How to Frame Doors and Windows for a Shed

Framing doors and windows for a shed is just like framing them for a house. It is a little more difficult than the general framing practice. There are a few different things you need to do while framing out a door and a window. You also need to think about how wide you want to make the door to your shed. You will most likely be putting some big equipment in the shed like a lawn mower, you need a wider than normal door for stuff like that. Really, the only thing you need to do to make a wider door than normal is to us a larger header for structural support. In general, if you are using a door width of between 4 and 6 feet you should use a 2x6 header. If you are using a door width between 6 and 8 feet you should use a 2x8 header.

First I will walk you how to frame a door for your shed. You need to begin by cutting two 2x4 jack studs. Jack studs are what you use to actually frame out the door inside the already existing studs. They are used to get the dimension of the door frame to the correct size. You need to remember to cut your jack studs 1-1/2 inches shorter than the rough opening height to account for the thickness of the sole plate. Once you have your jack studs cut to the right length you need to nail them to the sole plate and the king studs. A king stud is just a full length stud that forms the rough opening of the door opening minus the jack stud. The term jack stud is rarely used because it is essentially just a normal stud that frames out a door. Once your jack studs are in place, you need to build a header to go across the top to create the top of your door frame. The best way to do this is to cut two 2x4 pieces to length and sandwich a piece of 1/2 inch plywood in between them. The plywood spacer will create the correct thickness for the door header. Your next step is to cut what are called cripple studs. Cripple studs are basically just a stud to support the frame, they are placed above headers and below sills. So you cut your cripple studs to fit between the header and top plate, also place a cripple stud against each king stud and every 16 inches on center between them. Fasten the cripple studs with 8d (2-1/2 inch) nails, nailing through the top plate and toe nailing into the header. You now have a door frame that hopefully is big enough to fit the door you have selected for your shed. The opening is going to look wider than it should and it's supposed to. You'll get to that step down the road a bit.

Now we move on to framing a window which is not too much different than framing a door. First you need to cut jack studs that reach the top of the window opening and nail them to the sole plate and king studs. Typically, a window header is installed at the same height as the door header so the jack studs for both opening are the same length. Next, make a header for the window opening out of two 2x4's with a 1/2 inch plywood spacer sandwiched between them. Fit the header on top of the jack studs and nail into it through the king studs. Nial cripple studs between the header and top plate at 16 inches on center. Now you need to cut and nail together two 2x4's for the sill. Put the sill between the jack studs at the bottom of the opening, then measure from the sill to the sole plate and cut 2x4 cripple studs to this length. Nail a cripple stud in place against each jack stud and at 16 inches on center between them and then nail the sill into place and you are set. That is if for framing a window.

Remember that the opening for a door and a window will be wider than the door itself and that is because you have to shim and do some things when applying a door and window that requires some extra space. Now you are ready for the next step in building your shed and that is raising the walls.