Framing Window And Door Headers

These headers carry the roof load from above and prevent any sagging of the wall framing specifically around the top plates.

Framing window and door headers. Toenail the cripple stud to the top plate and the side of the header. A window frame supports the weight of the wall around the opening using the studs to transfer the load to the foundation. This is also the top of the jack studs. The header should be at the top of the window frame.

When framing your shed walls its very important to have headers over door and window openings. Cut the header to fit between the king studs. Make a header by fitting two 2 x 8s around a 1 2 inch piece of plywood. Architects and engineers who designed the houses had calculated that 2 12 headers were normally deep enough and sturdy enough to span most smaller openings.

Aligning these at the same height will make a room appear even and make measuring the cripple studs above the doors and windows easier because they will all be the same length. Which means the jack studs are 81 inches long typically. Along the sides the king and jack studs support the header and transfer the load to the floor. Together the headers king studs and trimmers act as a system that transfers weight from above down and around the window and door openings to the floor and foundation below.

Install a cripple stud between the header and the top plate halfway between the king studs. To match the rest of the room it also needs to line up with the door lintel which is also called a header. 82 1 2 inches also happens to be the standard header height for windows and doors. The double 2 x 12 header fits snug under the double top plate.

Many residential projects use double 2 x 12 headers for all door and window headers because for typical 8 ceilings you don t have to cut cripples above the header to fill in the space. At the top cripple studs transfer the load from the top plate to the header. The longer the distance a header spans and the heavier the load it supports the more substantial it needs to be. If you re a novice framer then this is the height of the bottom of the window and door headers.