Window Jambs Extend Beyond Drywall

jstrand23

Hey. I have a homeowner who has window and exterior door jambs that extend past the drywall by about 1 1/2 inches. It is an old house(1920's), 2 story that had 2 layers of lathe and plaster on it. The ripped out the plaster and put in drywall and now all of the jambs protrude past the drywall. There are all new replacement windows in the house and these are the old original jambs that are sticking out, so the bottom board is a 2x. What is a good way to get these jambs flush with the new drywall? I've ruled out removing the replacement windows and replacing the old jambs, since they are caulked in place and some of the jamb on the exterior would need to be repainted. I could possibly use a circ saw on part of the window jamb but i wouldn't be able to get all of it and would need to use a recip or hand saw to finish. I also though electric hand planer, but it would take a ton of passes to get it flush. Then i thought maybe a router with a jig made up to cut it close to flush and then a pass or two the the planer? Any suggestions would be great. Oh, and they are living in the house so i got to keep it kinda clean. Was thinking about plastic zip walls. Anybody use them?

Also any suggestions for a price to charge? I guess it sounds like a T&M bid. Thanks everyone.

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Jason
Strand Carpentry
Glyndon, MN

skyhook

You could sawzal it off and cover the insde with a new extension jamb. Or you could keep it and get creative with the casing. A filler behind the casing, or a shelf on top ?

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Same Old

Why didn't you fur out the drywall?

vwovw

tell them the drywallers mistake is going to cost them. IF you sawsall it make sure you cut it long so you can plain it down straight. I wonder if that FEIN tool wood work for this.
https://www.multimastertv.com/vcc/fe...master/190648/

tcleve4911

Zip Walls are expensive. Telescoping extension poles with some strapping works great.(helper poles? $20 each @ paint stores) Vacuum attachments if you're considering routing in the house!!! Don't do it!!!!

Sounds like you've got a 2x6 jamb in a 2x4 wall?

1st - You can't Sawzall, Fein or any other cut because the hinges are mortised to the interior edge of the jambs!!!!!

2nd - Get creative with your casings as Skyhook mentioned. You can build up 1-1/2" thick casing to mate with the jambs.

Build a cool shelf system around the windows.

You could strap & drywall 8-12"" to either side of the doors, paint them an accent color and make the door appear to be framed by wall.

Just ideas helping a craftsman fix someone else's Screwup LOL

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Back in Maine
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vwovw

just do it right. what ever it takes. but leave the Trading Spaces type of work for the homeowners.
Usually i will remove the lath and plaster. then use some good pieces of lath to fur out the walls like SAMEOLD said. then put half inch rock up. Why this house had two layers of lath and plaster is beyond me.

tcleve4911

VWOVW- Be careful calling my ideas MacGyvered.

1st - you can't just move the hinges forward cause the extension on a 2x6 door is on the exterior side!!! Your weatherstripping and latches are all in the way - MacGyver.

2nd - the casing on a window is typically covered with window treatments so have some fun and make unique casings.

3rd - built up 3 & 4 piece moldings can be done in a way to make it look like it's supposed to be that way. Most of the molding crap I see HO & HD doing looks like white trailer trash. It's plain, unimaginative, ordinary homogenized, & uninteresting.

4th - This HO has asked the contractor to fix a problem. Don't say coulda, woulda, shoulda.......Help him out

Not everything in remodeling is 1/2" Sheetrock & 2-1/2" preprimed colonial casing. Think outside the box will Ya? Do something fun is all I'm saying.

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Back in Maine
Dubbin' Around
Doin' good stuff ......

AtlanticWBConst

Use 2x4's for the casing trim.....



Actually, it's been done, check this out:

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- Build Well -

dkillianjr

I ran into the same problem in a house I was trimming (the ho was tryin to do it himself and save money but couldnt ) the doors were sticking out about 3/8" . I used regular 2 1/2" casing ripped a strip of wood for behind the casing and used some scocia moulding on the outside edge. I have to say it looked pretty nice I thought.


Dave

dkillianjr

Opps I misread I thought you said they stuck out 1/2" not 1 1/2" my idea probly wouldnt work then unless you got some bigger trim for around the edge I cant picture it if it would look good or not.


