Door Jam Fitment?

My contractor just installed my door jams and temporarily hung the doors. There is a big gap between the door frame and door jams, it looks like the frame was too big. He used shims so he actually could make some kind of contact with the frame. Do you think that the door frame needs to be altered to fit the jams tighter, or can I fill or caulk the gaps with something and call it good. By the way he sprayed a thin strip of "Great Stuff" around inside the gap, and I completely understand that this does nothing for isolation, so don't scold me! Any help is greatly appreciated, Thanks.

I'd be getting my money back or make him do his job properly!

My first thought is that there is no mass in that stuff, so if that's all you have between the frame and the jamb, then your isolation is shot. You need to keep the mass solid all the way around the room, with no gaps. The drywall must go right up to the jamb, not just the frame, creating a complete unbroken solid massive surface. My second thought is that if your door is very heavy (which it should be!), then just shimming the jamb to the frame and filling the gap with polyurethane foam, is NOT going to give the door the support it needs. The jamb needs good, solid support all around, especially on the hinge side. That whole thing is going to sag and eventually come apart, totally wrecking your isolation. Frankly, I think your constructor does not understand at all what you are trying to accomplish, and he screwed up there. If that were my room, I think I'd make him take it out again and do it right. But that's just me. Maybe others might have better opinions on what to do there. - Stuart -

ya I definently agree with you guys, any other thoughts I should hear before I yell at him?

Wood sometimes are not straight an its a pain to get things aligned good! But that surely looks like a lot of gap

Looks like a standard door installation to me. A rough opening for a door isn't always plumb or straight and you want your door jam to be both. That is why rough openings are oversized and the difference is bridged with shims which can be finely adjusted. If it were me, I would make some door trim from 3/4" MDF to get some mass over the gap and caulk it airtight.

makes sense guys, thanks everyone.

stuntbutt wrote:

Looks like a standard door installation to me. A rough opening for a door isn't always plumb or straight and you want your door jam to be both. That is why rough openings are oversized and the difference is bridged with shims which can be finely adjusted. If it were me, I would make some door trim from 3/4" MDF to get some mass over the gap and caulk it airtight.

Agreed. If the framing isn't plumb enough on at least the hinge side (the side I work hardest at making plumb) then common install is wooden shims. Fire rated and solid core doors can pull a jamb out of shape with little trouble just because the door is so heavy and puts so much tension on the framing/wall at the opening. I like to get it as tight as possible on the hinge side to alleviate potential pinching or if it gets hinge bound over time, from shifting. This could be any heavy door install, whether in an acoustic environment or a commercial environment, if it is of a wooden jamb. After setting the door, stuff insulation into the cavity and add the extra mass into the trim, like Stunt recommended with the MDF.

Cool, thanks man

I would try and fit your contractors head in those HUGE gaps he has left in the door jam and then I'd start stuffing his mouth and ears with that useless and horrible expanding foam as you demand your money back... Seriously, though, I employed a contractor for the 1st month of my studio build and very quickly realised that his building phylosophy was "if you can't see it, it doesn't matter". I had to watch him like a halk, had sleepless nights worrying about the corners he was cutting and eventually decided to get rid of him and continue the work myself. I am not tarring every contractor with this brush but studio building is very different to the type of jobs these guys are used to... Personally, I would show him the botched job he did on your door and ask him to leave through it Good luck hally