Help/Ideas - widening of doorway (door arch)

[topmount]

Okay, what a pity, but there's probably a rule at the top anyway.

 

[En apelsin]

It is completely impossible to determine what material you have in the wall without feeling and tapping on it. If it's concrete, it's much harder to remove.

I wonder, are you looking for more light in the kitchen? Then you won't get much effect from just widening a bit and making the arch flat at the top. An alternative to maintain the same height for all doors in the house is to install a window above.

Is it that you (like me) have a hard time with arches? Then the absolute easiest way is to use a reciprocating saw (provided it's not concrete) to change the shape at the top only. Then put new boards on the sides and top and new moldings. Cheap and simple, and easy to do yourself.

 

[BirgitS]

Unfortunately, everyone has the same, so I assume it is from the year of construction.

Then you should absolutely check with the board before you start doing anything with the archway, partly to get permission and partly because they should know (be able to find out) how the walls are constructed.

 

[BirgitS]

There is quite a bit of dark wood in the kitchen and it steals some light, so it will become brighter if cover panels, decorative moldings, etc. are replaced.

 

[KnockOnWood]

Invest in better lighting in the kitchen instead of the ceiling lamp that's there today. A row of spotlights would work wonders for the nice but somewhat dark kitchen.

There is quite a bit of dark wood in the kitchen and it steals some light, so it would be brighter if covering panels, decorative moldings, etc., are replaced.

Exactly my thought!
Those wall panels, drawer fronts, and moldings (jacaranda imitation?) steal a huge amount of light.
Paint white/light, or cover with light contact paper, and the whole kitchen and hallway will be brighter.

You have to expect that the ceiling will be somewhat damaged when tearing down the wall...

The floor will also probably need to be repaired, and it might not be easy to do neatly.
There, it's not enough to just fill and paint.

 

[BirgitS]

The floor can be fixed with a new longer and possibly wider threshold strip. That works as long as you don't start tearing down the wall towards the sleeping alcove.

But it feels like a lot of work to get an opening that is 15 cm wider and it's doubtful if it will make the kitchen brighter.

 

[Anna_H]

Try to carefully remove the moldings and see how it looks. I, like several others, believe it's possible to at least create square corners and probably also remove 5-10 centimeters or more at the top.

 

[Anna_H]

An extremely cheap "kitchen renovation" is to buy this kind of plastic film in a light pattern and stick it on the dark cover panels.

 

[simonnnn]

There is quite a lot of dark wood in the kitchen, and it steals some light, so it would be brighter if cover panels, decorative moldings, etc., are replaced.

The thought occurred to me as well, but it seems like it would be quite a big job to remove the cover panels and moldings and drop them off? The doors, however, could easily be taken off, but it doesn't feel like it's worth leaving just those, right?

 

[simonnnn]

Then I think there might be concrete in the walls and not wooden studs with gypsum, although it could be a simpler construction above the doors. Here in our apartment from '63, there's originally a simple wooden frame with a wooden panel above the doors as filling between the concrete elements that make up the walls on the sides. Someone on the board should be able to answer more precisely.

It's true that they can't say no, provided it's not a load-bearing wall, but they can cause problems in the future if one doesn't ask for permission but should have. Check the statutes and if there's any set of rules for the association.

Do you mean it could be concrete even if it feels soft when you knock? I'm certain it's not load-bearing since it sounds hollow when you knock on it. Regardless, I'll check with (inform) the association

 

[simonnnn]

It is completely impossible to determine what material you have in the wall without feeling and tapping on it. If it is concrete, it is much harder to remove.

I wonder, are you looking for more light in the kitchen? Then you won't get much effect from just widening a little and making the arch straight at the top. An alternative to maintain the same height on all doors in the house is to insert a window above.

Is it that you (like me) have a hard time with arches? Then the easiest thing to do is to use a reciprocating saw (provided it's not concrete) to just change the shape at the top. Then put new boards on the sides and top and new molding. Cheap and easy, and easy to do yourself.

Allergic to rounded arches As you described in the last paragraph sounds like a very good solution for me!

 

[simonnnn]

An extremely cheap "kitchen renovation" is to buy this kind of plastic film in a light pattern and stick it on the dark panel sides.

Was it supposed to be a link or something similar?

 

[simonnnn]

An extremely cheap "kitchen renovation" is to buy this kind of plastic film in some light pattern and stick it on the dark cover sides.

Found this one for example https://www.ikea.com/se/sv/catalog/...a3:pla_medium|a4:|a5:|a6:google|a9:rtc|cc:915

Feels very simple.... how does the result turn out?

 

[Anna_H]

Was there supposed to be a link or something like that?

No, I hadn't planned on it, but you can have it if you want:

https://www.paxlux.se/dekorplastmetervara/

 

[KnockOnWood]

Even the floor will probably need repairs, and it might not be so easy to make it look nice. You can't just fill and paint there.

The floor can be fixed with a new longer and possibly wider threshold strip. That works as long as you don't start tearing down the wall towards the sleeping alcove.

Sure, but that's exactly what I meant would happen if the long wall was removed.

Besides, isn't a "threshold" in an apparently unnecessary place a bit of a tripping hazard?