Metal Framing Door Headers

This is the actual thickness of a 2x4.

Metal framing door headers.

Unlike wood framing steel framing doesn t rot due to moisture and it resists rust. Infill stud sill angle header tracks infill stud jamb additional anchorage jamb base track cripple stud cripple stud use of cripple stud to receive head sill tracks at the. You will need to add 1 2 of plywood between the 2x4 s to get the right wall thickness of 3 1 2. Large openings in the wall are made for windows and doors.

Most door frames that are 4 feet wide or less require a 2 by 6 header. Cut the door header. Step 1 measure and mark the door jambs from the floor to the desired height of the header. If you need to cut dozens of metal studs and tracks quickly use a circular saw fitted with a toothless carborundum metal cutting blade 7 when cutting individual steel studs or tracks with a circular saw cut on the closed or web side and support the piece tightly on sawhorses.

Between 4 and 5 feet the header should be built 2 inches wide and 8 inches long while a larger opening needs a header that is 2 by 12. If you are using metal stud framing you can buy an easy to install one piece factory fabricated header or you can build your own. To cut individual steel studs and tracks use straight cut aviation snips photo 1. The longer the distance a header spans and the heavier the load it supports the more substantial it needs to be.

Armor door 36 in. Set your store to see local availability choose options. Measure the width of your door frame. When in doubt use 2 by 12 inch headers.

A header is a simple beam sized to support the load above the opening it spans. Fire rated gray right hand flush steel prehung commercial door and frame with panic bar and hardware 679 00 699 00. Then a header must be inserted to carry the load of the interrupted stud s. When the opening is greater in width than the stud spacing and most windows are wider than 24 in.