How to Build Archways Out of Drywall

Archways lend an elegance to an open doorway between rooms. And the good news is that making archways is not very difficult if you are handy with tools and follow the steps outlined below.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• 2 sawhorses
• Sheets of 3/4 inch 4 foot by 8 foot birch plywood
• A tape measure
• A pencil
• A hand jigsaw
• Sheets of 1/4inch 4 foot by 8 foot plaster board
• A face mask
• A plaster saw
• 2 inch by 4 inch by 8 foot beams (studs)
• A straight-edge
• A utility knife
• A ladder
• 3 inch drywall screws
• 1.5 inch drywall screws
• A power screwdriver
• Drywall tape
• Drywall edge bead
• Joint compound
• A 3 inch drywall knife
• Sandpaper

Building a Frame for the Archway

1. Make sure to have bare studs installed on either side of the doorway in which you want to place an archway. Measure the width of the opening from stud to stud.

2. Lay a sheet of plywood on the sawhorses and draw lines indicating the width of the doorway's opening. Between these points, make an outline of the arch you want. When you are satisfied with the drawing, take your jigsaw and carefully cut it out. The final cutout should be the width of the doorway's opening.

3. Lay a new sheet of plywood on the saw horses, and place the cutout on top of it. Trace the outline of the cutout with the pencil, and then cut out the second arch with the jigsaw. If you do this correctly, your two cutouts will be exactly the same.

4. Measure the depth of the opening, from outer stud face to outer stud face. Most door ways are 10 inches to 12 inches deep, but yours may be different. Once you have that measurement, subtract 1.5 inches from it to account for the depth of the plywood cut outs. For example, if the depth of your opening is 12 inches, subtract 1.5 inches (3/4 inch + 3/4 inch) in order to get 10.5 inches.

5. Place a 2 inch by 4 inch stud on the sawhorses and measure out the figure you came up with in Step 4 above. Then cut enough pieces of that length so you can place one every foot or so throughout the archway. You will use these pieces as braces to connect the two archway cut outs. You will also use them as points to attach the plaster arch to. So if your archway is 4 feet, you'll need to cut 5 to 6 pieces, depending upon how deep the arc of the arch is.

6. Take the 3 inch drywall screws and attach the brace pieces to one of the cut outs. Make sure that the face of the braces are inset 1/4 inch from the outline of the arch. This is the depth of the plaster board you will be attaching later.

7. Repeat Step 6, but this time attaching the second arch cut out. You now have a correctly sized frame to attach the plaster board to.

8. Attach the frame to the studs in the doorway, making sure that the face of the cut outs are flush with the edges of the studs.

Making the Plaster Archway

1. Place a sheet of drywall on the saw horses and cut it the width of the doorway. Then, using the 1.5 inch drywall screws, attach it to one side of the wooden cutout in such a manner that one end of the plaster board hangs over the archway.

2. Put on your face mask, take your plaster saw and carefully cut the outline of the arch out of the plaster board, using the wooden frame as your guide.

3. Repeat Steps 1 and 2 for the other side of the archway.

4. Place another sheet of drywall on the saw horses. With your straight edge, cut a piece of drywall the exact width of the 2 inch by 4 inch braces you cut previously. This piece will be used to make the actual curve for the depth (ceiling) of the archway.

5. Measure the distance of the archway, including the curve of the arch. For instance, if your doorway is 4 foot wide, the arch may actually be 6 foot' or more, depending upon the curvature of the arc. You will need a flexible tape measure to do this accurately.

6. Take the piece of plaster board that will be used for the curve of the arch, and cut it to the distance (length) of the actual arch.

7. Take your straight edge and utility knife and gently score cuts the width of the curve no deeper than 1/8 inch. Place these scores every inch or so for the entire length of the piece of plaster board. If your piece is 6 foot long, you will end up with 71 parallel score marks.

8. Using 1.5 inch drywall screws, carefully take this scored piece and attach it to the braces of the wooden frame with the score marks facing the ceiling. You will find that the scores allow the board to bend in an even and smooth curve.

9. Finish the job as you would any other plaster board project by taping the joints, beading the edges, mudding the tape, bead and screw holes, and then sanding, sanding, sanding.

Tips & Warnings

• A second person helping makes life much easier when you are attaching both the wooden archway frame and the plaster board. It is possible to do it yourself, but more stressful and time-consuming.