DIY Network

Uncovering Pocket Doors From "Restoration Realities" episode DRTR-103

Figure A

With a little elbow grease, we were able to demolish the old transoms. In this segment of Restoration Realities, we have to find the pocket doors hidden behind the wall (figure A).

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Steps:

1. After cleaning away decades of dirt and debris (figure B), we removed the transom brace, cutting it in half to make it easier to pry away from the door casing (figure C).

Figure B

Figure C

	Figure D
	Figure E

2. We took off the wooden stops that held the door in place (figure D). After we got those stops off, we were hoping to get our first look at the doors that were hidden inside the walls. However, we quickly learned the doors were still firmly in place and appeared to be wedged behind years of fallen plaster.

3. Over time, all of the plaster keyways had fallen in. "Keyways" is lathe that runs horizontally on the wall. In between the lathe, plaster squeezes through and sort of bonds it to the wall. In our project, they had broken off and wedged the door in. To get the door out, we created a relief cut in the plaster. We used a reciprocating saw to cut only the plaster and lathe (figure E)...but not the door inside the wall.

	Figure F
	Figure G

4. The pieces of plaster and lathe pulled out easily...and we had a lot of it (figure F).

5. We inserted a metal pipe through the door to give us leverage and pulled the door out of the wall (figure G). Our homeowner was pleased with their condition.