Split jamb doors are a popular choice for interior doors due to their unique design and ease of installation. They are split in half lengthwise, but can fit together during installation thanks to the tongue-in-groove joint. This makes them easier to install than flat door jambs, which are considered standard and have a separate door stop. Split jamb doors come with casing pre-attached from the factory and the jamb, making installation quick and easy.
Prehung split-jamb doors are designed for situations where an interior wall’s rough frame is thicker than a standard opening and a standard size prehung jamb. They feature jambs that are split in half lengthwise, with the trim casing already attached to each edge of the jamb, eliminating the need for mitering. Split jamb doors are similar to conventional prehung doors but have a two-piece jamb joined with a tongue and groove. The door stop is part of the jamb and is incorporated into the hinge side, providing a slot for the door stop.
The unique split system allows builders to install a prehung internal door and jambset, completely premade with factory routed hinges, striker plates, and other hardware. The split jamb contains the door and door stops and is installed first. Side A has half the split jamb, the stop, architraves, and the pre-hung door, while Side B is the balance of the split jamb system and the opposing architrave.
In summary, split jamb doors are a popular choice for production style homes and remodels due to their unique design and ease of installation. By understanding the difference between split and flat door jambs, homeowners can make the most of their doors and achieve a more efficient and secure installation process.
📹 LOWES Split Jam Door Install.WINNI DIY Vlog 021
Vlog 021- Today I will show you how to install a split jam door from lowes. It’s a prehung door that you can find at lowes and …
What was the purpose of split doors?
Half-doors, also known as leathdoras or comhla bheag, were once common in Irish houses to prevent poultry and pigs from entering and allow air and sunlight into dark, smoky cottages. They have been used in residential care homes to control wandering while maintaining a line of sight, and in child-care environments, but there are risks of finger-trapping and concerns over fire regulations. A Lev door is another type of split leaf door, in floor-to-ceiling configuration, with a standard size leaf and a disconnected additional leaf installed above it, allowing unrestricted passage of heated air along the ceiling from a central source, improving cross ventilation, and maintaining privacy.
What are the different types of door jambs?
Door jambs are two types of door frames: pre-hung and split. Pre-hung jambs are complete units, including the door, frame, and hinges, used for new construction or replacements. Split jambs are used for renovations or replacements of existing frames, consisting of two vertical sections joined together by hinges.
The components of a door jamb include casing, hinge mortises, strike plate mortise, stop, and threshold. Casing frames the door and conceals the gap between the wall and the jamb. Hinge mortises hold the hinges, while strike plate mortise holds the metal plate that the door lock engages with when closed. Stop is a wood strip that prevents the door from swinging through the opening and hitting the wall. Threshold creates a seal between interior and exterior spaces, providing a smooth transition between floors.
Drawbacks of a door jamb include structural support, security, aesthetic appeal, and energy efficiency. Pre-hung jambs are complete units, while split jambs are used for renovations or replacements of existing frames. Customizing casing and stop molding can enhance the door’s appearance and complement the room’s interior design.
What do you call a split door?
A Dutch door, also known as a stable door or half door, is a door that allows the bottom half to remain closed while the top half opens. These doors were initially designed to keep animals out of farmhouses or children inside while allowing light and air to filter through the open top. They were common in the Netherlands in the 17th century and were also found in culturally-Dutch areas of New York and New Jersey before the American Revolution. Dutch doors were often incorporated into passenger railcar design in North America to allow crewmen to interact with employees outside or carry out visual inspections.
In Australia, post-war passenger cars and brakevans were similarly configured. However, those on passenger cars were later converted to conventional doors for passenger safety reasons. In Canada, changes to operating rules rendered the Dutch doors obsolete, although older rolling stock retains them.
What does split door mean?
The doors in question feature a distinct upper and lower section that may be opened independently, thus facilitating access while maintaining the requisite safety standards. Furthermore, this feature serves to mitigate the risk of uninvited individuals gaining access to the domicile. Furthermore, these doors are ideal for households with children and pets, as they permit the entry of fresh air while ensuring that the occupants remain secure. It is not a viable solution to simply keep them locked in.
