Metal Door Frames
"Hollow-metal doors and frames are strong, stable, secure, and fire-resistant, which is why union carpenters routinely install them in hospitals, schools, hotels, and other buildings. When installing a hollow-metal door frame in a metal-framed partition, attached anchors make it easy to fasten the jambs to the floor and to screw the neighboring metal studs to the jambs. As you screw the studs to these anchors, though, you need to make sure the jambs are perfectly centered so drywall can tuck neatly behind the lip of the frame on both sides of the wall.
"Centering the jambs is easily accomplished solo using the simple homemade spacer shown here. It consists of three lengths of 1/2-inch copper water-supply pipe joined with two 90-degree copper fittings. I size the center piece of pipe so the assembled spacer will fit snugly inside the jambs, and solder the joints or secure them with Type S-12 pan-head screws. "At the bottom of each jamb, use the spacer for aligning the jamb to the bottom track of the wall before fastening the jamb to the floor (photo above), which in turn will make it easy to center the bottom of the neighboring stud when it’s screwed to the jamb. Up top, after the
stud is installed, center the jamb by reversing the spacer and slipping it over the stud (photo above). The outside diameter of the 1/2-inch pipe is 5/8 inches, which yields the perfect clearance for 5/8-inch drywall. The spacer works so well that it’s used in the Commercial Door Hardware class at the Louisville campus of the Indiana/Kentucky State District Council of Carpenters JATC."
--Gary Muncy, member of Carpenter
Local 64 in Louisville, Ky.