How to Create a Wall Niche

This next HouseCall took Ron to the last metropolitan outpost on the western edge of Florida's everglades. This gulf coast city of Naples is populated by beachfront condos and resort-like shopping areas. Just a bit inland are newer single-family homes like the one owned by Steve and Lorri Oreolt.

Click Here For a list of what you will need in order to complete this project.

The couple has taken on many extensive remodeling projects in the past, but they invited Ron to help accent their beautiful home by installing a decorative wall niche that they were afraid to tackle on their own.

1. Select and order niche

• They selected a wall niche from a catalogue provided by their local home improvement store. The special-ordered niche was made from high-density, lightweight polyurethane foam.

2. Select location

• The wall that they intended to put the niche on had an intercom on it. The Oreolts had an intercom in every other room in the house and did not think they would miss this one if it were removed.

• Ron's first step was to hold the niche up against the wall so that the couple could get a feel for the height they would like to install it. Ron handed Steve a pencil and then began slowly moving the niche up and down on the wall until the Oreolts agreed on the position that they liked.

• Ron asked Steve to mark the location of the niche with the pencil.

3. Remove intercom and light switch

• They first turned off the power at the circuit breaker and then Steve and Lorri removed the screws that held the faceplates of the intercom and light switch in place.

• Next, they carefully disconnected the wires of each unit and then pulled both the light switch and the intercom from the wall.

• Meanwhile, Ron located and marked both the center point on the back of the niche and the center point of the wall.

• Ron aligned the two center marks, which automatically centered the niche.

4. Locate and mark wall studs

• They used an electronic stud finder to locate the wall studs near the opening that they were about to cut. Ron traced the locations on the wall creating something like a road map of what was behind the wallboard.

• Unfortunately, the opening as they had originally drawn it, fell right on top of the left hand wall stud, but it was unnecessary to cut into more than two studs.

• Also, on the opposite side they had the hole left behind from the switch that they needed to somehow conceal.

• Since this particular switch was duplicated by another one on the inside of the bathroom, they decided that it would be easiest just to remove the switch without moving it to another location. Ron's idea was to move the niche over to the right about one inch. This was all that was necessary to clear the wall stud on the left and to cover the switch box with the lip of the niche on the right. Ron felt that a one-inch shift was not enough to make the niche appear noticeably off-center.

• Before cutting into the wall, they took a precautionary step. Steve used a flashlight and compact mirror to take a peek up inside the wall through the intercom opening to make sure they were clear of any pipes, wires or heating ducts.