What is the difference between split jamb and flat jamb?
Split jambs are suitable for older homes with less than plumb or irregularly shaped walls. These jambs consist of two pieces that fit together with tongue and groove, offering the advantage of pre-attached door casing. The Southside door department offers various types of door jambs, and knowledgeable staff is available to provide professional, quality service. If you’re unsure which type you need, they’re happy to help.
What is an interior door jamb?
A jamb is defined as a vertical surface situated on either side of the door frame, and it plays a pivotal role in the operation of the door. The jamb houses the hinges that allow the door to be hung and the striker plate, which is used for opening, closing, and locking the door. The door frame is comprised of all of these aforementioned elements, including the door frame itself.
What is the purpose of a split door jamb?
Split-jamb doors are similar to conventional prehung doors but feature a two-piece jamb joined with a tongue and groove. This joint allows for casing at the millwork shop, allowing for wall thickness wiggle room. This makes split jambs ideal for old houses with wavy plaster and odd-size studs. Millwork shops typically install casings and jambs for less than a competent finish carpenter. Old-school carpenters may deride split-jamb doors, but they can be shimmed. To ensure proper installation, check the floor under the jambs for level using a 32-in. spirit level and a graduated shim. This ensures a smooth and secure installation process.
What does jamb mean in doors?
A door jamb is an individual section of a door frame, consisting of two vertical side jambs and a top horizontal head jamb. Together, they form the door frame. The mull, or mullion, is the seam between the frames of two units, often hidden with a mull casing. Sills are the bottom component of a door frame, sealed and fastened to the floor. Only exterior doors with doors leading to the outdoors or garages have sills. To prepare a floor for a door sill, refer to the specific instructions provided.
What are the disadvantages of metal door frames?
Metal door frames are frequently utilitarian in design, rather than aesthetically pleasing. This quality renders them less suitable for business applications, due to their vulnerability to corrosion, despite their capacity to resist moisture absorption to a greater extent than wood. Nevertheless, metal doors remain a viable option for businesses.
What is a door that splits in the middle?
Dutch doors are a timeless and practical way to connect indoor and outdoor spaces. They feature a single door divided in the middle, allowing homeowners to open the top portion while keeping the bottom portion closed. The halves are secured with a latch, providing a unique and practical connection. As farmhouse design continues to rise, the demand for country chic Dutch doors is on the rise. Dating back to the 17th century, these doors allowed light and air to enter New England colonial homes while keeping dirt and farm animals out.
Today, designers are fusing a modern aesthetic with the practical classic of Dutch doors. Simpson can turn almost any door into a Dutch door, as long as it has solid wood across the area to be dutched. Choose a door design that fits your architecture, and your Authorized Dealer will ensure the Dutch cut is the best fit for your application.
What is the advantage of a metal split door jamb?
Door jambs are typically made of single, double, or split types. Single Rabbet Jambs are used in interior doors, with one side cut out for the door. Double Rabbet Jambs are suitable for double doors, with both sides cut out for a meeting. Split Jambs are ideal for new construction and can be installed after the wall is built. The material used in a door jamb significantly impacts its durability and performance.
📹 What are Split Jamb Doors??? & My SECRET WEAPON for installing them…
In this video we take a look at how to install split jamb doors and my secret weapon for installing them quickly and perfectly.
I’ve been waiting for so long for you to do a jamb master article. I can’t find much info about it and you’re the only one I really see using it. Biggest question I have with them is how easy/aggravating is it to adjust from one door size to the next. Are there presets for typical door sizes? And are those presets adjustable? I find that not all 3/0 doors are the same outside diameter. Some manufacturers have 5/8 jambs some 3/4. Some have 1/8 reveals, some 3/16. Next question is how durable/rigid is it. I’m a finish guy so I’m relatively easy on my tool, but at the same time I don’t want to have to baby them. Just from looking at it it looks like there is so much possibility for it to flex as well either when installing it or when routing. Look forward to the article, and always appreciate your content. Wish there was a two thumbs up button.
