When choosing a door for a house, you must first decide on the size of the door. The size of the door is essential to the exterior of the house; the wrong size of the door will make it not fit the exterior of the house properley. The individual who will build the house must chose the size of the door when framing the house because once the framing stage establishes the size of the door, it will determine if the door will fit correctly into the house or if it is going to be dificult to use that door.
A standard size for a door is important for suppliers of the doors as they have a standard size of the doors in stock. The standard widths of the doors range from very narrow for service doors to very broad for front entry doors. One of the standard widths of the doors is 36 inches.
How to choose the right door size
A 36-inch door width is a standard size because it allows individuals to move there groceries or furnitures through the doorway. Another standard size for the doors is 80 inches; this is the most common height for residential doors. An 80-inch height is a standard size for doors because it allows for the doors to work with the standard heights of ceilings in the residence.
A height of 84 inches and 96 inches are also available for doors, but only if an individual’s home has more higher ceilings. Additionally, the taller heights require more framing to the door height and the taller doors will cost more money for the doors because the suppliers do not maintain doors of this size in there inventory. The rough opening of the doorway is not the same as the size of the door.
The rough opening has to be larger than the size of the door. Adding two inches to the width and height of the door determines the rough opening dimensions for the door. This two-inch opening is required to allow the installer to shim the frame of the doorway so that the door will hang plumb in the doorway and the latch will line up with the strike plate on the doorjamb.
The rough opening size is also established so that the door will not be dificult to open; if there was no required opening in the rough opening, it would create friction for the door to swing open. Some of the types of doors require different size specifications than others. For example, a single door will have different requirements for its size as compared to a double door because the doorway will have to be wider so that each door will have clearance from the frame when the door swings.
Sliding patio doors will also have different size requirements because only one panel will be able to open while the other panel will remain fixed in place. French doors will have the same size requirements as sliding patio doors but will have to provide clearance on both sides of the doorway. Each of these door types can be measured against the categories for each type of door in a sizing chart.
The material that is used to make the door will also affect the sizing requirements for the door. For example, a 36-inch door made of wood will be much more substantial than a 36-inch door made of fiberglass. One of the benefits of fiberglass is that the wood panels will not expand and contract based off the humidity of the area in which the door is installed.
A 36-inch fiberglass door will be stable and will not dent. Another example is steel doors; a 36-inch steel door will be very strong and will be available for a lower price than some of the other available materials. The downside to using a steel door is that the steel will show any impacts on the door.
However, wood, fiberglass, and steel doors is all available in the standard sizes within a sizing chart. One of the accessibility requirements for the size of the doorway is that the doorway has to be wide enough for individuals who use a wheelchair to use it. The doorway must be at least 32 inches wide for the individual to be able to pass through it.
This measurement is taken when the door is open 90 degrees. Therefore, the doorway slab has to be wider than 32 inches for those who use wheelchairs to have access to the doorway. Lever handles will be necessary for those who use wheelchairs once the threshold for accessibility is met.
These accessibility requirements will have a positive impact on the resale value of the house and the experience of all visitors to that house. Before ordering a new door, the individual should of confirmed the size of the rough opening in which the door will be installed. An individual may make the mistake of measuring the old door slab in which the old door was installed and assuming that the new door will be the same size and clear opening as the old slab.
However, the old slab may have changed over time due to the installation of door trim or the settling of the framing. By measuring the distance from stud to stud in the rough opening, an individual can ensure that the size of the door that is ordered will be an appropriate size for the doorway. Additionally, another measurement that must be considered is the threshold height for the doorway.
The height of the threshold will raise the bottom of the door slab. The threshold height will impact both the way that the floors of the residence meet the door and if water will be allowed into the residence during periods of rain. Therefore, the rough opening height has to include enough room to accommodate for these factors.
