Widening a doorway...fixing a PO problem

[TechieTechie]

So, my new-to-me house has a problem.

The previous owners redid the ensuite main bedroom bath and at the same time, they plumbed the abutting linen closet to hold a washer and dryer. Great, right? However, they did not give serious consideration to how a washer/dryer would fit in the closet. The open space within the closet is tight, but has the requisite front/side/rear clearances for a 24" washer. HOWEVER, the doorway (28" door) is not centered on the open space within the closet and there is a half wall (roof truss) eating up 6" of the closet width. One cannot even slide a 24" European washer in/out (I had to cut the old 27" washer out. SO, you'd either have to take the door jamb off each time you need to access/remove the washer OR the washer would need to be lifted from a ceiling hoist lift (to clear the half wall) center the washer on the doorway, then remove). Neither of which are ideal in the long run or in an emergency situation.

There is enough space (and the proper framing) to open up the doorway to 30". Which is ideal from the long term maintenance perspective as the W/D can be easily (with an air lift) removed. HOWEVER, the original interior doors to the house are unpainted curly maple with an unusual design, so I think it would be hard if not impossible to find an architectural salvage match.

So, the question...is it worth it do open up the doorway and run the aesthetic risk of having an unmatched door (or a financial hit to have a door custom made to match the rest)? I hate to lose the upstairs W/D, such a nice (and rare) feature in an old house.

PS...don't worry about the design/placement of the W/D....it's on an exterior wall with 2 walls directly below it on the 1st floor, will have easy access to water shuttoff, hard flooring, etc.

[Gothichome]

Jenn, I think I would make the door frame removable, securing it in place with some brass screws.countersunk into the door frame. Affix the trim to the door frame so it comes out all as one piece. My thinking is you would knock out the pins in the hinges and set the door to one side, unscrew the two vertical sections of the door frame to give you the 30 inches you need. Reverse the process once the appliances have been removed. By fixing the trim to the frame it will go back into place hiding the gap needed by the rough framing. Being that appliances last five to ten years you would not need to remove the framing often.