I know this is an old thread, but I am installing doors in my main floor icf house and was wondering if the double 2X6 installation method is still a good method for the doors or if there has been a better method or improvements in the last couple of years.  I am about two days away from placing the icf on my main floor so and quick replies would be appreciated.

One concern I had about the double 2X6 method that dave described is I wondered how strong the anchor points would be, because from what I can tell you would have to anchor the double 2x6 into the single 2x6 embeded in the wall and then the door would be anchored to the double two by six, any comments on this.

Thanks

Personnaly we always use single 2x12 ripped to wall thickness and drive nail or screws couple inches in the concrete before the concrete pour. 3 pieces of 2x6 surely won't be as economic nor as sturdie !

If your worried about thermal bridging use 2x8 "for 6'' core" and bring it flush to the inside.

thanks for the reply thagreen, however unless I am not following how does using a 2X12 or 2X8 solve the issue of having your door to the inside so that you can get more than a 100 degree opening with using a standard 2X6 jamb door

Thanks

Door buck : 2x8 flush to inside covered outside by extending exterior panel 1 1/2 in. Eliminates thermal bridging.
Door jamb: Brick mold exterior to help eliminate water intrusion and facilitate install/fastening.
Full jamb extension to interior, not forgetting drywall butting in extension.

I know of at least one icf manufacturer who offers a foam buck with fastening strip imbeded and with 45 deg. angle to use full opening radius of a door. That is if you go with no extension on the door.

Posted By jojo12 on 26 Sep 2011 12:18 PM
thanks for the reply thagreen, however unless I am not following how does using a 2X12 or 2X8 solve the issue of having your door to the inside so that you can get more than a 100 degree opening with using a standard 2X6 jamb door

Thanks

Take a look at the pics in this thread showing how I did my doors. I used standard 4" jamb doors. End result works good, but it is just one person's approach in building one house.

http://www.greenbuildingtalk.com/Forums/tabid/53/aff/4/aft/74612/afv/topic/afpgj/2/Default.aspx#54587

when I try to look at the post nothing comes up, is it still there?

Here is what I understood Dave to be talking about regarding entry doors, is this correct.  Sorry I did not have time to draft it up.

Thanks

Looking at the illustration above, I cannot see why simply running a 2x12 ripped to the wall width wouldn't be best.  The above drawing has more thermal bridging than a single piece of lumber surrounding the window/door.  The only benefit I can see is that if you plan on using a stucco type material, you can avoid some of the expansion/contraction issues that could occur with wood at that outside corner.

On the topic of thermal bridging, and this isn't necessarily referring to your post, Jojo, but isn't worrying about thermal bridging kind of overkill - just trying to avoid that little bit of lumber around a window or door.  I mean, in the grand scheme of things, we are installing a door or window that is going to suck a lot more energy than that little buck, right???  Along those same lines, I know after installing my doors and windows, it was real nice having that solid surface to pound nails into.

jeepster the reason for the setup above was what I thought Dave was trying to get across for being able to use an inswing door flush mounted to the inside using a standard 6 9/16" jamb.  a 2X12 is fine and simple but then I either have to have a door at the exterior thereby limiting the opening to roughly 100 degrees or go to an extended jamb special order door which is about $600 per door more and order times are greater.  I am open to the easiest/best approach to achieve larger swing opening.

Posted By jojo12 on 26 Sep 2011 04:06 PM
when I try to look at the post nothing comes up, is it still there?

Unfortunately, GBT doesn't automatically convert URLs into links, and I don't feel like going through the hassle of coding them into links in the HTML edit window. You have to copy and paste the URL into your browser address box. Also, photos on old pages are links only so you'll have to download and view the photos with whatever photo viewer you use.

Posted By jojo12 on 26 Sep 2011 06:57 PM
jeepster the reason for the setup above was what I thought Dave was trying to get across for being able to use an inswing door flush mounted to the inside using a standard 6 9/16" jamb.  a 2X12 is fine and simple but then I either have to have a door at the exterior thereby limiting the opening to roughly 100 degrees or go to an extended jamb special order door which is about $600 per door more and order times are greater.  I am open to the easiest/best approach to achieve larger swing opening.

When you get the other threads I listed you'll see my doors are standard 4" jamb doors and open all the way.

Posted By jojo12 on 26 Sep 2011 06:57 PM
jeepster the reason for the setup above was what I thought Dave was trying to get across for being able to use an inswing door flush mounted to the inside using a standard 6 9/16" jamb.  a 2X12 is fine and simple but then I either have to have a door at the exterior thereby limiting the opening to roughly 100 degrees or go to an extended jamb special order door which is about $600 per door more and order times are greater.  I am open to the easiest/best approach to achieve larger swing opening.

Oh, I see. You don't by chance have sidelights for your doors, do you?  If so, you'll get more than 100 degrees of swing.

BTW, that last link works.  There was just too much stuff in the url pasted.

http://www.greenbuildingtalk.com/Forums/tabid/53/aff/4/aft/69764/afv/topic/Default.aspx

Oops, That last post had the broken link for the other topic, but this one had too much stuff in it as well. Here is the link:

http://www.greenbuildingtalk.com/Forums/tabid/53/aff/4/aft/74612/afv/topic/Default.aspx

thanks jeepster, that was the problem,

dmaceld, I look at the pictures and posts and understand what you did.  The only question I have is how sturdy to the doors feel, because placing the 2X6s and 1" styrofoam together results in a 4" piece going against your icf wall.  in my case the styrofoam is 2 5/8" thick leaving only a 1 3/8" with which to secure your 2X6 sandwich beam to the inset wooden buck, so I was wondering if there was a lot of vibration or movement in your doors when closed aggressively or not.

Thanks

Posted By jojo12 on 26 Sep 2011 09:55 PM
thanks jeepster, that was the problem,

dmaceld, I look at the pictures and posts and understand what you did.  The only question I have is how sturdy to the doors feel, because placing the 2X6s and 1" styrofoam together results in a 4" piece going against your icf wall.  in my case the styrofoam is 2 5/8" thick leaving only a 1 3/8" with which to secure your 2X6 sandwich beam to the inset wooden buck, so I was wondering if there was a lot of vibration or movement in your doors when closed aggressively or not.

Thanks

If you look closely you'll see I used 2 x 12 bucks inside the ICF opening so they span the entire thickness of the ICF block. I put 6" nails through them into the concrete. The 2 x 6/styro/2 x 6 sandwich beam is toe nailed into the 2 x 12 buck. It all is quite sturdy. No rattling or vibration at all when the doors close, just a good solid slam when the wind blows them shut!

As I mentioned in one of the linked threads, and someone mentions above, in the grand scheme of things the thermal bridge of the 2 x 12 isn't enough to be concerned about.

At the very least I think you would want to use 2 x 10, ripped as needed, with it extending to the interior wall surface. That would give you plenty solid frame to install the sandwich beams and allow the ICF styro to cover the outer edge. On the other hand, using the 2 x 12 for the buck like I did gives a good nailing area to fasten the siding and the trim.

My window bucks are inset completely inside the ICF, the door opening bucks are not.

Posted By jeepster on 26 Sep 2011 08:36 PM
Oops, That last post had the broken link for the other topic, but this one had too much stuff in it as well. Here is the link:

http://www.greenbuildingtalk.com/Forums/tabid/53/aff/4/aft/74612/afv/topic/Default.aspx

Interesting. For me, using FF on XP the number at the end of the URL causes no problem at all. I wondered if that was causing the problem for jojo. Apparently it was.