# The hidden doorway



## onmywayup (Aug 18, 2012)

My buddy has an all-cement storage room just off his basement, underneath the porch on the front of the house. As soon as our governor allows me to feed my family again, we are to be building a bar in his basement. 

I want to build a door-sized shelf for liquor/glassware, etc. that is on a track of some kind or another, with a hidden latch that releases the shelf and allows you to push it back into the storage room so you can access the room. 

I plan to trim it out in such a way that it will be hard to detect the opening is there unless you know. Just a neat little hidden doorway feature I want to do for him because he's a good friend of mine. 

Anybody every done anything like this? What kind of hardware am I looking for for the track system? Some kind of drawer slides mounted to rails anchored to the floor?


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## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

Things like that are normally done with hefty-duty hinges. Is there a particular reason you're wanting to use tracks instead? IMO, a track setup would be a PITA to use.


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## MarkJames (Nov 25, 2012)

I had client with a nice one, and it was hinged and on casters behind the toe kick. The casing didn't move, so the shelving swung into place against the back of it. The toe kick separated at the corner miters, or something like that. It was pretty sweet, with lighting, too. It locked in place with pins in the sides of the shelving.


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## onmywayup (Aug 18, 2012)

The hinges are of course an option and would be easier, but it would also effectively cut off about a third of this storage area when it swings open. You'd have to come in and shut the shelf/door behind you in order to get anything to the right of the door. The storage area is not that deep, you see. 

But yeah, hinges are one way. Sliding tracks would be cooler though. I think I'm going to make the latch attached to a hinged Maker's Mark bottle that you pull on to release it. 

Is it possible to drill through the bottom of a glass bottle without cracking it up?


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## onmywayup (Aug 18, 2012)

MarkJames said:


> I had client with a nice one, and it was hinged and on casters behind the toe kick. The casing didn't move, so the shelving swung into place against the back of it. The toe kick separated at the corner miters, or something like that. It was pretty sweet, with lighting, too. It locked in place with pins in the sides of the shelving.


If we end up going with door style on hinges, then that would be a pretty slick way to trim it out. You would literally never be able to tel it was there unless you knew.


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## NJ Contractor (Nov 12, 2016)

https://murphydoor.com/products/flush-mount-paint-grade-bookcase-hidden-door?variant=20781346062395&utm_source=google&utm_term=&utm_campaign=Murphy+Door+Shopping+Shopify+Desktop&utm_medium=cpc&hsa_acc=1122413261&hsa_grp=70994131429&hsa_ver=3&hsa_kw=&hsa_ad=353973645271&hsa_tgt=pla-294682000766&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI64G-rdKJ6QIVhp-fCh0ktgdoEAQYASABEgLqsPD_BwE


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## Snobnd (Jul 1, 2008)

I have done several including one with Leo!

The only problem with the door going into the room is you lose space!


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## onmywayup (Aug 18, 2012)

Snobnd said:


> I have done several including one with Leo!
> 
> The only problem with the door going into the room is you lose space!


Well now I'm thinking this thing should swing out! No sh!t, right? So....how to make the trim hide the seams if it swings out? 

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## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

onmywayup said:


> The hinges are of course an option and would be easier, but it would also effectively cut off about a third of this storage area when it swings open. You'd have to come in and shut the shelf/door behind you in order to get anything to the right of the door. The storage area is not that deep, you see.
> 
> But yeah, hinges are one way. Sliding tracks would be cooler though. I think I'm going to make the latch attached to a hinged Maker's Mark bottle that you pull on to release it.
> 
> Is it possible to drill through the bottom of a glass bottle without cracking it up?


That space limitation makes it tough either way. Pocket door?

You can drill a bottle, but it's way slow and laborious. Plus, stress on those holes might crack them out after assembly. Think about glueing to the back side instead.

I'd love to see this happen, with pics and video. :thumbsup:


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## Snobnd (Jul 1, 2008)

They make several different types of conceal pivot hinges I’m sure you could figure something out! But that wouldn’t be the panel with all the liquor since that adds a tremendous amount of weight!

Still looking for a picture of a mirror door to a safe room!


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## Snobnd (Jul 1, 2008)

https://images.search.yahoo.com/ima...k&.crumb=XolrJKBCkSo&fr=yfp-hrmob&fr2=piv-web


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## Snobnd (Jul 1, 2008)

I love the Coca-Cola design


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## onmywayup (Aug 18, 2012)

Tinstaafl said:


> That space limitation makes it tough either way. Pocket door?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Pocket door is a no go. The walls of this room are thick poured concrete, at least 9". No Bueno.
Gotta swing in or out.

I will get some pics sent tomorrow. 

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## onmywayup (Aug 18, 2012)

Snobnd said:


> https://images.search.yahoo.com/ima...k&.crumb=XolrJKBCkSo&fr=yfp-hrmob&fr2=piv-web


Oh **** yeah man! Those are what I'm talking about! The coke fridge idea and the wardrobe are awesome! 

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## MarkJames (Nov 25, 2012)

Thick concrete....maybe roll/slide it sideways behind a false wall (wide pocket).


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## tjbnwi (Feb 24, 2009)

https://www.sugatsune.com/product-category/products/cabinet-hinges/


Tom


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## Snobnd (Jul 1, 2008)

The top left in that picture is the one I used on a heavy mirror to cover the safe foom,Gave me about a three-quarter inch overlap it fits so tight you could turn the light on in the safe room and leave the lights off in the other room and you can’t tell!