I am 73 and own a high end custom millwork shop and have been perusal your articles and can tell you now Sir that with your talents you should be doing high dollar custom work and forget the commodity market. In my market which is Near Washington, DC I service accounts with carpenters of all levels of experience and the really talented ones have clients that are begging for their services and are more than willing to pay a premium. Great job
I hope you see this! Through all of your insightful narrative, I do enjoy the added touch of switching between 3rd person view and 1st person view, seamlessly. Your profile explaining details, then just your hand showing and demonstrating what you’re doing…all with a light-medium fish-eye lens…. allowing for both 1st and 3rd to be in full view. Great job!… 😁😁😎 yes, I noticed, and admire your work.. great job with everything!… keep it up my friend! 😁
I worked in a door shop for several years. We never put solid core doors on split jambs because the casing would get ripped off easily during shipping. Solid core doors were hung on flat jambs with casing shipped loose. Also, most installers that I knew, didn’t shim split jambs. Just slapped them in a couple minutes.
Wow! I can just begin to picture how the jamb master allows you to “pre-shim” then just slide the door in. But does it mean you have more stringent requirements on the quality of the framers’ and drywallers’ work – and on the quality of the wood used in framing the door? If you do a jamb master article, maybe include what you have to do (differently) to fix problems!
Nice educational article, I’ll bet you just sold a few jamb masters today and pointed others to consider using one. You can never lose owning tools that help with consistent accuracy. If any of you use a jig to install a glass screen saver on your phone this gets the same precision in getting the door and jamb in place every time. I can do it manually and get a great fit every time but not with the speed and precision of this system. This is why I come here, even though I’m doing this since before Spencer was born, I learn of a different perspective, a new tool, new materials etc. There’s no downside that I see.
Super excited to see a door article! I always learn something new on this website. Here on the west coast I’ve never heard of split jams. What would you do with a out of level wall on the hinge side? Is there much room for adjustment or do you just have to live with the automatic shut or open feature of an out of plumb wall? I work with a handful of builders and the walls can vary, I always struggle with getting the door dead level vs messing with the casing reveal. I’m definitely checking into this jamb master! Looks like a time saver!
Excellent article as always. Just hauled 20 solid cores upstairs. Tough on a 66 yr. old trim guy. While your method seems flawless I would argue that plum shims do not ensure plum doors due to bad framing,drywall,and especially poorly built doors (in my market in South Carolina). So what I do is position the door and margins plum first by shooting the casing and then shimming and installing the other half. Very fast and efficient from a production standpoint. Any thoughts?
Question – What exactly do the shims do besides space the legs of the jamb off of the door frame stud? I know the shims also keep the jamb from moving when you shoot it in place with a nail gun. Besides those 2 functions, is there anything else they do? Do they do anything for expansion/contraction? I’ve seen a guy hang a door who did not use any shims for spacing the jamb off the stud and he did not leave any shims after the door was hung. Is there any benefit to not using shims?
I was kinda chuckling when you were complaining about those few issues in the beginning of the article. It must be nice to have a door company that can provide a product that you can essentially drop into an opening. The Millwork company’s that we can purchase prehung doors from in my market are all horrendous! We struggle with most of the doors they ship to us as the quality of the workmanship is total crap. We are in a market that is all about slap it up anymore. Great job keep it up.
Have you ever had to talk with a builder regarding quality of pre-cased split jamb doors? I recently was on a job that was pre-cased and looked like something out of a horror film. Header reveals/offsets on one side at 1/16- and on the other 5/16. No miters tight, etc. Wondering what that conversation should look like for a trim guy, when I would assume most people are going to look to the trim guy and say, “wow, terrible work.”
