How to Measure Your Door Opening
Swinging Café Doors requires your door opening width. We use your door opening width to calculate "each door width" allowing space for hinges and clearance between the doors.
So we do the hard work for you. Just buy based on your door opening size and we will send you custom made doors and hardware to fit your opening width.
We recommend you give the most accurate measurement possible. Our custom doors are made for your opening size, so for the best fit we will need the most accurate measurement. All hardware is sent with screws meant to install directly to wood, if you are going thru drywall or anything else you will need to purchase longer screws for the hardware. Following the guidance below we recommend measuring in three places and providing the smallest dimension.
Pre-Hung Door Opening
(The pre-hung door will need to be removed for proper installation of the double doors)
You can choose to remove or leave the door stops. If you leave the door stops then you will need to measure in between the door stops and mount the doors to the door stops.
You will need to measure in three locations to ensure the door will fit properly. Measure at the top, middle, and bottom of your door opening. Write down all the opening sizes, then use the smallest door opening size when entering your door opening width on the website.
Cased Door Opening
These openings have no doors installed and typically include trim to finish the opening.
Measure at the top, middle and bottom of your door opening. Write down all opening sizes, then use the smallest door opening size when entering your door opening width on the website.
Hallway or non-Traditional Door Opening
Mounting to Studs
If you're installing the swinging café doors in a hallway application, you will need to check for studs for mounting purposes.
Locate the studs in your hallway. Studs would need to be located across from one another. Once you have found the studs on each side of the hallway where you are mounting the doors, take the measurements.
Mounting the doors in a location without studs
We recommend purchasing trim boards (trim boards eliminate the need for studs). You will simply mount the trim boards to the finished wall then mount the doors to the trim boards. We still require the overall door opening width and we will account for the trim board thickness, door and hardware clearances.
Measure at the top, middle and bottom of your door opening. Write down all opening sizes, then use the smallest door opening size when entering your door opening width on the website.
Fraction of an Inch
When measuring the total door opening size, make sure you take precise measurements. The measurement might not be a whole number, the "fraction of an inch" is important, we custom make the doors to fit your exact door opening size. If the door opening is 36-1/4" wide, then 1/4" is the fraction of an inch. Please select the proper fraction of an inch for your door opening size.
We require the finished door opening size. So please proceed to finish the opening as desired and take measurements after casing, drywall, or jambs have been installed.
Common Door Openings- 30", 32" or 36"
Do you have a door opening that is standard such as 30”, 32”, or 36”?
If the door opening width is just slightly wider, 1/16” or 1/8”, you could still install pre-made doors, however you would have a larger gap between the doors.
Example: If you measure your door opening size and determine it is 32-1/8”. You would purchase 32” doors. Since the doors were made for a 32” wide opening and yours is an 1/8” larger the gap between the doors would be an additional 1/8”. Alternatively, you could put a 1/16” spacer between the jamb and hardware (on both sides of the doorway) to eliminate the added gap between the doors.
Commonly, most customers prefer to have us custom build their doors to ensure a perfect fit.
Trim boards can be added to any order. We will still need your total door opening size. We then account for the trim boards, hardware, and gaps needed.