Dave

nywoodwizard

I also ran in to this problem in a 130 year old victorian ,on every window in the house,the old studs were actually 2"x4" instead of pissing around we rocked all the exterior walls with 5/8 ,the home owner didn't mind the extra insulation factor,and the additional cost wasn't that much more .

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Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.

Scott Young

I would use a jig saw, with a vaccum attachment to pull as much dust as I could. I then would use a sawsall for the parts I couldn't get to with the jigsaw. Make your cuts proud of the sheet rock, and plane it down to finish. Now you can case it like normal.

As for the exterior doors. How many? do they open into the home or open out. if the hinges are in the way, pull the door, jambs and casing and rebuild. simple enough. if the hinges are on the outside, then treat the same as a window.

remember, don't take shortcuts, do it right, you will hate yourself if you don't.you may have a little chalking and painting to touch up, but that is reality in our line of work.

jstrand23

Thanks for all of the great replies. First off, I didn't do the drywall. HO started tearing the plaster down, not realizing the jamb problem would occur.

I'd like to clarify that these are the old jambs of the old windows and the replacement windows are the kind that slip into the old jambs. Also, the HO would like to reuse the old casing that was somewhat original to the house, it's like 4" wide hardwood(oak i think) with plinth blocks at the bottom.

I like the idea of using a recip saw and cutting the old jambs back, not caring about the cut and then adding a new jamb on the inside of it. Would this cause anyproblems for the replacement windows? The replacements wouldn't be able to be removed into the house, but they shouldn't need to be removed anyways.

The HO also has two exterior doors that the jambs are sticking out on too and would like to keep these doors. Like tcleve pointed out, that the hinges are in the way. I would like to move the hinges and latch catch on this so she can reuse the original door.

Anyway, we'll see if she wants to spend the money to fix this stuff and make it look good. I'll update if I get the job and how it goes. Thanks

Jason

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Jason
Strand Carpentry
Glyndon, MN

415moto

"I like the idea of using a recip saw and cutting the old jambs back, not caring about the cut and then adding a new jamb on the inside of it. Would this cause anyproblems for the replacement windows? The replacements wouldn't be able to be removed into the house, but they shouldn't need to be removed anyways."

I too would cut the old jamb back, and then set a new jamb and stool over them. Just a smaller reveal on the window would result.

The 2 exterior doors, depending on the room they were in, I would try to do a built up casing that involved some sort of backband.

skymaster

Jstrand: there is a special tool used by flooring folks called a JambSaw, basically a 90 degree skillsaw, rides on floor and flush cuts the jambs and is height adjustable. In your case it would ride on the wall and cut your jambs. Price it out PUT IT IN THE JOB! Tool will make those jambs a total pc of cake, maybe 5 mins a window.
Jack M

lawndart

Skymaster is correct. I do a ton of hardwood flooring, and moulding work, and run into this problem quite often. I use my jamb saw, and it works wonders.

Good Luck
John K

vwovw

damn i have a jamb saw and didn't think of it

WNYcarpenter

Jamb saw seems like the best answer, but if you're applying casing directly to the jamb with a reveal, how do you eliminated the saw kerf? Set the saw 1/16th heavy and sand the kerfs off? Like posted ealier, leave the jamb and use a reverse extension. Obviously, the HO doesn't know any better, so how hard could it be to sell the new detail? It's not a cheat, often the extra shadow lines look nice and if you keep up the motif (sp?) trim details will look like everything was meant to be.

jstrand23

Jamb saw it is. Local tool company carries them for around $300, a Crain i think. and HO sounds like a go for a T&M job. Gotta love an actual reason for buying a new tool!!! Can't wait. Thanks for all the great ideas. HO also like the possiblity of adding a new jamb on the inside of old one. Will still get a jamb saw i think. Thanks again everyone.

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Jason
Strand Carpentry
Glyndon, MN

homesouth

Use a flush cutting trim saw. I have a BOSCH tool that you would use fpr this application. the blade is positioned an recriprocates at the base of the saw. hold it flat to the wall and trim the excess of material flush to the wall. I commonly use this tool to cut installed base trim when reinstalling intersecting products like a cabinet or wider casingsare involved. The tool will work well to do the job you have at hand. The jamb saw is an option but hevier and more difficult to control on long rips. Check it out and git r done.