My mother-in-law, Mary decided to fix up an old shower, sink and toilet area in her basement.
It being right next to the basement stairs and main entrance to the house there was no privacy.
of the basement. She asked if I could build a shelf under the stairs for towels and bathroom stuff.
This was the perfect excuse to do something I've always wanted to do. Build a secret door.
Mary's house is a hour and a half drive from St. Louis, so I measured the stairs and built the shelf at home. After installing the main shelf she asked if I could make a privacy enclosure for the area, but it had to be movable. She also wanted to change some things she didn't like... The secret door would have to wait
The shower entrance needed to be enlarged and more tile added. I cut away the bottom
corner of the stairs and put in green-board. Cutting old oak in a tight space is not fun.
I had some Corian from my bathroom redo,
and installed a piece on the angled section.
Corian's heavy, so its supported by the tile
and a wooden trim piece at the top.
The shower needed a threshold, so I made one out of Corian.
Another nephew tiled the floor, and I grouted it. The white plastic panelling on the little wall behind
the toilet was not popular, so I remade it with drywall. Time to install the secret door.
the toilet was not popular, so I remade it with drywall. Time to install the secret door.
Getting it aligned and secured so it looked right and functioned
was time consuming. Definitely a two person job.
For the enclosure I had a lot of ideas. While drawing one out. I saw the solution. A translucent
screen open at the top and bottom. After some research I settled on a corrugated greenhouse roofing material. It was light and strong, but too clear for a bathroom. It had to be dulled a little. Acetone
and a Scotchbrite pad created the effect I was looking for.
The translucent panels would free float in a plastic U channel glued to 1x4's on the top and bottom
forming lightweight movable screens. For the stairs I made a cardboard template so the bottom track
would fit as tightly as possible, and cut the plastic panels on site.
I think Mary was a little nervous when I showed up with the screens, but when they were up I think she really liked them. The screens worked just how I hoped they would.
One of my main goals for the privacy screen was to make a very small space, 6' x 8', not seem small. I knew that light was the answer, and it worked. The screens have 95% translucency, yet you can't see a person standing 2ft. away from them. See the shoe in the lower right corner of the picture?
View the slide show to see all the pictures
This was an important project for me personally. Not only did I get to make my secret door, but towardsthe end of it I knew, without a doubt, that this kind of work is what I want to do for the rest of my life.