Installing a New Exterior Door

By Matt Weber

From cutting access to framing and installation.

I recently built a nice, big deck at the rear of our project house, but there wasn’t a door to access it from inside. I decided to install the door in the kitchen at the corner of the house, since the only other two options were the master bedroom or a bathroom. The kitchen posed problems of its own, with a huge set of oak cabinets leaving us only about 8 feet of wall space with which to work. The project was definitely a challenge, but I managed to support the ceiling, cut through the wall, reframe the wall and install the door. Here’s how it went.

A T-Jak is a helpful tool to support the top plate while you install the studs.

Use a T-square to mark the ceiling joists near the location of your temporary brace wall.

Solid Support

Any time you’re cutting the studs out of a load-bearing wall, you must construct a temporary brace wall to support the overhead load. If you’re dealing with a multistory structure, I’d suggest consulting a structural engineer about how to support a heavy load. In this case I was working on the top floor with only the roof overhead, which is easily supported by the bracing techniques shown here. To build this, I first marked the proposed location of the door on the wall, and then marked the location of the ceiling joists. Make sure the brace wall runs perpendicular to the ceiling framing, otherwise you’re just holding up drywall.