I need to build an exterior door jamb, something I’ve never done.
I can’t seem to find jamb diagrams, any steering would be welcome.
I’m starting with local rough cut red oak for the jambs and locust for the sill.
*Should the head jamb sit on top of the side jamb? or in a dado? or biscuit jointed between the side jambs?
*as it is not pre-hung is it best to pre-assemble the jamb or piece it together in place?
*Should the sill sit between the jambs? or jambs on the sill? or dadoed into the jambs?
Replies
It's easiest to pre-assemble, then shim level and plumb within the RO and align it with the inside wall as one unit.
If your head jamb is dadoed, then side jambs are going to maintain proper opening dimension when shimmed into the RO.
The pre-hung doors I have installed had sills cut to fit between the jamb legs. Again, this maintains width of opening when you put in shims. The sills were deeper than the wall, so they were notched such that they could extend to both sides of the jamb legs on the outside.
Go take a look at some pre-hung doors at your favorite lumber yard and see how they are built.
Hey Bruce,
thanks for responding.
I guess part of what I meant to question was: Is the construction of a common pre-hung door janb the best solution to a jamb or would you do it different if doing it custom?
I'm still hoping some of you other construction gurus are going to weigh in.I weigh in at about 203. 6ft+
300+.....
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WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Make it like one of the pre-hung units if you can. The one exception will be your wood sill.The sill goes down first, and the jambs rest on it. If you will have a threshold that is separate from the sill, it goes on top of the sill, between the jambs.
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When I learned to do finish work we built our own jambs and in most cases I still do. For an exterior jamb I rabbet the jamb stock 1/2" deep by slightly thicker than the door unless I am going to use weatherstripping in the rabbet area itself. For exterior jambs I cut the head so that it fits on top of the side jambs. That means that the end of the head will be cut so that it cannot drop down and the sides cannot come closer. I always use nails to put the jamb together because screws tend to split the material.
The jamb stock should look much like the picture
I'd duplicate the pre-hung. Its a tried and true method.
Dado the jamb legs for the head jamb and sill. The head jamb dado is square; the sill dado is angled, I can't remember what the angle is, but its not much. It does have to shed water.
Red oak and locust are good choices for the wood.
White oak would be better, but the red will be fine <G>
Thanks for wading in (and in one case, weighing in)everybody.Shep, You posted in on one of my questions before (we idiots, we idiots?) and I would use white oak but haven't found it dry and in a 5/4 or more thickness. I've got the locust and red oak. Both have been air dried under cover for years.
I remember you posting before.
The red oak will be fine. White oak, if you could find it in the thickness you want, would probably last a couple of hundred years, with decent maintenance.
red oak won't last that long, but should easily last longer than you <G>
The room I'm incorporating into the house is a bit over two hundred years old. It was the wood room for the house, and was never heated. The house is a rustic timber frame started pre-1800 added to in 1850 and 1900 and still only 1600 sq ft!
Something I am constantly confronted by in this house is the inflexible nature of contemporary building codes. No part of this home is built to code yet it is 200 years old and counting. How many contemporary code houses will be able to say the same? The room I'm working on now has 3x4 rafters 40 inches on center over a 16 foot span with no ridge board. This is of course impossible because such a roof could never stand the snow loads here where the neighbors talk of climbing onto the snow from their second story windows. 200 years and going strong.
hey, that was a little side trip wasn't it?
Anyway, I hope my great grandchildren will enjoy the door I'm installing, why not?