Concealing An Entrance

[RG1911]

Does anyone have experience with concealing an entrance? This is into a small (4'X12') enclosure. Our contractor and I have been kicking around ideas, but have not come up with one that pleases us.

Thank you,
Richard

[Bulldogger]

Inside? Behind a tall mirror, or make a large wall panel hinge outward, something like that.
Bulldogger

[OS OK]

IN ONE OF MY HOUSES, A LONG TIME AGO...I converted a hall linen closet into a gun safe and cash stash.
I paneled the hallway with paneling that had vertical rabbits from top to bottom. Slick matt finish wood with dark 3/16" wide rabbits in-between 8" sections of wood. Due to the width of the door the concealed hinges fell into one rabbit and the opening side of the door was the other. I used a push type magnetic lock assembly that held the door flush top to bottom...you couldn't see it. You had to push on the opening side of the door about 1/4" inward to get the latch to release, then do the same to get it to re-engauge again when closing.
Nobody ever had a clue that stash closet was there. When we sold we met with the new buyers to show them this...they didn't know it was there either after walking the house several times.

Sorry but I can't remember the hardware type...it's been since the late 80's. The key to keeping the paneling straight was using the thickest paneling we could find and glueing it to a 3/4" plywood door backing, top to bottom...ceiling to floor.

charlie

[byrd45900]

A book shelf on casters

[NavyVet1959]

On some of the new houses with hidden rooms that I've seen, it's often a built-in bookcase and with the trim for the bookcase on the outside wall and the bookcase itself opening inwards so that you can't see the slight crack along the edge of the door.

[Tracy]

4' x 12'? Is this an outbuilding? Make an entire 4' wall the door. Hinge it at the top and conceal the lock at the bottom, perhaps even buried. Or hinge it at the bottom and make a hidden panel in the roof for access to the lock. That way anyone even attempting to get in would need a ladder.

[dragon813gt]

Google "hidden room pictures" and you will get a lot of ideas. They're always custom so evaluate your room after looking at lots of pictures.

[NavyVet1959]

4'x12' sounds like you are closing off a hallway to make into a hidden room.

[Grmps]

I would think a shallow, built in shelf unit (like nic-nac) with trim and hidden hinges maybe 1 foot off the floor 30 inches wide by 60 inches tall so it's not obvious. have an item sitting on a shelf away from the hinge act as the latch release or you could get fancyer and have a hidden magnetic latch with a magnet concealed near by, cocealed in plain site like in the bottom af a nic-nac box to open it with. Just don't tough the wall when you go in and out.
the next post reminded me, you can friction fit the bottom away from the hinge, a piece of nylon that the shelf unit sits on when closed to prevent sage

[dbosman]

A book shelf on casters

Casters leave dents in carpet and paths on hard surfaces. Really heavy duty hinges that keep the weight off the opening edge.

[5Shot]

On some of the new houses with hidden rooms that I've seen, it's often a built-in bookcase and with the trim for the bookcase on the outside wall and the bookcase itself opening inwards so that you can't see the slight crack along the edge of the door.

My dad built these in 2 of his homes. Nobody ever knew.

[NavyVet1959]

My dad built these in 2 of his homes. Nobody ever knew.

It probably helps with the hiding if you have other bookcases in the house that look exactly the same, but without the hidden room behind them.

[MaryB]

Need more info... inside the house? Shed in the yard? My brew shed I am building may get a false wall in back with a 12" deep space. I will put the steel liner on panels that hinge open with the steel over lapping the next sheet like normal with false screw heads(put screw in, cut off the shank behind the sheet and grind it flush) so it looks screwed down. Use it as extra stash storage for stuff that can handle temperature changes.

When I bought this house there was a piece of flooring upstairs that just didn't look right after walking over it for a year. I finally got down on the floor, pulled on it and it hinges open to a small tin box built into the floor. Hinges are hidden, just looks like a floor patch like the others in that room where pieces of pine floor were replaced. Hinges kind of pull forward then rotate up...

[map55b]

A couple options:

http://www.homedepot.com/b/Doors-Windows-Interior-Closet-Doors/The-Murphy-Door/N-5yc1vZc5ioZfv3

https://www.themurphydoor.com/

I build my own that swings out to conceal a vault door, which also swings out.

[RG1911]

Lots of great ideas! Thank you!

The space is inside and built into a room with a concrete floor. I'm hoping to make it look like it's covering part of the heating/cooling ductwork.

So it isn't quite as seamless as I would have preferred, but it's what I could do to get the space I wanted/needed.

Richard

[NavyVet1959]

this kind of thing needs to be done quietly and carefully.

Most building code, if you MENTION the idea to a contractor, youll be up to your behind in extra inspecctions and so on.

If you build one and a handy man finds it, they normally report that stuff...

The only way to keep a secret is for no one else to know about it.

[woodbutcher]

[smilie=1: Or do what the Jap army did in the Phillipeans at the end of the war when they hid the gold.Eliminate the builders:shock:.
Good luck have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[725]

In a house I had years ago, it's 1920's cottage design had a closet that was almost 2' wide but about 8' deep. Hooks the length of it - both sides - like a hallway. Worthless. I remodeled the house and walled off the thing altogether. Then I cut a crawl space hatch in from the attic and built a ladder inside the "new room". Covered the hatch with insulation, just like the rest of the attic. Being a city dweller, at the time, it was quite comforting to have my stuff securely squirreled away.

One of my next projects is to build an "in the wall" nick / nack shelf that will give access to an open area within the wall. No floor drag marks or hand marks from opening or closing.

[RG1911]

[smilie=1: Or do what the Jap army did in the Phillipeans at the end of the war when they hid the gold.Eliminate the builders:shock:.
Good luck have fun.Be safe.
Leo
Learned from the pharaohs and Genghis Khan, no doubt. :)

Some great ideas in this thread. I'll be examining the physical layout more closely with these suggestions in mind.

Many thanks,
Richard

[MaryB]

To avoid hand marks use a battery backup electric screw jack to open and close the door, satellite dish actuators are dirt cheap on ebay for example. Hidden switch or even a wireless controller(this is an off the shelf application).


In a house I had years ago, it's 1920's cottage design had a closet that was almost 2' wide but about 8' deep. Hooks the length of it - both sides - like a hallway. Worthless. I remodeled the house and walled off the thing altogether. Then I cut a crawl space hatch in from the attic and built a ladder inside the "new room". Covered the hatch with insulation, just like the rest of the attic. Being a city dweller, at the time, it was quite comforting to have my stuff securely squirreled away.

One of my next projects is to build an "in the wall" nick / nack shelf that will give access to an open area within the wall. No floor drag marks or hand marks from opening or closing.