's on a website I never use except to show pictures and stuff. The door is an interior hard core and the rest is maple. As far as I know the friction fit worked out OK (thought it might stick in the summer) It is a simple build and only took about four hours, but the homeowner loved it as he had a large cache of weapons to hide. Slow download, but it's there... http://www.alltradesbb.com

7. 
   Michael_Rimoldi | Dec 16, 2001 06:51pm | #11

   *Jim, Beautiful work! Thanks.Mike

8. 
   ANDY_C._CLIFFORD | Dec 16, 2001 07:36pm | #12

   *In the last house I lived in I built two such doors that went into a storage area where I kept large valubles when I went away....what I did was make raised panels around the whole bottom half of the room. Took two of them high total size totalled about two feet wide by four feet high. I used a cove type molding on the inside of the stiles and rails around the raised panels I made. I left a bottem piece of cove free to pull out and notched finger holes behind it to remove the panel. I framed onto the back of the panels with 2x4's that fit snug into the framing. It was a simple process and no one'd could ever tell.

2. 
   Michael_Rimoldi | Dec 16, 2001 07:36pm | #13

   *
   Hey guys,

   I'm building a hidden door inot our house and am looking for ideas with which to conceal it. Its in a hall with the surrounding walls being finished drywall.

   Considered: The traditional bookcase.
   A plate shelf made to be built in.
   A mirror

   Any other ideas?

   Mike