So, while you’re looking to replace your old Bifold door or want to have one in your hallway, you start wondering about the rough opening or are confused about how to size a rough opening bifold door.
The rough opening of a bifold door is calculated by adding ½ inch in the width twice to allow for thickness of drywall on both sides while the height is added with 1 to 1 ½ inch for the space under the door. So, for a typical 80 inch tall bifold door, the rough opening will be 49 inches by 82 inches (while the door size is 48-by-80 inches).
But that’s not all, the rough opening of a bifold door depends on various factors and before you can have them ordered, I’ll recommend to read my entire article so you can’t mistakenly order the wrong size.
Let’s start by knowing how the opening of bifold door is of significance at all.
Table of Contents
- Bifold doors – but why?
- 1. What is the rough opening for a bifold door?
- Rough opening depends on
- 2. What is the rough opening for a 28”,30”, and 32” bifold door?
- 3. What is the rough opening for a 36”,48”,60”, and 72” bifold door?
- 4. What is the finished opening for the bifold door?
- 5. What is the finished opening for the 24”, 30”, and 36” bifold door?
- 6. What is the finished opening for the 48”,60”, and 72” bifold door?
Bifold doors – but why?
A lot of homeowners love bifold door as they offer a seamless transition between indoor and outdoor. A typical bifold door is built to get fold halfway through unlike typical sliding or leaf door.
Some other pros of the bifold door include, their ability to allow natural light into the house and also fresh air to enhance the indoor living experience. These doors offer enhanced insulations and are so much more energy-efficient.
Have you ever get annoyed of the door taking so much of the space you have got? If so, the bifold door can be a perfect retreat.
As you can fold the door in multiple sections and so, it’s like closing the portable table onto the wall achieving an unobstructed and nice appeal. Because of this ability, there’re endless choices where you can install them without much hassle. Be it the opening to a beautiful garden or to a lavish swimming pool, there’re no much annoyance of wasting the space for accommodating the useless door’s leaf.
That’s why I still believe, that bifold doors are the most flexible doors you can ever have. They’re versatile and a pretty useful to multi-functional space of your house. They’re equally beneficial for commercial properties; where the owner is always looking to maximize functionality and use of space.
Also Read: Standard Sizes of Doors (mm, cm) (Bedroom, Kitchen, Living Room)
1. What is the rough opening for a bifold door?
Some of the standard bifold door sizes are 30”, 32”, 36”, 48”, 60”, and 72”. And with a standard height of 78” and 80”. For a 36” x 80” bifold door the rough opening will be approximately 38” x 82” to fit.
It is always good practice to square up the door before nailing the frame in place to make sure that it will close properly.
Similarly, the rough open for a 48” x 80” bifold door will be 50” x 82”. Experts suggest that the rough opening for a bifold door frame should be around 2” wider and 2” taller than the actual door dimensions.
But still, the rough opening depends on a lot of factors.
Also Read: Rough opening for a garage door of sizes 16′, 18′, 8′, 9′, 10′, 12′
Rough opening depends on
- Jambs or drywall: It depends on whether the door is finished with jamb or not. Like a typical bifold door, there’ no jamb. All you do is finish it with drywall. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have jambs along with drywall. You surely can. But if you’re planning to have jambs, make sure to give allowance in the rough opening of a bifold door.
- For the height, you need to know what’ll cover the floor. If you’ve got thick carpet, make sure to include its allowance on the height.
2. What is the rough opening for a 28”,30”, and 32” bifold door?
The rough opening for a 28” x 80” bifold door will be 30” x 82” to fit. Therefore, the rough opening for a 28” bifold door should be 30” wide and 82” in height. Similarly, a 30” x 80” bifold will need a rough opening of approximately 32” x 82”. And for a 32” bifold door it will use a rough opening of 34” x 82” to fit perfectly. So, the rough opening is normally 2” wider and 2” taller than the actual door size.
3. What is the rough opening for a 36”,48”,60”, and 72” bifold door?
The rough opening for a 36” x 80” bifold door will be 38” x 82” to fit. Therefore, the rough opening for a 36” bifold door should be 38” wide and 82” in height. Similarly, a 48” x 80” bifold will need a rough opening of approximately 50” x 82”. For a 60” bifold door it will use a rough opening of 62” x 82” to fit perfectly. Last but not the least, a 72” bifold door should be 74” wide and 82” in height to fit. In short, the rough opening is normally 2” wider and 2” taller than the actual door size.
4. What is the finished opening for the bifold door?
The finished opening for a bifold door should be 2” taller than the normal door height. Now this condition will be acceptable when there is hardware top and a dry wall of ½” thick and 1.5” space under the door. Therefore, the allowable finished opening width for the bifold door will be ¼” on each side of opening.
Also Read: Rough opening for doors – 24”, 28”, 30”, 32”& 36” – Opening Sizes & Charts
5. What is the finished opening for the 24”, 30”, and 36” bifold door?
The finished opening for a 24” bifold door is 24 1/16” x 81”. The finished opening width will be 24 1/16” and the finished opening height will be 81” long. However, the actual size of panel should be 11 ¾” x 79”. Likewise, for a 30” bifold door opening width should be 30 1/16” and the finished opening height should be around 81” long with a panel size of 14 ¾” x 79”. For a 36” bifold door the required finished opening is 36 1/16” x 81”. Where the finished opening width will be 36 1/16” with a finished opening height of 81”. However, the actual panel size should be 17 ¾” x 79”.
6. What is the finished opening for the 48”,60”, and 72” bifold door?
The finished opening for a 48” bifold door is 47 13/16” x 81”. The finished opening width will be 47 13/16” and the finished opening height will be 81” long. Likewise, for a 60” bifold door opening width should be 59 13/16” and the finished opening height should be around 81” long. For a 72” bifold door the required finished opening is 71 13/16” x 81”. Where the finished opening width will be 36 1/16” with a finished opening height of 81”.
