Standard door sizes

Door size chart

Doors are sold in a short list of stock sizes. Interior doors come in the same widths whatever the room; what changes is the width you choose. Exterior doors are usually wider, and thicker (see door thickness). Every size below is the door slab itself, not the frame around it.

Sources: stocked sizes from Home Depot and Lowe's (exterior, closet); Pella; Andersen patio doors; room widths from Angi and Bob Vila.

Room by room, with more sizes for pocket, barn and bifold doors: interior door sizes. For entry doors with sidelights and storm doors: front and exterior door sizes.

See each door size to scale

Pick a width and a height. The drawing shows the door slab next to a 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) person, with the rough opening for a prehung interior door dashed around it.

Standard door width

There is no single standard width. Home Depot and Lowe's both list 24, 28, 30, 32 and 36 in (61, 71, 76, 81 and 91 cm) as the standard interior widths, and Home Depot also stocks 18 and 20 in doors for narrow closets (Home Depot, Lowe's).

When a guide quotes one number, it is 32 in (81 cm). Angi and Bob Vila both give 32 in as the usual interior passage door (Angi, Bob Vila). For front doors the standard is 36 in (91 cm): Pella calls 36 × 80 in the most typical entry door, and Lowe's gives 30 to 42 in as the usual range (Pella, Lowe's).

Which width to choose

Choose by the clear opening you need, not the slab. A door never gives you its full width: the stop on the latch side and the thickness of the open door both take some of it. HUD's Fair Housing Act Design Manual says a 32 in door gives only about 30 to 30½ in clear, while a 34 in door gives at least 31 5/8 in (HUD).

• Closets and pantries: 24 to 36 in. Lowe's puts most closet doors at 24 to 36 in wide and 80 in tall (Lowe's).
• Bathrooms: 28 to 32 in. Bob Vila calls 32 in more of a minimum than a standard, so go wider if anyone uses a walker.
• Bedrooms: 30 to 36 in, with 32 in the common choice. A 34 or 36 in door gets close to the 32 in clear a wheelchair user needs.
• Front door: 36 in. Exterior doors are thicker, so it takes a 36 in slab to clear the 32 in code minimum (see building code).

Standard door height

The standard door height is 80 in, which is 6 ft 8 in (203 cm). Home Depot lists 80, 84 and 96 in (6 ft 8 in, 7 ft and 8 ft; 203, 213 and 244 cm) as its standard heights, and calls 80 in the typical one (Home Depot). Lowe's says interior doors must be at least 80 in tall (Lowe's). Simpson Door puts the typical interior and exterior height "near 79 or 80 inches" (Simpson Door).

Tall doors: 8 ft

An 8 ft door is 96 in (244 cm) tall and comes in the same widths as an 80 in door. Lowe's says 36 × 96 in front doors are common in newer homes, and Bob Vila notes that an 8/0 door can look more in proportion in a room with a 10 ft ceiling (Lowe's, Bob Vila). It needs a rough opening about 98 in tall for an interior door, 98½ in for an exterior one.

Shorter doors

Some closets have 78 in (6 ft 6 in, 198 cm) doors, written 6/6 (Bob Vila). A stock 80 in slab will not fit that frame. You can shorten a hollow-core door, but Lowe's says to cut only at the bottom and no more than 1½ in (Lowe's).

Door thickness

Interior doors are 1 3/8 in (3.5 cm) thick. Exterior doors are 1¾ in (4.4 cm) thick (Simpson Door). Home Depot calls 1 3/8 in the most common interior depth, and JELD-WEN's specification for its steel entry doors gives 1¾ in (Home Depot, JELD-WEN).

Bifold closet doors are thinner, about 1 in (Angi). Thickness matters most when you replace only the slab: the stop, hinges and lock holes are set for one thickness, so measure the old door's edge first.

Door sizes in feet: what 2/8 × 6/8 means

Door makers and lumber yards write sizes in feet and inches with a slash. The number before the slash is feet, the number after it is inches. A 2/8 × 6/8 door is 2 ft 8 in wide and 6 ft 8 in tall, which is 32 × 80 in. Therma-Tru's tables list doors as 3/0 × 6/8 and 3/0 × 8/0, for example (Therma-Tru).

