I'm going to show you how to fix a door jamb.
Depending on the finish of the door jamb, you might go about fixing it a different way.
If it's being painted, you can glue or bog the crack.
As we're in this case, we've got a stained timber so we're going to have to replace the
whole timber there.
The tools I require for this job are a hammer, a chisel, some nail pullers, a wrecking bar,
a screwdriver set, a multi-tool, some packers, obviously my safety gear, a level, and the
actual timber jamb here to replace.
The first step is to remove any of the door hardware that's still on there.
Now that the door hardware's off, the next step is to take the door strip off.
The key tool to use will be a chisel and a handy tip is to use the flat edge of the chisel
against the actual strut so you don't damage it.
It's important when you are pulling off with your hammer to go around the nails, 'cause
if you go to far out it can split the timber.
So make sure you get your hammer right under the nails.
Now I've got the door strip off.
I'm just gonna remove some of the nails that are left behind.
The next step now is to remove the architraves.
I do this the same way as I did the door strip from the bottom up, nice and slow, and using
the chisel straight edge against the actual architrave.
I've got a really big nail in here which is a really good time to use the wrecking bar.
Now that we've got our door strip and architraves off, we can replace the actual door jamb here.
I'm gonna remove the door jamb just like I did with the door strips and architraves but
because we're not keeping this piece, we don't need to be as precious about the way we pull
it off.
Now I've got the door jamb mostly pulled off.
I need to get it dis-attached from the top here.
So there's going to be nails coming down through the top.
One of the easiest ways is to slowly pull it back and rock it to get the nails loose.
Now that we've got the door jamb off, we just need to remove these nails that are left here.
For that you'll just need a pair of nippers.
A handy tip for this as well so you don't mark the reveal that we're gonna leave is
to use a scrap piece of timber here and then you can literally grab the nippers here and
roll and that way you'll damage the scrap but not the actual piece we're keeping.
Now that we've got our door jamb removed we can add a new one.
I've got one here that we've pre-cut to the right size.
I'm gonna need to mark the top door jamb here with a notch for this door jamb piece to slide
into.
Now that I've got a mark on this side, I need to do the exact same mark on the back side
and then just draw a line joining the two.
Now I've got my line drawn.
I just need to cut that little piece out using the multi-tool.
Now that I've cut through here, I just need to chisel out from the side so I've got a
nice square piece for the door jamb to slide into.
There we go.
The next step now is to measure out where our packers are gonna be.
So typically you do a hundred mils from the top and a hundred mils from the bottom and
then your middle packer will be where your door hardware sets.
To get the middle packer, I'm just going to measure on the current door where the handle's
set and then I'm just going to mark it on the door jamb here.
I now need to make some packers to put behind the door jamb.
I've simply got some strip here that I'm just gonna use the wood for the timber here and
I'm just gonna snap it to the right length.
Depending on the size of the frame versus the door jamb, you'll need about two to three
packers per nail hole so probably about 10 to 12 for the job.
Now we're ready to put the door jamb in.
It's time to set the packers up.
The key thing is to start at the top and work your way down and a handy little tip is the
notch that we've cut out is a good measure for the back of the first one so I can just
put some packers up here to work out how many I need.
And it looks like three is a good start.
I'll just put them on to that first line I've made and nail them in.
To nail this in I just need some 3-inch [inaudible 00:04:08] nails.
I now need to pack the bottom and just to check that the door jamb's straight as I'll
just use the level to check it's the same as the top.
Yeah, that's spot on.
So that was spot on I can just now nail these packers in.
Now that I've got the top and bottom packers in it's now time to nail the door jamb in.
I just start by sliding this in here and holding it against the packers.
Before you nail it's important to note that you're flush with the plasterboard so that
when you go to put your architrave on it sits proud and flush.
When I nail this, I just leave it proud so if I do need to make any adjustments along
the way it's not too hard to pull out.
Now that I've got the top and bottom packers nailed, it's time to get the middle right.
I'll use the same amount of packers as the last time, so put the three in there.
Now that I've got the nail in I'll just double check again with the level and then I can
nail them off properly.
Looks good.
I'll just give it one last check.
And that's level and it's not rocking.
Last step is just to check that the door closes properly and there's an even gap in the middle.
I'll check that now.
And that's good.
And the final step is just to put the door strip back on and re-fix the architrave and
that's how you repair a damaged door jamb.