I'm not kidding, I had this EXACT problem - My house was built with 2x4s and plaster over plasterboard walls. All the pre-hung doors you can buy around here are made for 2x4 and 1/2in drywall. I've had a doorway sitting in my hallway for months that looked awful because I was too scared to make my own jamb extension. I was going to have a contractor do this when I had new windows put in the house (something I just cannot do). However, this morning I saw your video and this evening I put in the extension myself. it looks amazing and didn't take me more than an hour or two (I haven't done the casing yet since I am skim coating the old plaster walls). Thanks for the motivation and instruction. You've been a huge help.
Extension jams are a standard building practice.. at least it has been for 40 years.. some windows come with extension jams that you custom rip to custom fit walls.. easy piezy.. same as trimming out a window with wood gotta rip boards to fit..
One of my greatest enjoyments of watching Vancouver Carpenter's videos, is the self-depreciating humor. Cracks me up and lightens my heart. Because of this, I watch your videos whether I need to or not, just for the fun. Always give a thumbs up.
Thanks bud! Just put in a new exterior door to the kitchen, only to realize after installing, caulking, and spray foaming all the gaps, that it was too shallow to meet up with the wall. Whoops. Lol my grandpa wanted me to pull it back out and cut the siding to inset it deeper in the wall. No thanks, I’m good. Not re-doing all that lol. It’s gonna be jam extensions all the way for me. Thanks for making my life a little bit easier anyway. Keep up the good work brother.
This is so useful!! I had this problem 2 months ago and ended up doing a similar double-reveal with a length of window stop, but this is way cheaper and more flexible. Thanks for this, even if it was too late to save me :D
Just sitting here and watching you work, then it hits me that’s exactly what I need to do with my 12’ sliding glass door.. currently hidden behind one drape, but I know it’s there just waiting. Now I know how to finish it. Thank you.
DeWalt has a fantastic fence system. It is a rack and pinion and makes the tiniest adjustments. Thank you for showing this. I do my own repairs and remodeling. I have had to make this kind of adjustment before, and I really did not know what I was doing. I did what I thought seemed logical. When I find a video on You Tube, that shows a professional tackle the same problem and I see that he does it the way I figured out, makes me feel better. Lets me know that I guessed right. Thankyou. I am 61 and back in the day of my youth, there was no You tube or internet -- period -- to go to for reference and instruction. You had to figure it out if there was no one in your life to teach you. Now, I go to You Tube first to get an idea of what to do. Saves a lot of time. Sometimes you still have to use your brain and fudge, because the same type of problem can vary in the needed solution, but You Tube gives you a starting point. Thanks to all the professionals out there that are willing to share their knowledge. Some of us just cannot afford professional services. We have to DIY or we live in a mess of a dwelling.
@@allenbranch1824 Hey allenbranch1824. Sorry to reply so late. I have not looked at comments for a while -- too busy. My saw is model DWE7491RS. It is the 10" portable job site table saw with rolling stand, 15 Amp motor and 32-1/2" rip capacity. It is the replacement model for my old saw. It seems to be working fine, I have had this one for about a year and I have used it a lot as I am remodeling the house. I prefer my old saw because it just seemed like the housing and stand were more heavy duty. But as for functionality, I have no complaints with this one.
Eternally grateful for this video getting recommended to me today. Just about done with mudding the drywall in my garage and am about to move onto the finish carpentry. Had to bring everything up to code so went with 5/8” drywall. Have a nasty gap around a door jamb and was going to try to make the extensions flush with the existing jamb. This technique will save me SO much hassle in the short and long term. Thank you!!!
The casing is the cookie, and the door & jam is the white fluffy filling, sandwich together and ya get a good strong looking end product😉 Been in trim jobs where we did butt the extension together, cuz the homeowner wanted it that way; so, ya give them what they want…..with the knowledge of what can happen over time. Great vid✌🏻
Every time you fire a nail, use a mitre saw or a table saw without ear protection you're damaging your hearing. Imagine standing next to an airport and watching a 747 taxiing to the runway and then imagine what that sound is like 24 hours a day. It's called tinnitus and it can consume your life. They actually use that as a sound effect in movies these days when someone is blown off their feet by an explosion. They muffle the sound and introduce a high pitched squeal to the sound track. That's what I hear all day, every day.
