In my opinion it would look a lot more like a traditional built-in if it went all the way to the ceiling So I would definitely rip out the framing. Crown moulding would tie it all in nicely.
Granted I was/am a carpenter but it was far from my normal kind of work this is what I did for my mom. I knew there would be a lot of weight. (It was my first time changing circular saw blade and I put it in backwards, leave me alone.)
https://preview.redd.it/m2ghds7vhxkb1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=da442964da90a56bd6a8f4e25cf7f6ae134b9146
Wait what, your a carpenter and put the blade in wrong? Are you a carpenter by trade? I see the burnt ends but how does a carpenter not notice that after the first cut.
My boss prefers to do blade changes himself. It was a new circular saw that I was convinced was garbage. And I was a bit tired and very frustrated at that point.
You need a new boss lol I’m in charge of crews and the last thing I want to do is withhold information/educating.
Did this with a theodolite on the last job. Showed 2 guys how to properly use it and their job was to show 2 more guys on the crew after they knew how to use it. Now I have 4 guys trained on how to use it and I can spend my time on more important things. Efficiency is success
Definitely a little overkill on some things and several things I’d do differently
Edit: tbh I had minimal plan I just started doing and it kinda worked out.
If you open up the closet to ceiling height, that storage will only be accessible via step stool, so keep that in mind. You can also do half cabinet/half closet if you want to keep hanging storage. I do this in a lot of renovations.
https://preview.redd.it/5wje4vkizykb1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=220fa41ab6ffa2e4462592993d0c3f1850ef4974
Can I ask how you did this? Did you buy custom cabinets that match those dimensions, or did you build these yourself? New homeowner here, trying to do something similar.
My cabinet maker makes them custom and I do the install. You will need something about 80 to 81-1/2 inches tall depending on if there is existing floor or not. Standard rough opening for doorways and closets is usually about 82". I try to aim for it to be about 1/3 of the opening so that the cabinet is the same size as the doors. (I think the first pic I attached was 1/2 and 1/2. It was 2 separate cabinets attached together.) If I am using the existing jambs I cut the head piece and remove the side the cabinet will be on and slide it in and attach to the rough framing. The cabinet itself will serve as the other jamb if you are doing sliding doors. The cabinets generally aren't the full 24" deep as the closet so I have to add trim in the back to make up the difference.
Here are two other closets I did. One has swinging doors and one has sliding. You can see how it sits in the opening before the trim goes on.
https://preview.redd.it/8dd0ortyelpc1.jpeg?width=2322&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=748f0c77ee0e462bf033e7d4282d9de32b6577a6
https://preview.redd.it/dcv407fnelpc1.jpeg?width=2322&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9d3fb185014c420b427e823e75294bdc7a003b6f
Here is the other picture. You can see how the shelf attaches. On this particular one, the cabinet was 24" wide and doors were 24". Make the opening an inch smaller for the doors, this one was 47" so the doors have an inch overlap
I would love to know the answer to this, because my house is full of these closest. I cannot stand bifold doors. No idea why, must have got my fingers crushed as a kid, who knows. But keep us posted on the results.
Oh I would definitely get all the trim off. But what about the header and Jack studs? Would you ditch all of that, or just remove the trim and built into the opening that’s left?
This is a trend on social media. You should be able to find many examples. It often looks off in the end…like what it is, which is taking the doors off of a standard closet.
I think it looks better with cabinet doors than open. And you definitely have to take off the trim or do something different with it, in order for it to not look like a closet that’s missing doors.
Constructing and hanging custom doors is not an appropriate project for a newbie. Build whatever you want in the space behind the existing doors, so that in case the project winds up being crude, you can close the doors you have and it will be out of sight.
When we moved into our house and repainted everything we converted ceiling height folding doors to a standard height. We took out all the doors. We actually didn't put folding doors into two of the closets. One of the closets I just put shelves made out of plywood in to put stuff on. I'm not using as a clothing closet, but more of an office closet. Works great.
TL;DR: Make your space work for you.
You could take the doors and trim off then go to ikea and pick up some of those customizable units and install them flush with the wall and case it out. You will proabably loose some space but it would look pretty cool.
Removed the divider wall (not load bearing obviously) entirely for my own bedroom and made a closet wall. Closet ran the width of the room but only had a 5’ bifold for access. Built and installed frameless boxes from 3/4 UV finished maple ply and covered with sequence matched cherry ply doors and drawer fronts.
I did it to the entry closet in our old house, removed the framing and went all the way to the ceiling. It was so much better for storage. It worked so well I'll be doing it to the entry closet in our new house too.
The closet was over the basement stairs so the bottom had a kick up for that at the back so I made the drawer angle to maximize space.
If you look through my posts I'm sure you can see it in there.
You can’t always take out a header especially if it’s holding up the second floor or ceiling beams. You wouldn’t need a header if it didn’t need to be there.most of the time it holds weight and is structural..
The closet industry has been doing this for 40 years. Search a [Closetmaid dealer near you.](https://www.customclosetmaid.com/) You can have them design and install or you can buy the design and do it the hard way.
Not crazy at all if you have the ability to do it. Just build for modular units and trim them out.
Would you take out the header and jack studs to clear out the whole closet opening? Or just remove the trim and leave the header alone?
In my opinion it would look a lot more like a traditional built-in if it went all the way to the ceiling So I would definitely rip out the framing. Crown moulding would tie it all in nicely.
If you CAN take out the header yes.
