# Building door jambs?



## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

What tools do you have? 

Do you have a surface planer?

Will these be painted when done or stained?

You will find that the precut jamb sets are the cheapest in the long run--but the quality is not great.
Most are finger jointed and then covered with a thin veneer.

Clear pine is great but cost more than cherry (when bought from a local wood cutter)

Have you checked prices from local small mills? I regularly purchase cherry and walnut from small farmer/.cutters for about $2.50 a board foot,in the rough.

More details [lease.----Mike----


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## jonesbill (Oct 19, 2010)

I have a planer, yes. 

The jambs will all be painted, gloss white. Was thinking of Porter Glyptex.. have used that in the past for interior trim, etc. 

Haven't checked local sawmills, never occurred to me. Figured I'd be getting "green" stuff from them with too much moisture to make it any potential savings worth the hassle of movement down the road. 

But there is a local supplier about 15 miles from me that I had forgotten, and they may have something there I can use. I bought some river birch there for a project a few years ago, I'll have to give them a call and see what they have. 

Do you think poplar would be better than pine? I guess I'd have to check the price and see how that compares. Not looking to build a piano... heck its just a door jamb...:thumbup: Just trying to save a few bucks and finish hanging the doors, for some reason I always feel like I'm paying too much buying from the big box stores no matter what I'm buying.


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## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

Poplar is great to work with for paint grade----and usually about the cheapest----no knots and no pine pitch.


Most mills have a kiln---some will plane the wood at a very reasonable fee and even rip one edge --which is a real time saver.


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## ihoven (Aug 9, 2011)

I would have to agree on the poplar option. We had to make jamb extensions on all of our windows and doors in the house when we replaced them. We used poplar and they look great. Good luck.


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