For a lot of us this kind of project is a looming freaky question mark of doom!! Kind of like the look on some folks faces just after being handed a set of chop-sticks and being told "These have been commonly used for centuries. It's EASY!🤗" ThankS for the fun, simple, albeit calming demo. I have one of these jobs at home which has been on my HoneyDoo list for about 4yrs 😯. ... today is the day I smite this now insignificant beast! ✊
Outstanding and looks great! About to tackle this exact door installation in my basement and trying to figure out the best way to attack it. Great step by step guidance! Thanks again, stay safe and healthy!
Hey man iv learned a lot from you. I really am grateful for your videos. You almost taught me single handedly how to install and Mudd drywall. And now iam doing full houses. So thank you man.
You must be psychic. Talk about timing! I've been considering extending a couple existing door jambs and I wondered if such extensions were a thing. Although I was gonna do it anyway, this vid makes it much easier to actually do. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you! BTW, anytime you want to do a series of videos on routers and, especially, router bits, don't let me stop you. lol
I'm digging the clucking chicken montage music. The extra 1/4" reveal seems so obvious, once you say it. I would have made life a lot harder for myself trying to match it up flush before seeing this. Thanks, and keep up the great work, VC!
First time I’ve seen you in a video without mud! Awesome! I actually needed this for my on-going voice record/Virtual meeting studio build…I doubled my drywall layers which have my doorways looking wonkie. This is really starting to get freaky… Every time I decide to check in on one of your newer videos, it ends up being some thing I need to tweak yet on this project (it’s been going a lot slower since the summer hit since there’s too many things outdoors to do). I swear sometimes I think you’re looking in my back window trying to figure out what your next topic is going to be! (… I am just imagining that, aren’t I?!…) A big THANKS {again!} to: “The Most Carpentery-ist Drywaller On The Internet!”
Thank you so much I have been stuck at this point of my doors and windows and had not found an acceptable solution. Thank you so much for the video, your time and experience.
Great Job! I glue my jamb extensions to the casing and install it that way. Yes it does take a bit longer doing it that way, but it turns out super nice.
"Or gangster style, if you guys remember correctly" I couldnt help but laugh as soon as I got a flash back of your other video 😂 love your vids.. big help when I started off carpentry
I live up the coast a bit, and found lots of that old fir casing in the dump. Whenever possible, I’ve reclaimed it for use in projects. It’s gorgeous! Love old fir for building with. Thanks for the tips on trimming out the door jambs..I have this issue with the new windows I put into my old mobile home. I think this is the answer for me. :)
You guys are getting so good at filming. The little effects and music make them even more enjoyable although I enjoy all your videos. This was super helpful since door jambs and trim are right around the corner for my renov's. Muchas gracias and awesome job with jambs.
If I have to extend jambs I like to divide the reveals between the jamb and the extension and the extension and the casing. Especially if you have another door right next to it. So if that other door that's finished has a 1/4" reveal, I would use 1/8" on the reveals of the door you are extending. This way the outside edges of the casings are the same on both doors. The eye will pick up that one casing is 1/4" taller than the other. If I'm looking down a hallway and there are multiple doors and the casings are all different heights it stands out like a sore thumb. The walls will usually be a different color than the trim, or at the very least a different finish, and the doors, jambs, jamb extensions and casings will likely all be the same color and finish. The consistency of the reveals is moot by comparison to the consistency of the height of the casings.
I've done several of these types of repairs but I've always butt jointed the extension piece to the frame because I didn't like look of the the double reveal. I found that if you use wood glue and fasten it to the frame with a lot of brad/finish nails (every 6-8"), the two pieces of wood will expand and contract as a single piece of wood. You need to also use Durham's Rock Hard wood putty over the seam and sand. Two coats of LATEX paint will prevent cracking. The corner seams of my casings crack before this seam. But if you don't want to do all this work, the double reveal is your best bet. Thanks for the great vid tutorial!
