Drywall behind door molding cut too far

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

We're replacing the door casings and baseboards in our house.

One of the bedroom doors has uneven casing. For some reason the door was placed too close to a corner, although it seems there was plenty of room to cut it further away from the corner. So the casing near the corner is only 2 inches wide, and the casing on the other side is 4 inches wide, like the rest of the house.

After taking off the casing on this door, it seems that the drywall on the 4 inch side was cut too far. The builders used chips of wood to fill in the gap. See pics.

What if I took off the door jambs, removed the chips of wood, attached the door jambs back onto the actual drywall...can I add a chunk of drywall sheet to the other side of the door jamb? So it all evens out and the molding is even on both sides?

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Comments (3)

User
7 years ago
Some term definitions to start. The hole for the door is called a rough opening(RO). That hole is made by installing king studs(which span floor to ceiling) and jack studs(which span floor to the top of the rough opening) and are attached to the header(top of the opening). See the link I inserted.

Those chips(called shim packs) are actually the shims used to install a door frame in a rough opening to the jack studs and header and are the usual procedure. Although there are not enough of them in the pictures(unless you have already removed some). On a door like that(with 3 hinges) there should be shims at each hinge and one pack approximately centered between the hinges(5 shim packs total). And similar placings on the latch side.

There seems to be a bit more to this situation. What is the line on the right side of the wall? Is that where the old trim stopped? Is the line old caulk?

If I were fixing that, I would remove the sheet rock at least as far as one stud to the right of the stud forming the rough opening(called a jack stud) and replace that sheet rock to make a smooth section of the wall.

I'll bet the left side is the hinge side and was situated as such for the door to open against a wall on the left. That is pretty normal design.It is also fairly normal for the left side trim to be more narrow, since it is usually blocked by the open door.

You will probably need to move the entire rough opening to get the 4" you want. An experienced carpenter/handy person can do that fairly easily. It is also a DIY project for someone willing to learn. There is nothing load bearing involved, so simply adding studs to the left side(actually nailing two to the existing left hand jack stud) and removing the jack and king studs on the right (and the header) to install a new jack/king stud and header for the new RO.

That will, however mean removing the dry wall on both sides of the walls and replacing with new.

That is a lot of work and expense to add 2" however.
Tim Walker
7 years ago
You can remove the shims and slide it over and fill the gap on the right. Take your time and make sure everything is level, plumb and square.
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kudzu9
7 years ago
Not to be insulting, but you are in over your head. I can tell from your questions that you do not understand how door jambs are installed, and that trying to change this yourself will result in a mess. Please get a professional involved; otherwise you will not be happy with the result.

Drywall behind door molding cut too far

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Tim Walker

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