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Outswing is way tougher to conceal well.

What interior style does the house have?


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Depending on how heavy it will be loaded up, if you want it to slide in, you may be best having the whole thing hanging off a couple of steel bars and using a ball bearing set up.


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## rescraft (Nov 28, 2007)

www.tectushinges.com :thumbsup:


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

Snobnd said:


> I have done several including one with Leo!
> 
> The only problem with the door going into the room is you lose space!




You stole my thunder :laughing:


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## Snobnd (Jul 1, 2008)

Leo at least I didn’t post the video!


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## MarkJames (Nov 25, 2012)

Leo, you must be making millions on the youtube revenue, right?


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

I'm killing it.

:vs_rocking_banana:


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## asevereid (Jan 30, 2012)

MarkJames said:


> Leo, you must be making millions on the youtube revenue, right?


Both of his followers appreciate the content 

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## onmywayup (Aug 18, 2012)

Ok fellas...getting started on this project tomorrow. I've been doing some research and some ganja inspired brainstorming and I think I'm going to take a sliding approach to this opening. 

I'm going to more or less turn two sliding barn door tracks 90 degrees, and hang the shelving unit from them. The tracks are going to be mounted parallel to eachother, crossing from the opening to the back of the closet area and secured firmly to the block wall there. The span is just about 3 feet, so I'm not worried about the two tracks carrying the weight, especially since I plan to add casters to the bottom of the shelving unit, hidden behind a piece of base trim or the face frame. 

My last problem to solve ahead of time is how to get the secret latch cable attached to a bottle of Maker's Mark that is (or at least appears to be) full of fine Kentucky bourbon. Thinking of epoxying a little ring to the back of the bottle....anyway, I'll figure it out. 

The goal is that eventually, you pull on the neck of the bottle to release the gate latch on the backside, and the shelf more or less effortlessly slides backwards into the closet. 

The tracks and hangers will take up a few inches of the vertical space of the doorway, but I'll hide that behind trim, or build a false header to hide them. 

I'm looking forward to getting at this tomorrow. I'll post pics as we go and comment on the inevitable phuck-ups so future nail benders can learn from the experience.


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## onmywayup (Aug 18, 2012)

Got a bit of work done on this today.

Framed out and hung the barn door tracks that are going to carry the weight of the shelves to the back wall.

Also started roughing together the shelves. They'll get a very fine oak or select pine face frame tomorrow, then all sanded, primed, and painted.

Then I plan to bolt the hangers to the inside of the top shelf, and hide it all behind trim or a false shelf front. I'll figure that out as I go tomorrow.


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## onmywayup (Aug 18, 2012)

Got the shelves mostly finished. Went to do a dry fit and found they were just under a quarter inch too wide. Swapped the 3/4" right side door jamb with a strip we ripped out of a half inch plywood scrap. Made it better, but too tight still for easy sliding. Going to put quarter inch in tomorrow then hang the shelves. Also had to raise the door tracks up an inch or so. So I'll have to adjust the ledger board or add more blocking tomorrow.


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## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

What's up with the trim at the top of the doorway?


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## onmywayup (Aug 18, 2012)

Tinstaafl said:


> What's up with the trim at the top of the doorway?


Gonna be building the door jamb down with a false front to hide the ends of the barn door tracks and the hangers, then patching the drywall over the false front. So the top trim is not on yet until we hang the shelves and determine the exact height the top of the shelves will be, because the casing is going to hide the top of the shelves and make it look built in.

The side casing pieces are just on temporarily, they'll probably have to be pulled ans cut shorter or run through the board stretcher one way or another.


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## rjconstructs (Apr 26, 2009)

The Tectus hinges look pretty pricey


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## onmywayup (Aug 18, 2012)

Wasted over three hours trying to get this shelf to hang from one roller on each side, balanced perfectly in the middle to get the shelf to close level and flush with the door stop.

Finally realized that the smart thing to do, for many reasons, was have two hangers on each side. I have no idea why I had a mental block for that idea all morning. But the shelves now open and close with a very gentle push, and hang flush to the trim when closed. Got some more work to do on this tomorrow to make it truly invisible, but the huge mental hurdle for me of not knowing if this would even work has been jumped. Easy going from here.


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## onmywayup (Aug 18, 2012)

Put the false panel on the top shelf front to hide the hangars. It's going to get a wood burned sign with the nickname we've given the bar down here, mounted to that panel, so it looks purposeful. 

Startes poorly patching in the drywall above it. Slapped some of the trim up. Looking sharp. Caulked all the necessary seams, will get some paint on it all next week when we're due for some rainy weather.


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## Snobnd (Jul 1, 2008)

I’ve done several hidden doors and most interior projectsI always give the customer a little something extra they never expected so they can hide their valuables if they want.

Always tricky but very satisfying when you’re finished nice job.


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## AustinDB (Sep 11, 2006)

That’s an interesting way to mount the door-I like it . 

Can’t wait to see the Makers Mark door opener 


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## rblakes1 (Jan 8, 2015)

Very cool looking project! 

-Rich


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## onmywayup (Aug 18, 2012)

Headed over there today or Saturday to sand the patch and touch up the paint, then I'll post pics or a vid. It ended up looking pretty awesome


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