Way more work. The additional reveal looks better than a cracked flush joint. Craftsman architecture traditionally favored a succession of molding reveals along with plinth blocks and rosettes
The 1/4" reveal for the jamb extension was a good idea. Sometimes trying to make the extension flush with the original jamb can appear as an obvious "patch" if they're not straight. Nice work!
In carpentry, you generally don't attempt to make things flush because they never will look good no matter how you try. This is why we always create a 'reveal'.
@@KenHill I like that idea, yep flushing it it harder and doesn't look as good. THis is Quicker and now you have a small reveal that you can give a little caulk and it is done!
Flushing out a jamb extension is never a good idea. If some how forced to it must be glued to prevent paint cracks. Either way the painters will hate it.
the butt joint extensions cracking over time will absolutely happen over time also because of the constant movement of the door opening and closing...I love the little tips you give for the viewers that don't do this everyday..great stuff
Most doors (frankly all doors at home improvement centers) are sold for 2x4 construction. I find that a lot of people don't know that you CAN get door jambs for 2x6 doors. Also, making custom jambs is not hard at all. I bought composite jambs for my exterior doors and made jambs out of 3/4 poplar for my interior doors. I ripped them down to the exact width I needed.
Custom door jambs are not easy for most people. Many carpenters won't touch that. I do make custom jambs to pre hang "loner" doors but I use door hinge jigs and a router and it is fairly precision work and for varnish grade requires really stable wood. At least to get a really precise pre hung door. There are some old school ways too with a hinge stamp but it is time consuming. The Vix bit becomes very handy too! Do we all know the vix?
Giving the jamb extensions a reveal is definitely the right thing to do, but I always make the reveals an 1/8 for the extension and then a 1/4 for the casings. It’s a small detail that an old carpenter taught me years ago.
You mentioned the trick of cutting out some of the drywall to make the trim straight. On a couple of the walls that were installed by the drunk guy in my bedroom remodeling I did exactly that. The wall was slightly bowed, not enough to notice (after I spent several hours adding mud to flatten it), but definitely noticeable when adding the trim. So I cut out a notch about a foot long so the trim would lay flat. I will have to do the same thing in the hallway where the wall is REALLY screwed up. The new drywall that was added was up to an inch out of alignment at the top from the original drywall and took many coats of mud to tapper it to look flat. When I go to add the new trim I will have to cut a notch in the original drywall so the trim will go on straight.
Looks good.. I guess the best case scenario would be to have some 3/4 stock on hand, so you can cut strips a bit wider, and aren't trying to nail into a half inch jamb extension, well quarter inch to work with after moving in for the reveal.. not a whole lot of meat there.. but anyways looks like it worked fine.
It looks awesome. Is there a reason that you don't make the reveal flush with the door jam, and you stagger it in steps with the trim? Is it because the resulting larger jamb would resist looking like one solid piece, and would need to be caulked and wouldn't look perfect, vs. having nice staggered sharp edges?
Thank you! Had carpenter install door trim....it's sitting flush with the drywall looking jacked. I was trying to figure out what to do to fix it and this solved the problem.
Nail gun in hand. Check. Flying nail warning check. Squints on head check. Sorry bud. Old habit since the boss pays the insurance on my jobs. That’s me. Try this to remember. Every time you pull a trigger be profoundly grateful for sight. Make Norm Abrams proud and echo his warning. Love your work sir. Appreciate it. Thank you.
My brother had that issue at his home and that is what I did for one door. On the other he'd installed a steel framed security door/frame. This created a different issue. The frame was wider than the wall thickness. I installed a wood strip around the frame then had to drill and countersink screws to secure the new wood molding. The counter sunk screws were covered with wood filler, then painted.
I'll typically just build my own jamb if they are not standard size. Unless there are multiple, then I'll have them made to size. I can't stand the double reveal.
