Don’t forget the small details when framing a door
BY TIM CARTER Tribune Media Services
DEAR TIM: I’m going to build a room addition myself because money is very tight. Can you help me understand how I frame in the door openings? I’ve never done this before and am very confused. Is the method the same for all doors? How wide and tall do you make the opening? What do I do on an exterior wall? —Elizabeth S., Denver DEAR ELIZABETH: First, I want to congratulate you on your ambition and wisdom in asking questions before you get in trouble. No doubt, it’s easy to jump into a project, but in these very harsh economic times, you can’t afford to waste any money on mistakes. Ask enough questions and you should be able to get through this daunting project.
Door framing is not too hard.
Yes, absolutely, there is a difference in how an exterior door is framed as opposed to an interior one. Not all carpenters will do it the same way, however, so be prepared for different answers to your questions. There commonly is no one right answer.
The first thing to understand is that a great deal of load could be concentrated above a door. This happens on bearing walls. In these instances, a structural header acts as a beam over the door to support the load or weight that is bearing down on that portion of the house.
Bearing walls can be on the exterior of the house in the interior. In the last house I built for my family, I had an interior bearing wall with a door in it. Immediately above the door was a concentrated load that I’d estimate was about four tons. You can bet I had a double 2-by-12 header above that door! Headers come in all sizes, and usually a structural engineer or an architect will size them for you.
A doorway in a non-load-bearing wall doesn’t need a structural header. You’ll place just one or two 2x pieces of lumber flat across the top of the opening. This framing lumber is used to support the finished wall material and provide solid nailing for any trim around the door. It also acts as a tiny bottom plate for the cripple studs above the door opening that reach to the top plate.
When you frame a door, it is very important to use the straightest pieces of framing lumber that you can find in the pile. What’s more, you frame the door with a continuous bottom plate, just as the wall has a continuous top plate. The bottom plate at the doorway gets cut out after the wall is in place, secure and the bottom plate is securely fastened to the floor.
See BUILDER, page C21
