To try and minimise and damage to plaster when prizing, lay a bits of wood where the tool will touch. This spreads the load and shouldn't cause damage.
If the frame is being stubborn you could always use a handsaw to cut one of the sides in half and then remove it in two pieces or hitting the sides of the frame with a club hammer might also help.
Removing Old Door Frames
Modern construction is different and where older frames was held in by nails driven into a piece of wood that's been sandwiched into place between bricks, newer frames are mostly screwed, ether way removing these frames is easier then you would of first thought.
It can be a nice and rewarding task as the results are very viable and old frames can often be ruined from to many layers of paint and damage from over the years.
This guide talks about an internal frame but as long as the external door has a wooden frame the method is the same, we will assume you have already removed the door.
Removing The Frame
Architrave
This is the wooden molding that's around each side of the frame, its purpose is to cover the gap between wall and frame.
This will only be nailed on so using a pry bar or other suitable tool prize this off the frame, do this is steps, prize bit by bit of this way you will take the molding off without snapping it and its easier, you may need to use a hammer on the pry bar to brake into the initial gap.
If you prize from the frame side you will minimise damage to any plaster.
Once you have enough gap to get your fingers through you can simply just pull it off without to much effort.
Do the two sides first then the top.
The frame
This is where it gets harder.
In most cases there will be a gap between brick and frame but if there isn't ether side they you may have to brake away some plaster our hammer your pry bar into the gap to make it larger.
Start on one side of the frame at the bottom, you want to get as much leverage as possible so the longer your pry bar the better.
Use the pry bar coming in from each side as this wiggles it out as well, once the gap to to large for the pry bar to do anything move up half way and start prizing from there.
Once the side is lose enough you can gap hold of the side and pull it out of place, you might need to move the side from side to side to order to loosen the nails from the top of the frame.
The top of the frame will never be secured, only nailed down into the frames sides so once one side is out start on the next side, this will also bring the top section down with it.
Is the wood between the bricks came out then pack the gap in with wood or even mortar to keep strength in the wall.
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