Standard Door Sizes and Dimensions: Interior, Exterior and Rough Openings

Standard door dimensions chart

In the US, nearly every residential door is 80 in tall, and the width is what changes from room to room. Widths step up in 2 in increments. The table gives the slab (door leaf) size, which is what a door is sold by.

Older houses often have 78 in (6 ft 6 in) doors, and mobile homes use their own shorter, narrower sizes. Measure before you order a replacement rather than assuming 80 in.

36 × 80 in 36 × 80 in32 × 80 in 32 × 80 in28 × 80 in 28 × 80 in24 × 80 in 24 × 80 in

Door size codes: what 2868 and 3068 mean

Suppliers write door sizes as four digits in feet and inches, width first. 3068 is 3 ft 0 in wide by 6 ft 8 in tall, which is the 36 × 80 in front door. The same code appears on plans, quotes and the label on the door edge.

A pair of doors is coded by the total width: a 5068 double door is two 30 in leaves, 60 in across in all.

Rough opening sizes for prehung doors

The rough opening is the framed hole in the wall before trim goes on. For a prehung interior or exterior door, the usual rule is door width plus 2 in and door height plus 2 1/2 in, measured from the subfloor. That leaves room for the jamb (about 3/4 in per side) and roughly 1/4 in of shim space per side.

The extra 1/2 in of height covers the floor finish and the gap under the door. If you are installing over thick tile or a floating floor, add that thickness too. Exterior units with a sill sometimes call for slightly different numbers, so check the installation sheet; manufacturers print the exact rough opening on it.

Interior door widths by room

Building codes set few rules for interior doors in houses, so the width is mostly a matter of what you need to move through the opening.

• Bedrooms: 30 or 32 in. A 32 in door is the safer choice if a queen box spring (60 in wide, 9 in deep) or a dresser has to pass through, because furniture goes through on edge and the clear opening is about 2 in less than the door width.
• Bathrooms: 28 to 30 in in most homes, 24 in in older or very small baths. Use 32 to 36 in for a bathroom planned for a wheelchair or walker.
• Closets and pantries: 24 in single doors, or wider bifold or sliding doors (see below).
• Main living areas and accessible routes: 36 in. It is the only standard width that reliably gives 32 in of clear passage.

The IRC requires hallways in homes to be at least 36 in (3 ft) wide, which is why the door at the end of a corridor is rarely wider than 36 in. Moving a sofa? Compare its depth and height with the clear opening; our sofa dimensions guide lists typical sizes.

Clear width and accessibility

The number that decides whether a wheelchair, walker or appliance fits is the clear width: the space between the face of the open door and the stop on the latch side. The door's own thickness and the stop eat about 2 to 2 1/2 in.

Two rules use the 32 in figure. The 2010 ADA Standards (Section 404.2.3) require 32 in of clear width in public and commercial buildings, and the IRC (R311.2) requires a house's main egress door to give 32 in clear width and 78 in clear height. Both are measured with the door open 90 degrees. In practice that means a 36 in door. ADA also caps thresholds at 1/2 in and places door hardware 34 to 48 in above the floor.

Offset (swing-clear) hinges add about 1 1/2 in of clear width by swinging the door fully out of the opening, which can make an existing 32 in door usable for a standard wheelchair without reframing.

Exterior door sizes

A single entry door is 36 × 80 in in most new homes, with 32 in for side and garage entries. Taller 36 × 96 in units suit 9 ft and higher ceilings. Exterior slabs are 1 3/4 in thick, against 1 3/8 in inside, for strength, insulation and security.

• Sidelights: narrow glass panels of about 10 to 14 in each. A 36 in door with two 12 in sidelights makes a unit roughly 64 in wide once the frame is included; check the exact unit width in the catalog before framing.
• Double entry doors: 60 in (two 30 in leaves) or 72 in (two 36 in leaves) by 80 or 96 in.
• Sliding patio doors: sold as 5, 6 and 8 ft wide units (about 60, 72 and 96 in) by 80 in tall, with actual frame sizes about 1/2 in smaller, such as 59 1/2 × 79 1/2 in. 82 in and 96 in tall versions also exist.
• French patio doors: pairs of 30 or 36 in hinged leaves, 60 or 72 in overall.

For garage vehicle doors, which follow a different system entirely, see garage door sizes. For a combined overview of door and window standards, see doors and windows.

Closet, barn and pocket door sizes

1. Barn door width. Make the slab 2 to 4 in wider than the finished opening so it overlaps the trim by 1 to 2 in each side. A 32 in opening takes a 34 to 36 in door.
2. Barn door track. The track must be twice the door width so the door clears the opening, and the wall beside the opening must be clear of switches and trim for that distance. A 36 in door needs a 72 in track.
3. Pocket door wall. Typical frame kits need a rough opening of about twice the door width plus 1 in, and a height of about the door height plus 4 1/2 in. The wall section that holds the pocket cannot contain plumbing, ducts or most wiring.

UK and metric door sizes

The UK sells both imperial-derived and metric doors, and they are not interchangeable. Europe uses national metric standards (Germany's DIN 18101, for example), so check local sizes before buying abroad.

The most common UK internal door is 1981 × 762 mm (6 ft 6 in × 2 ft 6 in). A UK imperial door is about 2 in shorter than a standard US door.

How to measure a door for replacement

1. Measure the slab width across the face from edge to edge, at the top, middle and bottom. Use the largest figure.
2. Measure the slab height on both sides from the top edge to the bottom edge, not to the floor.
3. Measure the thickness at the edge: 1 3/8 in for most interior doors, 1 3/4 in for exterior and solid-core premium doors.
4. Note the swing. Stand on the side where the door opens toward you. Hinges on the right make it a right-hand door, hinges on the left a left-hand door.
5. Record the hardware layout: hinge positions and size (3 1/2 in hinges are typical inside, 4 in outside), the lock bore (2 1/8 in diameter is standard) and the backset, the distance from the door edge to the bore center (2 3/8 or 2 3/4 in).

Matching an existing frame is easier with a slab that is slightly oversized and trimmed. Most hollow-core doors allow only about 1/4 in to be trimmed from each side before the cut reaches the hollow center; solid-core and stile-and-rail doors allow more.

Frequently asked questions