Instructions on Building Door & Window Frames

There won’t be many times that you will have to build a window or doorframe in its entirety. After something like a break-in, fire, tornado or something of that nature you could need to replace one or more door and window frames. Instructions to accomplish this are not complicated and relatively easily completed

• The most important part of the frame in windows and doors are the headers. This is what distributes the weight of the building or the wall above and surrounding the opening. Headers are not normally required on inside doors and windows unless the wall is a load-bearing wall.


• To build a header generally two-by-twelve inch boards are used and ½ inch plywood is sandwiched between them. They are then nailed together using 12d nails. If the opening is longer than eight feet it will require a special header. If the opening is larger than 72-inches you should use two headers. The header will sit atop two header jacks that are on each side of the opening. The length of the header will need to be made approximately three and one half inches longer than the opening to sit on these header jacks.


• Header jacks for doors are normally made from two-by-four inch boards. They are cut to fit between the shoe and the top plate of the wall making an allowance for the header or windowsill between them. Header jacks are then connected to the wall studs on each side of the opening.


• The window headers are installed just a little differently. Windows have both a header and a sill so the jacks must be cut to accept them both. You have to nail the sill to the bottoms of the jacks and use 16d nails. Make sure the jack is cut flush with the top of the window opening including any gap above. Nail them together and attach to the wall studs.


• When you have got the window or door in the rough opening make partial studs (called jack studs) above and below the opening as needed. They should line up with other studs in the wall whether or not they line up well in the opening. Toe nail the jack studs into position if there is a gap of over 6-inches in the opening.