How to Frame a Window in Construction

Get the window's height and width from the supplier; windows usually come with rough opening specifications. Mark the center of the opening, based on a house plan, on the top and bottom plates of the wall. Measure with a tape measure half the specified width of the frame on each side of the center and mark the spot to place outside studs, called kings, between the top and bottom plates.

Nail the king studs to the top and bottom plates with 16d framing nails, driven with a hammer through the plates into the stud ends; most walls are framed on a flat surface to be erected as a complete unit. Put two nails in each end of each stud. Use a circular saw to cut two 2-by-6-inch header boards to fit between the two king studs across the top of the door frame. Cut a piece of 1/2-inch plywood 5 1/2 inches deep and that same width. Nail the plywood between the two boards with 8d galvanized nails as a spacer to make a header the same thickness as the wall studs.

Set the header in place at the specified height; measure and mark that on each side stud. Level the header with a level and nail it in place with 16d framing nails driven through the studs with a hammer into the header boards. Install a 2-by-4-inch sill or footer board between the full studs at the bottom of the specified rough opening. Level this with a level and nail it in place between the full studs. Double-check the height and width of the rough opening; it should be about an inch larger than the actual window.

Cut shorter studs to go inside the king studs to support the header and sill. Put a stud on the outside edges of the frame between the header and the top plate, another between the bottom of the sill and the bottom plate and one inside the rough opening, between the header and sill. Place these studs on both sides of the window frame. Nail them in place to the two king studs outside.

Measure from the top of the header to the bottom of the top plate and cut short studs to fit that height. Put one stud over each end of the header and others in between, spaced 16 inches apart. Make similar short studs to fill the opening between the bottom of the sill and the bottom plate. Cut short pieces of 2-by-4 to fit between each king stud and the next full stud outside it; these are called blocking and tie the two studs together. Nail them horizontally about half the distance between the top and bottom plates.