Time to get down to the studs
Without doors, your office would be too noisy, and your bathroom would lack privacy. Most homes have over a dozen doors—each kept in place by the door framing behind the drywall. Whether framing an interior door in an addition or placing a new door in an existing wall, this step-by-step guide will walk you through how to frame a door to make sure it’s supported properly and doesn’t compromise the structural stability of the wall around it.
This step-by-step process for how to frame a door assumes you want to install a pre-hung door on an interior wall with exposed framing. If you are adding a door to an existing wall, start by removing the existing drywall and any insulation to expose the framing.
When purchasing raw lumber to frame your door, you can choose from pine, alder, fir, or birch. These types of wood are suitable for interior framing—pine is the most popular and readily available, and it’s the most affordable, as well. The plywood you’ll buy will mostly act as a spacer, so you can save some money by buying the most affordable 1/2-inch sheet available. Just make sure you get real plywood and not MDF (medium density fiberboard).
Some homeowners choose a variety of wood that matches the other areas of their homes, but because drywall will eventually cover your framing, aesthetics aren’t as important as sourcing quality, durable lumber.
Using a measuring tape, measure the width and height of your new door, including the frame. The standard door size for interior door frames is 80-by-32 inches, but the width can vary between 28 and 36 inches. Make sure you have the exact measurements of your particular door from edge to edge.
Next, add 2 inches to the width and 1 1/2 inches to the height measurement to determine your rough opening size. You’ll need this gap for the wooden shims you’ll use to level and install your pre-hung door.
The exact spacing will depend on the rough opening required for your particular door. If you purchased a new door, check the manufacturer’s instructions for the correct rough opening sizes.
Cut the top plate to size and secure the top plate to the ceiling using nails or screws. Be sure to install the top plates through the ceiling beams or blocking. Next, install the sole plate on the floor (make sure it’s aligned with the top plate). Use nails or screws to attach the sole plate to the floor joists or blocking.
With a pencil and a measuring tape, mark the rough opening width of your door frame on the sole plate, the framing member attached directly to your floor. On each side of your mark, measure 1 1/2 inches across and label the area “O” for the location of the jack stud. Next to the jack stud, measure another 1 1/2 inches across and label the area “X” for the king stud.
Then, locate the top plate—the framing near your ceiling that supports the roof or second floor. Once again, mark the rough opening width of your door frame on the board, ensuring it perfectly aligns with the mark on the sole plate. Repeat the steps above to mark the “O” and “X” locations. Double-check your markings by making sure each one on the top plate lines up with the marking on the sole plate.
Measure the distance between the sole plate and top plate at your king stud markings. This measurement will typically be 96 inches, which is the standard stud length. However, framing can shift, and imperfections in construction can lead to small differences. Measure just in case.
Using these measurements, cut two two-by-four lengths of lumber to fit this distance with a circular saw or miter saw. Position the board in place and check that it is plumb and in the right spot, according to your markings. This is the king stud, so it should sit on the “X” you marked.
Using a framing nailer and 3-inch nails, toenail the king studs into place, connecting each to the plate boards. Toenailing a board refers to driving in the nail at a 45-degree angle, which is necessary if you don’t have access to an already installed wall. If you’re framing your door before putting up the wall, nail the king studs from the top and bottom instead.
Next, prepare to install the jack studs directly next to the king studs where previously marked with an “O” on the sole plate. Your jack studs should be the height of your rough opening, minus 1 1/2 inches, as they rest on top of the sole plate board. Cut these with your miter saw or circular saw as well.
Position the jack studs on the inside of the king studs and use your framing nailer to fix them into place the same way you did for the king studs. Use a pair of nails every 12 inches to bond the boards together properly.
To build your door header, you’ll use two two-by-eight boards with a piece of plywood sandwiched in between. The thickness of the two-by-eight boards is 1 1/2 inches each, for a total of 3 inches. With the 1/2-inch plywood, you hit 3 1/2 inches, which matches the width of the two-by-fours you just installed for the jack studs and king studs.
Cut two two-by-eight boards to fit between your king studs and rest on top of your jack studs. If everything is plumb up to this point, the dimension should be your rough opening width, plus the depth of the two jack studs—or 3 inches. Cut a piece of 1/2-inch plywood the same length and width as your two-by-eight boards. Sandwich the plywood between the boards and connect all three pieces with framing nails.
Set your door header on top of the jack studs, with the face of the header lining up with the future face of the door. Connect your header to the king studs on each end with your framing nailer.
Cripple studs attach your door header to the above top plate to provide even support across the wall opening. Cut a pair of two-by-four boards to fit this distance and install them equally spaced apart. Check the level, then toenail the boards into the top plate on one end and the header on the other.
Now that your door is framed out, you can cut the sole plate board attached to your floor to open up the entire rough opening. Cut the sole plate where it meets the jack studs on each side using a reciprocating saw.
Your door frame is now complete. Next, you can set your interior door and finish off by installing drywall and installing door casing.
When starting a carpentry project, getting familiar with the particulars can make the job go faster. Knowing where everything is located is key for a smooth start. If you find yourself in a sticky situation, you can always call in a pro for reinforcements.
Whether this is your first time building a door frame or you need a quick refresher, check out the picture above. It will help you familiarize yourself with the parts of a door frame and their placement around the door.
Building your own door frame isn’t for the faint of heart. You will need the tools and skills to measure and cut lumber, drive nails, and level boards, as well as a level of comfort using various power tools. However, doing the project yourself will be more affordable than calling in a professional as you’ll only need to purchase lumber and nails.
If you’re uncomfortable doing the work, don’t have the necessary tools, or are concerned about how installing a new door will affect the structural stability of your home, call in a professional. Calling in an expert is especially important if you’re installing a door in a load-bearing wall, as any mistakes could cause a portion of your home to collapse.
If you hire a door installer near you, expect to add between $70 and $125 per hour to the total cost to install a door frame. The added bonus of hiring an expert is you can be sure your door frame is installed correctly and to code and that your door will work as intended.
To frame a door due to rot damage or another reason, expect to pay anywhere from $200 to $650 per door opening. Framing a door has a wide range of costs, depending on a few factors. The size of the door, whether or not it’s load-bearing, and if any electrical rewiring may be necessary are all factors impacting cost.
You want plenty of room between your pre-hung door and the framing in your wall to allow for shimming to get the door into the perfect position, so aim for about 1 inch on the top and both sides. That means you should make your rough opening about 1 inch taller and 2 inches wider than your pre-hung door. You’ll then use shims to stabilize and level the door before installing it.
To achieve the correct opening size for a 30-inch door, add 2 inches to the door width and 2 ½ inches to the door height. For example, if you have a 30-inch-wide door with an 80-inch height, then the rough opening would measure 32 inches wide by 82 1/2 inches high.
It’s not terribly difficult to frame a door, especially since rough openings don’t have to be super precise. Your door framing won’t be visible once the wall is closed up, either, so no one will ever see if you make minor mistakes. With that being said, framing out a door requires knowing how to use a few different power tools, including a miter saw or circular saw and a framing nailer. If you don’t have access to these tools or aren’t comfortable using them, you should consider hiring a professional to frame out your door.
It’s possible to install a door without a frame, but it’s not possible to install a door without the framing that goes around the door frame. If your rough opening is too small for the frame around a pre-hung door, for example, you can remove the door and install the hinges directly on the framing. This isn’t ideal, though, as you’ll then need to replace the studs that make up the framing any time you want to replace your door or if you ever have a damaged or rotting door frame.