At my lumberyard in MA, I can order flat jambs to any size jamb width. They also offer “loose casings” that come mitered and assembled, just need to cut the legs to height. Seems like split jambs are for installing doors before floors cause you get the height of the flooring in play, otherwise trying to cut attached casings and jambs to set on flooring seems tricky. Installing click lock flooring or tile after doors are installed is a PITA. Usually always set my doors on the finished floor.
I worked in the house construction industry in the early seventies. Of course pretty much everything I learned was old school. But we had a boss that did everything with Kingdom Quality. I appreciate your Kingdom Quality that you use with the work that you do and with the articles you make. I pray that God richly blesses the work of your hands and that you always have plenty of work. Be BLESSED !!!
1000% have been wanting you to make a article on the Jambmaster! I have one and have used it a couple of times but would love to see how to efficiently use it. Would also love to see your process on making the shims. That is probably the biggest reason I do not use it more often is I never have shims made up.
I used to install split jamb doors in the cheapy condos back in the 90’s, but instead of a tongue and groove, there were metal pins the kept the two parts in alignment. When taking the split jamb apart the pins sometimes stayed in place or some would fall out and get lost. Always had to come back and make adjustments after the job was done. And no wonder, some guys installed these doors with no shims at all, or maybe 2 shims on each side. I did 5 shims on the hinge side and 4 on the strike side. No jamb master(what is that?) all old school plumb stick and framing square. The reason for split jambs besides being cost effective both in fabricating and installing, is they are very forgiving of the variations in wall thickness, and opening being out of plumb and/or square, which was rampant throughout these cheaply built condos, which went for 160K a unit.
If you get split jams from a good supplier then its fine, but if you get a cheaper split jam the miters are usually separated. Also its nice doing new construction but remodeling jobs usually come with its own set of problems. Plus if the home owner doesn’t like the trim or it doesn’t match and you have to remove it, your fighting with the staples used at the factory, and its tough not damaging the jam.
Your split jambs are way different than what I’ve seen in Western PA. These have the casing nailed on just one side and a number of steel pins about 3/16″ – 1/4″ are spaced around the jamb to line up the sides when nailed in place. It’s expected there will be a gap between the door halves due to variations in wall thickness (usually the case when remodeling some of our 100+ year old homes around here). The gap is covered by extra wide door stop. The precut casing for the other door side was attached to the jamb at the shop is now nailed on. Yeah. It’s time for a Jamb Master article. Be sure to mention price. Why bother with poplar casing on what appears to be rather plain casing that’s going to be painted anyway instead of primed pine? Hate painted trim but that’s me.
I’ve always found it fascinating how over there when building a house the temperature is controlled fairly early in the process. I’m a flooring installer in New Zealand and the heating or cooling is pretty much the last thing to go in the house and normally it’s just a heat pump or fireplace, sucks if you actually have to acclimatize a product because the temperature is only really controlled by the level of insulation in the house.
Why use a Split over Flat jamb I didn’t catch the reason But I would say on split jambs, your walls could be out of plumb on the hinge side which will effect the swing of the door Flat jambs are plumb at the hinges, then you deal with the drywall to fit casing Most Carpenter’s using a split style casing on flat jamb Only nail the casing into stud never securing the flat jamb to studs This creates a sagging door when casing come loose from flat jamb I’ve fixed many doors installed like this, usually from track housing Would love a deep dive into your tools 😄
Have always used flat jambs on the homes we build. Seem to be more substantial and stays plumb and level when done right. The trick I use is to install the trim on the swing side of the jamb first and then place it into the opening. Check for plumb and then tack it. Go to the reverse side and shim between jambs and cripples accordingly. Back to the swing side and complete the nailing of trim and jambs. Install trim on the reverse side and done. There are times when walls are not inline so its easy to reset the stops when necessary. A little extra work is involved at times where the drywall is proud of 4 and 9/16. Our shop will give us the options of wider jambs but the price is a little higher. Love your articles. Thank you.
