How to remove door frame. Door frames or jambs may be removed to change door swings, add space for more openings in an exterior wall, simplify an interior layout, or improve the function of a room.
Door frames are nailed into the studs that are exposed on both sides of the doorway. Most of the frame is covered by trim(while a small amount remains visible after all the trim is removed).
After working with your friends who specialize in this skill and have experience removing door frames and jambs, you will gain increased confidence for many home improvement tasks.
How to remove door frame
It is fairly easy to remove a door frame. Most likely, you won’t even need to spend any money, and it will take a very short amount of time.
Often, door frames are nailed to the stud walls of your house or apartment.
This wall can be removed easily with minimal effort by simply removing the slabs of the architrave.
Cut off the seal
It’s a good idea to remove the arches or any decorative trim ornaments that are applied around door frames first. There are several ways this can be done.
You can use either a utility knife or even a putty knife to slice through the caulk and sealants on both sides of where it meets the wall and frame, essentially removing the decorative trim fixture from both ends.
You want to make sure you snip through it rather than just scoring the outer surface of it so as not to ruin it in any way during removal.
Removing the architrave
Using a rubber mallet, or similar hammer, gently hit a large chisel, until there is enough of a gap to slide in a pry bar.
If you want to protect the wall from getting any damage from the process of removing the architrave, place a piece of thick cardstock or cardboard between the mallet and chisel on the wall side.
Once you have somewhere for your pry bar to go start working around the trim in different spots with it to loosen up more of it so that you can eventually remove all of it eventually.
If you want to know where each piece will be going back when you reassemble everything take notes and collate where/when certain pieces should be returned later.
Taking off old sealant and nails
After the architrave has been placed in place and any necessary caulking or gluing has been completed, you should use a scraper to make sure that the surface is as clean as possible.
This will give you a more smooth surface to reapply your baseboards and any additional trim you may choose. It’s also important to check for nails that might have been left behind during construction.
Removing the frame
Once the architrave is off you can use the same technique to remove the frame.
You will need to look and see if the doorstop is a separate piece or if it’s carved into the jamb.
Cut around the edges of the pieces to break the paint or any sealant.
Saw through the separate pieces of the frame, across their breadth, keeping at a 45-degree angle so they can be levered out without binding.
Remove any screws then carefully pry each piece of the frame off, in the same way, you pried off the architrave.
If your piece has a sill at its base you should pull this up last as this usually holds everything together with something like silicone rather than nails.
This is why you should still be able to pry it from each side at the base with something like a wood chisel to get underneath it beforehand too before pulling upwards.
Using a reciprocating saw and blades suited for cutting through metal, you can run the saw around your walls until you can get to an individual board with just the tips of the tool.
Then work it back and forth between the wall and that board until you are able to pry off that piece without risking damage to surrounding areas.
Continue this process around the perimeter of your room until no boards remain in place on one side of your wall.
Organize your workspace
Now that you have the frame of what was once a door, remove any leftover nails or screws and cut them off. If you can’t remove them at all, just be mindful not to leave excess lying on the surface.
You will also want to remove any caulk or other sealant that might be around the edge. The last thing one wants is for their hinges to get caught in the mess! Gently scrape around the area to ensure everything’s smooth.
How to remove door frame
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