3/16” is the best reveal for standard casing... Also if you want to make the extension jam even it would have to be wood to wood with no paint... then GLUE and nail... The glue should keep it from separating and causing cracks… A lot more work… Plus I think the extra reveal looks better
Attempting to make the jambs flush would be a silly waste of time and would fail anyway, no matter how hard you tried. Wood is constantly moving. This is why you want to create reveals.
These days I run a quick bead of water based construction adhesive and set the trim in with 23 gauge headless brads/pins. (after using a Bench-Dog casement trim guide to give me the nice 3/16 reveal) A quick dab of spackle in the brad holes, some caulking against the wall, and it's ready for paint.
@@KenHill I always leave a reveal because that's the fastest way to do it. But it's possible to make a flush jamb extension that looks good and doesn't crack and it's not even hard to do but it's time consuming so you have to charge more per foot. Solid wood flat panel doors are made from several pieces glued together flush and they don't fail and they look good and it's not hard just time consuming. That's how tables are made also and they don't fail either.
I had a similar problem only my piece ran 1/2 down the door: 3/4 in. at top down to a point. I just marked that on a spare piece of board, cut it by hand with a 5 in. blade circular saw, then glued the wedge flush with the existing jamb. Then installed casing as usual. Then used wood putty to clean up any imperfections in my wedge piece.
With all respect, I won’t use a chalk line for finish work. It isn’t accurate. Sharp pencil for me. Particularly when dealing with expensive hardwoods. But yes free handing on the table saw.
free hand it with a table saw, or use a track saw or plywood sled with circ saw with fine finishing blade with a wider board. mark your cut and cut. Can hand plane any high spots after so better to be a bit big than too small.
Yep, this is a problem in my house. It was built in 1922. Doesn't exactly match up with today's ...well anything really. Plumbing, electrical, carpentry, you name it. Loved the video and subscribed.....because I have a feeling you're relevant to my situation. 😂
Older homes had thicker walls. The lath/plaster accounted for about an extra inch of all thickness, making older walls 5-1/2” versus 4-1/2” for most modern homes.
@@markhoffman Regardless of thickness of wall, couldn’t the width of jamb be properly measured? Example of my thinking; if tha jam has a width of 3 inches and there’s an inch gap on both sides jamb, why wouldn’t the original installer use a 5 inch width jamb to accommodate the drywall size they used back then?
@@Woodworkinghobby79 Sometimes you can mess with the jambs because they are heritage homes and the wood is fir or something. Typically when you remove lather and plaster, 5/8th drywall works.
@@dezbigguns1072 no that's because you don't have a relationship with your local guy don't try to project that on me I don't have to beat walls because I order my door jambs a hair bit wider than the walls
I wish I would have seen this video about 3 weeks ago. I just did trim replacements for my MBR closets, and it was a nightmare. All I had was a hand miter box, hammer, and nails. My wife's closet door casing has so much gap in it I had to angle the nails...and eventually trim screws, (I completely suck with a hammer) so they were driving into the 2x4 structural studs, or I'd wiff the casing right into air. I even managed to cut the damn miter for one of the pieces wrong, so I had to redo that too, lol. Once I got everything wood filled, and painted it looks much nicer than I thought it would be. I think I'll be saving up for a decent brad nailer to make my life easier. Turns out you have to be good at things if you plan on using hand tools, and I'm not. LOL.
It’s nice when you have such a thick door jamb, last time I did this on a prehung door that I bought from Home Depot, the jamb was not even 3/4” thick. Nailing an extension gave me very little meat to nail it on.
Real world problems... everyone has them on just about every job....this is the part of the business that the fancy how to videos don't show... nicely done!
I have a problem where the wall is out of plump. It is flush with the door jam at the bottom but at the top the wall sticks out nearly an inch. Speaking of fir, I am using fir which will be stained. Thanks to your videos I am getting much better at my projects!
Very helpful for me I appreciate this one. So easy never thought about this I would have put it up and then wood filler and sand to make it all one piece but your way is so much better having the 1/4” reveal and then another 1/4” reveal with the casing. Thanks man saves me time
