Evanston, Illinois
Door Frame & Jamb Repair in Evanston, IL
A kicked-in frame, a hinge side torn out of the jamb, a strike area that has given way. The door is usually fine. It is the frame around it that has failed.
The same opening after the jamb was rebuilt, the door rehung and the casing replaced.
Door Frame & Jamb Repair · Evanston
Door Frame & Jamb Repair for Evanston, Illinois homes
A kicked-in frame, a hinge side torn out of the jamb, a strike area that has given way. The door is usually fine. It is the frame around it that has failed.
Evanston's pre-war houses are full of original profiles that have to be matched rather than replaced, and that is most of what we do here. Whichever it turns out to be, the carpenter who prices your Evanston job is the one who shows up to do it.
When a frame is past saving, the whole jamb comes out and a new one goes in, plumbed, shimmed and cased so the reveal stays even the whole way round. Casing gets matched to the rest of the house rather than swapped for whatever is on the shelf, which matters in older Lake County stock where the original profiles are no longer milled.
What's included
Door Frame & Jamb Repair: what the job covers
- Split jambs glued, clamped and reinforced
- Blown-out hinge mortises cut back and let in with new stock
- Strike sides rebuilt with full-length reinforcement into framing
- Whole jambs replaced, plumbed, shimmed and re-cased
- Casing and trim profiles matched to the rest of the house
Door Frame & Jamb Repair in Evanston
Other carpentry we do in Evanston
We are in Evanston regularly, so it is rarely a special trip. Pick another service or call.
Common questions
Door Frame & Jamb Repair in Evanston, answered
Do you do door Frame & Jamb Repair in Evanston?
Yes. Evanston is inside our regular service area and we work there every month. Call (224) 944-8652 and we'll set a time to look at the job and put a written price on it.
Someone forced our door. Can the frame be repaired or does it all need replacing?
Most of the time it is a repair. If the split is contained to the strike side we cut it back, let in new stock and reinforce it with a full-length plate screwed into the framing behind, which ends up stronger than the original. If the frame is past that point we will say so rather than patch it.
Can you match the casing on an older house?
Usually. Older Lake County trim profiles are mostly out of production, so they get matched by building the profile up from stock pieces rather than by finding an exact match. Once it is painted you should not be able to pick out the new run.
How much does it cost?
Every job is priced after we see the actual space, so you get a real number rather than a range. The estimate is free, it's in writing, and the scope is spelled out before any work starts.
How soon can you start in Evanston?
Usually within a week or two for smaller work, longer for a full build. Evanston is on our regular route so we are not adding a trip charge to get there. Call and we will give you a real date rather than a maybe.
Do you give written estimates?
Always. Scope, materials and a firm number, in writing, before anything starts. If something turns up once we open a wall or pull trim off, you hear about it before we carry on rather than seeing it on the invoice.
Do I need to be home while you work?
No, as long as we have access. Most of our work runs with the homeowner out. We will agree how we get in and how we lock up before the first day.
Evanston houses
What we find behind the trim in Evanston
Much of Evanston predates the war, which means plaster over wood lath rather than drywall, original trim profiles milled a century ago that are on no shelf today, and openings that have moved with decades of settling. Matching matters more than replacing here, and almost nothing is a straight swap. We would rather look at the job than quote it from a photograph.
Interior finish carpentry generally does not need a permit. Trim, crown, baseboard, built-ins, shelving, drywall repair and interior doors hung in an existing opening are finish work, and in most Cook County municipalities that requires nothing pulled.
Structural changes do. Removing or altering a load-bearing wall, or creating or widening an opening, is permitted work almost everywhere. It should be pulled rather than skipped, because unpermitted structural work shows up at resale.
Check with Evanston rather than with us. Requirements differ between municipalities and they change. We will tell you when a job crosses that line and work to whatever Evanston requires, but the authority on Evanston rules is Evanston.
Timing
When to book in Evanston
Interior carpentry runs every month. Weather does not stop it, so winter is the most available time to book in Evanston and January through March gives the widest choice of dates.
Wood moves with humidity. Lake County summers are humid and winters, once the heat is on, are dry. Timber takes on moisture and gives it back, so joints are cut to allow for that rather than forced tight.
Material needs to acclimate. Trim and doors delivered off a cold truck into a heated house need days in the room before they are cut. Installing straight off the van is why joints open a season later.
Spring and autumn book fastest, because everyone decides at once. If your date is fixed, get on the calendar earlier than feels necessary.
Plain English
The words we use, explained
Carpentry has its own vocabulary and most of it never gets explained to the person paying. Here is what the terms on your estimate mean.
Cope. An inside corner where one piece is scribed to the profile of the other rather than both cut at 45 degrees. Coped joints stay closed as the house moves through the seasons; mitred inside corners open. It is the clearest tell of finish work versus trim installation.
Scribe. Cutting a piece to follow the actual shape of a wall, floor or ceiling instead of assuming it is straight. Nothing in a house is straight.
Reveal. The deliberate quarter-inch setback where casing meets a jamb. It gives the eye a line and hides the fact that the jamb edge is never perfectly flush.
Shim. A thin tapered wedge used to bring something to plumb in an opening that is not. Every door hung in an older house depends on them.
Blocking. Extra framing inside a wall so something can be anchored later. Cheap while the wall is open, expensive afterwards.
Ready when you are
Need door Frame & Jamb Repair in Evanston?
Free written estimate, an honest price, and a start date you can plan around.
Call (224) 944-8652