In part numbers the slashes are often dropped. A JELD-WEN steel door sold as "3/0 × 6/8" carries 3068 in its item code (Ringsend listing).

So the standard door size in feet is 3 ft × 6 ft 8 in (3/0 × 6/8) for a front door and 2 ft 8 in × 6 ft 8 in (2/8 × 6/8) for a typical interior door.

Slab, prehung and rough opening

Three sizes describe one doorway, and it pays to know which one a label means.

• Slab: the door panel alone, with no hinges or frame (Masonite). Its size is the size on the label: 30 × 80 in.
• Prehung unit: the slab already hung in its frame, with hinges and often weatherstripping (Masonite). The frame adds a jamb on each side and across the top.
• Rough opening: the framed hole in the wall, measured stud to stud and from the floor to the header.

Interior doors: frame the opening 2 in wider and 2 in taller than the door. Home Depot says the smallest rough opening measurement should be 2 in larger than the door, and Lowe's says rough openings are generally 2 in wider and taller (Home Depot, Lowe's). For a 30 × 80 in door that is 32 × 82 in (81 × 208 cm). JELD-WEN's install guide says the frame should be ½ in smaller than the rough opening each way, which leaves room to shim it plumb (JELD-WEN).

Exterior doors: allow about 2½ in. Masonite gives 34½ and 38½ in as common exterior rough opening widths and 82½ and 98½ in as common heights: 2½ in more than 32 and 36 in doors that are 80 or 96 in tall (Masonite). Therma-Tru's Benchmark chart gives 38½ × 82½ in for a 36 × 80 in door (Therma-Tru). Masonite's prehung entry instructions list 38¼ × 82 in for an inswing 36 in door, so read the sheet for the exact door you buy (Masonite instructions).

Interior: door plus 2 in each way (Home Depot, Lowe's). Exterior: Masonite and Therma-Tru figures.

Building code minimums

The International Residential Code sets one door size rule for houses, in Section R311.2. Every home needs at least one exterior egress door. It must be side-hinged and give a clear width of at least 32 in (813 mm), measured from the face of the door to the stop with the door open 90 degrees. Its clear height must be at least 78 in (1981 mm), from the top of the threshold to the bottom of the stop. Other exterior doors do not have to meet these sizes (NC Office of State Fire Marshal, quoting R311.2, AIBD).

That 32 in is clear width, not door width, and it is why the standard front door is 36 in. HUD's manual notes that entry doors are thicker than interior ones and that most building codes call for a 36 in door at the main entry, and Building Code Trainer reaches the same answer (HUD, Building Code Trainer).

ADA door width

The ADA Standards, Section 404.2.3, ask for a clear width of at least 32 in (815 mm), measured the same way: from the face of the door open 90 degrees to the stop. A doorway deeper than 24 in needs 36 in clear, and the Access Board's guide gives 80 in as the minimum height (U.S. Access Board guide, 2010 ADA Standards). Most private houses are built to the IRC, not the ADA, but the ADA number is the one to design to if someone in the house uses a wheelchair.

How to measure a door

For a new slab in the old frame, measure the door. For a new prehung door, measure the rough opening. The full guide is how to measure a door.

1. Width. Measure across the slab near the top, the middle and the bottom. Write down the widest number (Simpson Door).
2. Height. Measure the slab at three points across its width and keep the tallest. Leave out any door sweep (Simpson Door).
3. Thickness. Open the door and measure the edge. 1 3/8 in means an interior door, 1¾ in an exterior one.
4. Rough opening, for a prehung door. Take the casing off one side. Measure stud to stud at the top, middle and bottom, and from the floor to the header at both sides and the center. Keep the smallest of each, to the nearest 1/16 in (Masonite, Andersen).
5. Jamb depth. Measure the wall thickness the frame has to cover. Common jamb depths are 4 9/16, 5¼ and 6 9/16 in (Masonite).
6. Swing and hardware. Note which side the hinges are on and which way the door opens into the room. If you move the lock, check the door handle height.

Questions people ask