How To Make An Exterior Door Frame Larger

Remove bricks or house siding on the entryway exterior to make room for the bigger door system.

How to make an exterior door frame larger.

To make a door frame wider the do it yourself should also ensure that the planned construction does not cut into any existing electrical or heating and air conditioning equipment. Ask this old house general contractor tom silva trims a front door that s getting caught on a homeowner s entry rug. Measure and mark the exterior siding to widen the opening the difference between the old and new doors. With the same 38 inch wide opening and a door or set of doors 48.

Stand the new prehung door in the opening and nail the exterior trim at one top corner. Step 1 remove the existing door from the frame by unscrewing the screws on the hinges and lifting the door away. Working on the floor stack the pieces with the crowns facing the same direction see next step and use a square to make sure they are aligned. Pry off the door casing and the knob side and top jambs with a pry bar if you only need to fur out one side of the frame.

Construct header to construct a header cut two pieces of 2x6 or larger to the width of the rough opening plus 3 inches to allow for the thickness of the two jack studs. Cut through the nails at the foot of the studs. If you re narrowing the frame by more than an inch remove the hinge side. Wedge shims behind both side jambs at the top bottom and middle.

Subscribe to this old house. Cut the door header. You will need to add 1 2 of plywood between the 2x4 s to get the right wall thickness of 3 1 2. To fit a specific door use the rough framing measurements the width of the door plus 2 1 2 inches to allow for shims and jambs.

Pull the framing from the existing doorway. Cut the siding away using the circular saw. To make the door header the top of the door frame cut two 2x4s to the same length as the width of the original opening and nail them securely together. Cut 1 2 inch plywood spacers.

Chisel bricks carefully and use a pry bar or reciprocating saw to take off siding making sure you re not cutting through any plumbing or electrical wiring. Step 6 build wall reinforcement to create a header beam for the new door if needed.