The idea of having a secret door in your house is one that might appeal to many homeowners. How many of us have thought about a bookshelf that slides back to reveal a secret panic room or a hidden stash of snacks and high-end bottles of wine? However, while it’s a pleasant thought, most homeowners don’t go through with the process of creating one.
Murphy doors, which are like Murphy beds, are possible to commission. You need to find a company willing to make one and a place where it makes sense to put it. However, if you’re someone who likes doing DIY projects, you might also like the idea of putting one in yourself.
Which option is better? We’ll examine both right now to help you make up your mind.
Is a Secret Door Even Practical?
First, let’s start with the most obvious question. Is it even possible to install a secret door somewhere in your home?
Most people would agree that secret doors aren’t practical. They’re usually a somewhat fanciful addition to a home. However, if you’re that interested in getting one, you might look at it from a more level headed place than wanting a hidden room where you can spy on your friends or dinner guests.
If you’re that fixated on installing one, it could be because you’d like a panic room that you can quietly slip into if there’s ever a home invasion. If you realize that you’re in danger, you can go into your secret room, hopefully with a smartphone, and call the police. They should arrive before the home invader even becomes aware of the room’s existence.
Whether you want a secret door for practical or imaginative reasons, though, there’s the additional question of whether there’s even anywhere in your home where you can install it. Secret doors usually lead to hidden rooms, and that presumably means you will need to install both. It’s hard to fashion a secret door leading to a hidden room if your house doesn’t have the necessary dimensions.
If you’re becoming more serious about this idea, remember that the cost of getting the secret door is also probably going to include the secret tunnel or room that lies beyond it. This makes the whole endeavor a much more costly project, not to mention more challenging either for you or the individual or company you hire to install it.
If you have decided you’re going to create a secret door and whatever lies behind it, then the next question becomes whether you will do it yourself or hire a professional. This is the same query you must ask with any DIY project you are thinking about potentially tackling yourself.
The Pros and Cons of Putting One in Yourself
Let’s say you’re thinking about putting in the secret door and whatever lies past it on your own. If so, you had better have some pretty serious DIY skills.
Someone who can fix their own toilet can probably do so simply by watching a few relevant YouTube videos. Only a master contractor is capable of doing something like designing and installing a secret door, in addition to whatever is to be found on the other side of it.
You’d better be ambitious and skilled with a wide variety of tools if you are going to install a secret door yourself. Otherwise, it’s highly likely that you will run into a part of the project that requires abilities that are beyond your ability to easily learn.
On the plus side, though, if you feel like you have what it takes to install a secret door and what’s on the other side of it, you will probably save some money. You’ll need to buy the materials and tools, but you’ll be handling the labor yourself.
The Pros and Cons of Having Someone Else Install One
If you hire someone to install the secret door and the room or passageway behind it instead of doing it yourself, then it’s likely going to cost more. You need to pay for not just the materials, but also the contractor or team of contractors who will handle the project.
The higher price tag probably means you will get a more professional job, though. If you attempt to do the work yourself, but you have never tried anything like this before, you might mess up some aspect of it.
That likely means you will need to bring in a contractor anyway. They will need to not only complete the parts of the project you couldn’t do, but you’re also probably going to be reliant on them to clean up and repair whatever damage you’ve done.
The Final Verdict
The reality is that most people, even ones who consider themselves to be skilled in the DIY space, are going to want to hire a professional or even a team of them to design and install a secret door in their home. They will probably want this person or team to also handle the design and installation of the room or passageway that is on the other side of that door as well.
If you feel up to doing the job on your own, but you don’t have the skill set, then this idea is probably going to end in disaster. Not only might you reach a point in the project where you can’t continue, but you may also damage some part of your home’s HVAC system, the electrical work, the plumbing, etc. It’s not inconceivable that you might cause tens of thousands of dollars in damage that will need to be repaired if you’re not careful.
There are probably a handful of individuals capable of mastering the long list of DIY skills that would be necessary to build and install a secret door, but not more than that. Most people who really want to go forward with the installation would do better calling in the pros. The ambitious homeowner can make a birdhouse, spice rack, or something else instead.
