How to Open an Arch in Drywall

You can easily create an arched doorway in your home.

Arched doorways give a typical room a more sophisticated look by smoothing the doorways' corners and giving them a larger appearance. Since drywall is a relatively simple material to work with, most homeowners will be able to open an arch. Many home-building supply stores sell archway kits, which include a template for the drywall. If you build your own wooden arch, create a cardboard template to determine the best slope angle and size for the doorway.

Things You'll Need

• Sawhorses (2)
• Coarse-toothed jigsaw blade
• Jigsaw
• Drywall screws
• Drill
• Phillips head driving bit
• Tape measure
• 1/4-inch drywall
• Straight edge
• Utility knife
• Sponge
• Clamps
• Flexible corner beads
• Tin snips

Instructions

1. Lay a piece of drywall flat, face-up, across two sawhorses. Position your cardboard template onto the drywall and use a pencil to trace its shape onto the drywall.

2. Cut the drywall along the pencil tracing with a coarse-toothed blade in a jigsaw. Set the cut piece of drywall aside and lay a second sheet across the two sawhorses. Lay the cardboard template on the drywall and trace around it, then cut out the shape with the jigsaw.

3. Lift one of the cut pieces up to the doorway opening and position it against the wooden arches. Secure the drywall in place with drywall screws. Sink the screws' heads slightly below the drywall's surface so you can easily cover them with drywall mud. Repeat this step with the second cut drywall piece on the opposite side of the doorway.

4. Place light pencil marks onto one of the drywall pieces to indicate the wooden archway's bottom studs. Use these pencil marks as a guide to place the drywall screws when you install the final drywall piece.

5. Measure the opening's width and transfer this measurement to a piece of 1/4-inch drywall. Hold a straight edge against the drywall where you want to cut. Use a utility knife to score along the straight edge. Break the drywall along the scored line then cut through the paper backing.

6. Measure the archway's length, from end to end, with a tape measure. Transfer this measurement to the drywall piece you just cut out. Hold the straight edge along this measurement and score along it with the utility knife. Break the drywall along the scored line and cut through the paper backing with the utility knife.

7. Wet a sponge with water and squeeze it out so it is just damp. Flip the drywall strip upside-down so you can see the paper backing. Wipe the sponge along the paper backing. This helps make the drywall more flexible.

8. Lift the drywall strip underneath the archway. Bend the strip slowly to follow the archway's curve. Ask a friend to help hold the strip in place or use clamps. Start at one end and begin driving drywall screws through the strip to secure it to the wooden studs underneath. Use the marks you made in Step 4 to show you the studs' locations.

9. Cut two flexible corner beads to the same length as the drywall strip with tin snips. Lift one of the corner beads up to one of the arch's corners. Secure it in place with drywall screws. Lift the second corner bead up to the arch's opposite corner and secure it in place with drywall screws.

References

• Drywall Info: How to Finish and Build a Drywall Arch Doorway
• Pro Handyman: Drywall Arches