Great vid man, as usual. These seem way better than the 3pcs MDF ones we always use … But Wtf is going on at 2:22 with the wire and plug box cut out? Seen a lot strange wiring in the last few years with all the new tech, but can’t think of a reason for a power wire in a rough opening like that.. best guess sum kinda auto door open\\closer?
how do split jam doors work with out of plumb openings? I work on a finishing crew in Canada, and casing doors, I find they are often not lined up with the drywall well. (as in, the drywall is inconsistently proud of the door jambs when the door is installed) Obviously, the “non loadbearing side” can be put in at whatever angle and it will probably look fine, but what about the side with the door hanging off it? does the casing stick way off the wall when the opening is not plumb? do you have to do a ton of drywall removal around the opening to let the casing seat properly? Also, for openings where the corner is too close and you have to rip the casing, do you find that split jams are a big hassle? is it just “set up the track saw and go at er”, or would you prefer not to have a split jam in that situation?
Have you already determined your high side of the floor with your jamb master. Surely you must since you’re not shimming your doors off the floor. I hate split jambs because many are so poorly constructed. Those jamb switches are a pain unless the framer leaves a slice of jack stud out. I just always dreaded them 🤷♂️. IDK why because I always charged plenty for mortising them out and installing the metal box. That jamb master looks like a lot of extra work but man I can see tons of hassles eliminated in hanging doors, especially behind poorly framed rough openings.
Where are these doors coming from? I like the casing they use. All the doors I set for builders are the cheapest and I have to remove the casing because they pull apart before I even them them. A article on the jamb master would be nice. I’m always trying to find a better or faster way to setting them. Thanks
So we didn’t discuss finished floor heights and or into transitioning floor heights? 3/4 in flooring to a tiled floor = hardibacker, thinset & tile. If jamb is set on floor decking before establishing finished floor substrate do we not cause complications when its jamb sawed to clear the finished floor/tile if door swing is too low? I’ve seen this problem before for diy’rs or younger unknowing carpenters. This is for those searching these articles and come across this hurdle. I preset 1/8 low of finished floor heights on top of said shim height and jambsaw to exact when flooring is ready.
Dude…you do a lot of great articles, but you made a very quick to install system way too complex and slow. A split jamb door install is a 5 minute thing. Split them, install the door side with a level on the hinge side of the trim, and trim nail the face of the casing on that side. Then set your reveal on the rest of the door and trim nail the rest. Shim the other side as needed to remove flex in the sides, then install the other half. You could argue that you are potentially offering a “better” finished product for the extra time you spent, but you really didn’t. The game is all speed and quality. Quality has diminishing returns for your time spent. Nobody is going to see your perfect clean shim job. The customer won’t care…so you are wasting your time and money. I think this is the case of a person who is more a cabinet maker or stair builder trying to use concepts that have no place in a door install.
I’ve never seen or heard of a jam master. Is this something you would use for stain grade only? I’m accustomed to setting paint grade/contractor grade split jam doors. I set the hinge side against the stud, then rack it until the gap is even up too, set a couple nails and test if I have a “ghost door”, generally I don’t. Then I set the rest of the nails, and only shim the hinge side if it’s not in contact with the stud since that’s the weight bearing side. Then I throw in the other half of the jam and call it a day. I’d really like to know the benefits, and when to use this tool. Sounds like it’s more time consuming, but if you’re doing stain grade it needs more attention to detail.
Spencer- you’ve made me want a Jamb Master. How about a article on installing a dbl door split jamb unit? Jamb Master or no. I’m challenged every time I install with this config. The bottom inside corners are often offset while the top corners are matched due to deficient wall plumb. If I hold the door out plumb, there’s a large gap behind the trim. I can’t decide which is worse. Thanks in advance
Seems like a lot of extra work. I can see using the jamb master for custom work. I trim houses for 2 different builders. (Production homes) just separate the jamb set the jamb with door slab on it in the RO then put hand in the bore whole to adjust top and slam side reveals, and nail it. Then attach male side of jamb and nail it off. No shims needed.