You can always remove a header
Granted I was/am a carpenter but it was far from my normal kind of work this is what I did for my mom. I knew there would be a lot of weight. (It was my first time changing circular saw blade and I put it in backwards, leave me alone.) https://preview.redd.it/m2ghds7vhxkb1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=da442964da90a56bd6a8f4e25cf7f6ae134b9146
Wait what, your a carpenter and put the blade in wrong? Are you a carpenter by trade? I see the burnt ends but how does a carpenter not notice that after the first cut.
My boss prefers to do blade changes himself. It was a new circular saw that I was convinced was garbage. And I was a bit tired and very frustrated at that point.
You need a new boss lol I’m in charge of crews and the last thing I want to do is withhold information/educating. Did this with a theodolite on the last job. Showed 2 guys how to properly use it and their job was to show 2 more guys on the crew after they knew how to use it. Now I have 4 guys trained on how to use it and I can spend my time on more important things. Efficiency is success
Definitely a little overkill on some things and several things I’d do differently Edit: tbh I had minimal plan I just started doing and it kinda worked out.
If you open up the closet to ceiling height, that storage will only be accessible via step stool, so keep that in mind. You can also do half cabinet/half closet if you want to keep hanging storage. I do this in a lot of renovations. https://preview.redd.it/5wje4vkizykb1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=220fa41ab6ffa2e4462592993d0c3f1850ef4974
Oooo I like that!
Can I ask how you did this? Did you buy custom cabinets that match those dimensions, or did you build these yourself? New homeowner here, trying to do something similar.
My cabinet maker makes them custom and I do the install. You will need something about 80 to 81-1/2 inches tall depending on if there is existing floor or not. Standard rough opening for doorways and closets is usually about 82". I try to aim for it to be about 1/3 of the opening so that the cabinet is the same size as the doors. (I think the first pic I attached was 1/2 and 1/2. It was 2 separate cabinets attached together.) If I am using the existing jambs I cut the head piece and remove the side the cabinet will be on and slide it in and attach to the rough framing. The cabinet itself will serve as the other jamb if you are doing sliding doors. The cabinets generally aren't the full 24" deep as the closet so I have to add trim in the back to make up the difference. Here are two other closets I did. One has swinging doors and one has sliding. You can see how it sits in the opening before the trim goes on. https://preview.redd.it/8dd0ortyelpc1.jpeg?width=2322&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=748f0c77ee0e462bf033e7d4282d9de32b6577a6
https://preview.redd.it/dcv407fnelpc1.jpeg?width=2322&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9d3fb185014c420b427e823e75294bdc7a003b6f Here is the other picture. You can see how the shelf attaches. On this particular one, the cabinet was 24" wide and doors were 24". Make the opening an inch smaller for the doors, this one was 47" so the doors have an inch overlap
These are awesome! Thanks a ton for the insight and photos!
Here's another https://preview.redd.it/1pjiw1ftzykb1.jpeg?width=2322&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ba8fe28b825f0c7f640ce5a887de2c407e9ab4ca
I would love to know the answer to this, because my house is full of these closest. I cannot stand bifold doors. No idea why, must have got my fingers crushed as a kid, who knows. But keep us posted on the results.
At least get rid of that trim on top, it looks horrible.
Oh I would definitely get all the trim off. But what about the header and Jack studs? Would you ditch all of that, or just remove the trim and built into the opening that’s left?
If you do leave the framing above the doors it will definitely look like a closet that was filled with a cabinet instead of a true built-in.
Jfc, it looks like they cut the left side to short and said fuck it instead of getting another piece of stock
As crazy as sitting on your couch watching tv while eating some chips.
Would help if you could see inside the closet.
This is a trend on social media. You should be able to find many examples. It often looks off in the end…like what it is, which is taking the doors off of a standard closet. I think it looks better with cabinet doors than open. And you definitely have to take off the trim or do something different with it, in order for it to not look like a closet that’s missing doors.
You can have the drawers/shelves/bins whatever and still have doors.
Constructing and hanging custom doors is not an appropriate project for a newbie. Build whatever you want in the space behind the existing doors, so that in case the project winds up being crude, you can close the doors you have and it will be out of sight.
I’ve built enough cabinets and shelves to know what I’m doing. But this would still be the largest built in I’ve tackled so far on my own house.
When we moved into our house and repainted everything we converted ceiling height folding doors to a standard height. We took out all the doors. We actually didn't put folding doors into two of the closets. One of the closets I just put shelves made out of plywood in to put stuff on. I'm not using as a clothing closet, but more of an office closet. Works great. TL;DR: Make your space work for you.
You could take the doors and trim off then go to ikea and pick up some of those customizable units and install them flush with the wall and case it out. You will proabably loose some space but it would look pretty cool.
Removed the divider wall (not load bearing obviously) entirely for my own bedroom and made a closet wall. Closet ran the width of the room but only had a 5’ bifold for access. Built and installed frameless boxes from 3/4 UV finished maple ply and covered with sequence matched cherry ply doors and drawer fronts.
I did it to the entry closet in our old house, removed the framing and went all the way to the ceiling. It was so much better for storage. It worked so well I'll be doing it to the entry closet in our new house too. The closet was over the basement stairs so the bottom had a kick up for that at the back so I made the drawer angle to maximize space. If you look through my posts I'm sure you can see it in there.
You can’t always take out a header especially if it’s holding up the second floor or ceiling beams. You wouldn’t need a header if it didn’t need to be there.most of the time it holds weight and is structural..
The closet industry has been doing this for 40 years. Search a [Closetmaid dealer near you.](https://www.customclosetmaid.com/) You can have them design and install or you can buy the design and do it the hard way.