[benze]

Hi,

I've got about 8 door jambs to install in my basement, and was wondering if I could use veneered 3/4" plywood instead of the standard finger-jointed pine.

I can't seem to find finger jointed pine at a reasonable price, and the pre-made kits seem to cost a fortune (95$ for a double door!). A sheet of 4x8x3/4 veneered ply is about 50$. That is enough to give me nine 4 9/16" strips of 8 feet, which equates to 3 double doors. Granted, I will have to route out the hinges and a door latch (for single doors), but I figure that is well worth the price differential.

Additionally, I figure that if I am really worried about door weight, I could always anchor my hinges directly into the frame instead of just the door jamb itself.

Off hand, I can't see anything wrong my plan, but wanted to see if anyone else had any ideas.

Thanks,

Eric

 

[hayewe farm]

I think if you were to check many prehung doors are done on plywood veneered jambs.

 

[frenchelectrican]

I think if you were to check many prehung doors are done on plywood veneered jambs.

I have see quite few do are on plywood veneered but some are on OSB as well { Yuck }

Merci.
Marc

 

[Wildie]

I think that where the problem lies, is when the casing is nailed into the side of the jamb, the plywood will tend to split.
if this happens, you will have a problem on your hands!

 

[firehawkmph]

I think that where the problem lies, is when the casing is nailed into the side of the jamb, the plywood will tend to split.
if this happens, you will have a problem on your hands!

If he uses an 18 ga. brad nailer for the edge of the casing that goes to the jamb he shouldn't have a splitting problem. I have used plywood for wide jamb extensions in basements and haven't had any problems with it. The other thing you may want to do is go to a real millwork shop that makes their own doors and see what they want for jambsets. Big box stores aren't the place to buy them, or the trim for that matter.
Mike Hawkins

 

[benze]

If he uses an 18 ga. brad nailer for the edge of the casing that goes to the jamb he shouldn't have a splitting problem. I have used plywood for wide jamb extensions in basements and haven't had any problems with it. The other thing you may want to do is go to a real millwork shop that makes their own doors and see what they want for jambsets. Big box stores aren't the place to buy them, or the trim for that matter.

Agreed. I've not had 18 ga. nailers split anything before either, save and except nails that deflected if they were too long.

Real millwork shops around here that make their own doors are not easy to find. I was actually quite surprised at the local big box; the pre-fab jambs that they are selling are only 1/2" jointed pine. Was expected at least 5/8 or 3/4.

Thanks for the tips!

Eric