Flush concealed door installation: frame, wall and timing

What the price depends on

The price depends on the wall (brick, aerated concrete or plasterboard), the state of the opening, the door height (standard or floor to ceiling), the weight of the leaf and the opening side. It’s simplest when the wall hasn’t been skimmed yet and the opening is ready for the frame size. If the wall is already finished, the opening has to be widened and the finish around it redone. Rates are in the table.

The door and its concealed frame, fixing foam or adhesive and filler are paid separately. Finishing the wall around the door after fitting and taking away rubble from widening the opening are usually separate items too, so check them in the offer.

Price ranges and offers from tradespeople: interior finishing in Warsaw.

How a concealed door is built

The core is an aluminium frame set into the wall so its edge sits level with the skim coat. The hinges are hidden inside and adjustable, and the lock is usually magnetic, with no latch sticking out.

The leaf is flush with the wall on one side only. On the other side it’s set back into the opening and you can see its edge. That’s why the opening side is chosen early: decide which room the door should disappear into.

Plasterboard partitions and brick or block walls take different frames, fixed in different ways. The model is chosen to suit the wall, not the other way round.

The leaf usually comes primed, ready to be painted with the wall. You can wallpaper it or choose a veneered one, but then check the manufacturer’s maximum weight for the hinges.

How fitting works

1. The opening is checked: size for the specific frame, plumb, and how level the floor is at the door.
2. If needed, the opening is widened or narrowed and the base trued up.
3. The frame is set dead level and plumb and fixed the way the manufacturer’s instructions say.
4. Once the fixing has set, the wall around it is filled flush with the frame edge, often with mesh over the joint.
5. The leaf is hung, the hinges adjusted for an even gap all round, the lock set.
6. Door and wall are painted together once the finish is done.

Common mistakes

• The door was chosen after the walls were skimmed and painted. Now the finish around the opening has to be done twice.
• A frame slightly out of plumb. An architrave would hide it on a normal door; here the gap shows at once.
• The joint between frame and wall filled without mesh, and a crack opened up around the door.
• The opening side picked at random, so the door hides in the wrong room.
• A heavy leaf hung in a thin plasterboard partition with no reinforcement.
• Door and wall painted from different batches, so the leaf stands out in the light.

What to prepare

• The door and frame model if you’ve chosen one, or a link to it.
• Photos of the opening from both sides, plus its size.
• What the wall is made of: brick, aerated concrete, plasterboard. Not sure? Take a close-up of the edge of the opening.
• The renovation stage: bare walls, plastered, or fully finished.
• Which way the door opens and which side should be flush.
• A clear path and a covered floor, since widening the opening makes dust.

Frequently asked questions

How to order

Describe the opening in the app, add photos and the door model and say what stage the renovation is at. Tradespeople near you will send offers with their own price and timing. Pick one by reviews; only that person sees your address.

You pay the handyman directly and they issue the invoice. They stand behind their own fitting: if a frame they set goes out of line or the door closes unevenly, they’ll adjust it. Crooked walls, a weak partition and cracks in someone else’s finish are not on them.

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