Door Frames

[aurelio alarcon]

I am going to make some interior door frames. The walls in the house are plaster and because of this, prehung doors are too narrow. The doors will be relatively light (hollow core). I was wondering what would you guys recommend as a good but not too expensive material to use. Is there anything cheaper than poplar that anyone would recommend. Or is poplar about the best that I can go with? I have used poplar before (most of the time), but it is not cheap. Thanks

[Cody Colston]

Aurelio,

Recommending a cheaper alternative to Poplar is going to be hard to do without knowing where you are located.

For instance, here in East Texas, both Pine and even Red Oak are cheaper than Poplar because of the easy availability.

[aurelio alarcon]

Thanks for your input. I am in Southern California. I wasn't sure what they have at the big box stores. However, while there, I did see some other milled wood, but I wasn't sure what it was. I believe it was a bit cheaper.

[Cody Colston]

I would certainly look for an alternate supplier other than the box stores. Surely there are other sources for your lumber. I'm thinking a nice straight-grain or perhaps QS Fir would be good and reasonably affordable for the door frames, but I'm just guessing.

There are several members on this forum from Southern California who should be able to advise you.

Good luck with your door frame project and sorry I couldn't be of more help.

[Doug Carpenter]

If you have a decent lumber yard you can order you doors pre hung with the right lamb thickness, I do it all the time.

Alot of people don't know this because the big box stores don't offer it. That is one bummer about the big box stores taking over. Certainly there are plenty of openings to fill that are older and require a thicker jamb but they can't mass market and please everybody.

That way you don't have to monkey around making them. If you want to make them you may be able to buy jamb material that is wider and rip it down.

I usually use poplar when I must make a jamb. You could try some fingerjointed primed redwood. That is reletively cheap here but I suppose it depends on your area.

[Doug Carpenter]

Oops I said lamb not jamb. Don't use lamb it wont last.:p

[aurelio alarcon]

Thanks a lot for your guy's input. I will check with the local lumbar yard. Poplar ,however, might be the winner.

[aurelio alarcon]

Does Spruce have a tight enough grain for door jambs? How about Whitewood?

[Herb Stoops]

They use MDF here in Washington which is not my choice,but must be cheap.

[glenn bradley]

I'm in SoCal and poplar and ash are sometimes neck and neck in the price department. You don't give an area (SoCal is as big as, and bigger, than a lot of states) but Reel Lumber is in Anaheim and Riverside with good selection.

[aurelio alarcon]

Hey great! I will check Riverside (and maybe Anaheim as well). Thanks.

[David Prince]

An extension jamb on a prehung door would look fine too. You could center the door and put an extension jamb on both sides to divide the difference and make it balanced. A slight reveal on both sides and it would look fine.

If you are talking poplar, are you just planning to paint the jambs? If so, the extension jamb is a no-brainer.

[Neal Clayton]

assuming this is an old crooked house with lots of wood floors like mine...

1) make sure the lumber is dry, really dry, if you have wood floors. else the shrinkage will be more than you're likely willing to live with.

2) put the trim back up with trim head screws. 15 gauge finish nails aren't strong enough to hold door casings on a wobbly plaster wall, especially if you're using large casings like older houses typically have.

3) considering #2, i'd make them a little thicker to give you more meat for the screw to grab. i start with a 2x6, and plane/flatten down to 1.5, and then dado out a 1/2" high jamb. since the floors likely aren't flat in an old house either you can't always get door frames perfect. as the old saying goes... level, plumb, square, pick two. you might need a little extra clearance here and there.

4) make them all a couple inches long and have your miter saw in the house so you can trim them to fit level on unlevel floors after the fact. just need a helper there to help you hold the fully assembled frame up on the miter saw while you trim it.

[Peter Quinn]

As mentioned the cheapest solid stock option may vary depending on location, but poplar is typically near the bottom of the price chart in most markets for hardwood. Perhaps a finger joint option if this is for paint grade work might be cheaper? I suppose worst case you could buy the prehungs in standard width from the big box and biscuit on some jamb extensions made from ripping a few boards. The big box will order custom sizes and jamb widths too, but they won't be nearly as cheap as the rock bottom prices on their stock sizes.

Its ironic that if you were to make your own jambs for hollow core slabs from the big box stores using poplar from the big box stores (their prices are harsh on S4S), the jambs might wind up costing you more than the doors.

Spruce is a bit soft but is very strong for its weight and more than strong enough to hold a hollow core door if that is available locally.