I'm replacing all my interior doors with prehung doors, and I ran into a problem with one. After squaring up opening, I find I need about 1/16" more width along the bottom 24" on one side (stud is not quite vertical). The stud is also warped a little so the opening is wide enough on one side of the door, but not on the other - the corner sticks out 1/16" too far.

To further complicate things, I already attached the hinge side of the prehung door, so I'd prefer to not shave down the jamb. So what I want to do is shave down the stud a little. At first I thought I'd have to rent a reciprocating saw for this, but given how little material I need to remove, and the fact that the stud is warped so I'm really just taking off the corner and don't need to remove material along the entire face, I'm thinking I can just use my Fein Multimaster segment saw blade. Any advice?

 

if it's only 1/16", and the stud is warped, I would think you could smack the stud with a hammer and get the jamb to fit. Reciprocating saw would be best, jig saw 2nd best. Multimaster might eventually work, but would be slow and might ruin the blade if you have to cut too much.

 

Hi, Plane or belt sander would work. I would however use a chisle. The work will be covered up, so pretty isn't required.
Good Luck Woodbutcher

 

I think he already has the jamb in place, the way it sounds. And that the door probably won't shut unless the latch side jamb has more clearance.

 

You won't be able to shave that 1/16" off without removing the jamb. So remove it and plane the jamb down. It will be the easiest this way instead of trying to invent some other technique to avoid what you don't want to do. Some of the best advice I ever received: Don't fight the process.

 

Yes, the jamb is already nailed in place on the hinge side. I was sure the opening was wide enough, and it is on one side of the opening. Unfortunately, the face of the stud isn't perpendicular to the wall, it's slightly twisted, so the opening is big enough on one side, but not on the other. I can close the door but it rubs. I just need 1/16" of an inch so it doesn't rub and the gap is consistent from top to bottom.

I could pry the jamb off and take the door out of the opening to get more room to work, or disassemble the door jamb so I could shave it down. But I've got so little material to remove I think it is worth trying to do it in-place first. Maybe this will turn out to be one of those lessons I have to learn by making a mistake.

 

What if you secured the jamb and shaved the door. It's only a 1/16" and more than likely would not be noticeable.

 

Or slip a hand saw between the jamb and stud and create some clearance.

 

I think this would be the perfect job for a multimaster with a flush cut blade.

FYI, I had a similar problem installing a window a few months ago, where I needed to remove about a quarter inch off the studs on each side. I wasn't worried about weakening them, as the wall is block construction (basement), and the studs are 2x4's turned sideways basically acting as furring strips to attach the drywall to (not load bearing). The window wasn't in yet, so I had plenty of room to work with.

I tried a couple of things including a dremel multi-max (indeed takes forever), a handheld planer (can't get it very close to the corners), and setting a reciprocating saw's depth adjustment to a quarter inch, then making a zillion cuts across the stud, and chiseling out the kerf.

No idea why I didn't think to get out my jigsaw... I think that's what I'll use next time.