Doorway Framing Choices

Design Choices

• A door's shape and size affect framing choices and practices. For example, arched doors significantly affect door frame construction. Conventional stud walls primarily consist of vertical and horizontal framing members. Installing arched doors requires advanced framing carpentry to accommodate the doors' curves. Door size, particularly width, affects the support requirements of a door. Large openings require extra structural support to distribute the loads of upper floors or roofs. Extra framing requirements for wide openings include larger header beams or additional wall bracing.

Load Bearing or Partition Wall

• The beam that spans across the top of a doorway frame, called a header, supports and distributes the loads that bear down upon the door opening. Whereas building codes always require headers above doors in load-bearing walls, which support upper stories or roof loads, some municipalities allow builders to omit headers over doors in partition walls, which do not support structural loads. Despite permission to omit headers on partition walls, many framing carpenters install headers as a matter of course or in anticipation of future renovations. However, if you are certain that your door occupies an opening in a partition wall, you can save money on lumber and time on labor by omitting a header.

Framing Methods

• In a standard stick-frame home, a conventional door opening consists of a dual set of upright studs on either side of the opening. The outer studs, called king studs, stretch from the wall's sill plate to top plate. Headers attach directly to the sides of king studs, and short studs, called cripple studs, stretch from the header to the wall's top plate. Attached directly to the king studs, jack studs stretch from the bottom of the wall to support the header from beneath. Whereas this traditional framing method requires substantial labor and lumber, construction connector manufacturers offer several types of brackets eliminate the need for jack studs, reduce labor and materials requirements. Notably, you must check with your local building authority to determine if codes allow brackets in lieu of traditional framing.

Special Circumstances

• Special framing circumstances include framing doorway openings in unconventional materials, such as masonry walls. Whereas door frames simply nail to wooden wall framing materials, installers must choose an alternate fastening method to secure doors to masonry surfaces. Common techniques include using concrete anchors to secure a lumber frame to the side and head jambs of the masonry wall. Alternatively, builders attach metal door frames to the masonry wall with concrete screws or nails.