Arched Door Frame Construction

After marking the arch on your drywall cut out the curved portion of the drywall with a jig saw as shown right.

Arched door frame construction.

Adding an arch to a doorway is a great way to bring architectural interest to a room. An arch top door can be an expensive investment due to the nonstandard design of the outer frame. Measure layout and cut two plywood arches that represent the top of your arched door opening. A typical door opening is 2 inches 5 1 cm wider than the door size being installed to allow for the thickness of the jamb material and shims to plumb the jamb.

Click on photo to enlarge. This will be the bottom plane of the arch. Hold a board that s the same width as your doorway at the top of the door frame so there s 1 2 in 1 3 cm of space on either side of it. Determine the size of the door opening.

Up from the floor the common height for interior doors. Arched openings are made by building a plywood form to fill in the top of a right angle doorway requiring two arched plywood panels one for each side with filler pieces in between. Drive screws into the middle of the board every 3 4 inches 7 6 10 2 cm to secure it in place. Here s how to frame it.

Measure your door carefully and cut the opening to fit using a reciprocating saw. Two pieces of 1 2 in. Screw 2 1 2 in 6 4 cm boards onto the corners of your door frame. Plywood make up a full inch and door openings if framed with 2 4 s are actually 3 1 2 in.

The size of the door opening will vary depending on the size of the door you plan to install. Rip several pieces of wood blocking to the width of your framing lumber minus the thickness of the two pieces of plywood in this case a 2 4 minus two 3 8 in. With two studs framing the door opening mark both sides of the opening 80 in. Universal arch kit comes preformed to a 13 in.

Place the frame into the doorway and cement in the bricks starting at the bottom of the arch shape the center brick to fit if needed. Any doorway any opening the universal arch kit can do it all. However such a door adds a lot of class to a room and will look great in any setting. Pieces of plywood equals 2 3 4 inch wide blocking 3.

Down on the stud to install see diagram in the picture gallery above. An arch adds elegance to a home and is popular as a fairly easy way to open a wall for a spacious look and add a focal point. Use your cutout wood pieces as a pattern for your drywall. Over on the header and 13 in.

Leave the frame in place for 24 hours until the cement dries.