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I'm converting a 1/2 bathroom into a laundry room & needing to replace the 24" door with a 28" door, so standard 27" washer/dryer units can be installed.

There are currently some trim pieces along the drywall sides used to fasten drywall, these can be removed or trimmed down some to gain some space. Doing this will allow the king & jack studs to be moved 4" wider to fit a 28" door.

The Question: can I just replace & widen the bottom 2x4 on the header to the jack studs versus removing & widening the entire header?

If needed, I could also install cripple studs in the 2" spaces now created with widening.

Door Header Image

Ken W.
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  • The use of a 28" door will make getting 27" appliances into and out very difficult. The door stops will reduce the opening to no more than 27.5 inches. If at all possible you should fit a wider door. – Jim Stewart Nov 29 '16 at 15:08
  • Jim, it'd be great to be able to install a 30" door, but the two adjoining walls are angled into the door and on the opposite side of this room with 8' ceiling is a room with 12' ceilings........Isherwood, the existing door is only 24" wide, not 2'-4" wide. – Ken W. Nov 30 '16 at 02:37

3 Answers3

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That 2 x 12 is over engineered. I'm guessing this is an older house, built when large dimensional lumber was much cheaper.

First, See this question Proper size of header to support new door in load bearing wall?

It looks like you can conservatively get away with 2 2x6's on edge for the header, and some cripple studs to fill the empty space (Ignore text on img) - enter image description here

I'm still trying to figure out how you're getting four inches in there without moving that wall stud at the far right of the picture.

Community
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Chris Cudmore
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  • Chris, it's a 1988 home, this door is actually on angles to the other two walls. There not stud walls on either side, they're ripped down angled pieces of 2x4's that were used to fasten drywall too. – Ken W. Nov 29 '16 at 17:57
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Concerning the idea of just adding on to the end of the existing header, every framing example I have ever seen has the header as a continuous length of dimensional lumber with its ends resting on the jack studs. I don't know the framing codes but a pieced header must not be according to code.

Jim Stewart
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  1. Take door out.
  2. Knock out all three studs to the right.
  3. Take out everything above door.
  4. Install new longer 2x4, 2by2x12, 2x4 over door, with new jack next to it.
  5. Install new king stud. (you can definitely reuse old jack and king - just hammer them out on the ends with a block)
  6. Install door.

You are overthinking this. You need to buy 1 2x12, 1 2x4, and a door. Your top plate should be about 33" (you can go a little under if your boards are really straight).

DMoore
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