Rough opening for a 30″, 32″, 36″, 48″, 60″ & 72″ bifold doors

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.

While you’re looking to replace you bifold door or want to have a new piece installed; you might be interested to know what is the rough opening for a 30”, 32”, 36”, 48”, 60”, and 72” bifold door?

Bifold door is a type of door that is built up with series of panels that fold up against the wall upon sliding open. It works like a concertina.

Most of homeowners prefer to have a normal single or double leaf door in a house. But such doors are not convenient in restricted spaces. They ultimately utilizes and requires space while closing or opening. That’s where bifold doors come handy.

Bifold door just take almost half of the space you need for a typical single leaf door. The panels built are hinged in a way such that it can easily folded with side of a wall. Because of the seamless less; it offers the full view and maximum access from one room to other. With swift motion, they’re pretty easy to open or close unless heavy full leaf doors.

Gone are the days when you experience unpleasant sounds while folding open or closing the bifold doors. Now the manufacturers have made unique designs of hinges that are quite easy to manipulate while opening or closing.

Let’s start by knowing how the opening of bifold door is of significance at all.

Table of Contents

• Bifold doors – but why?
• How a bifold door is built?
• Rough Opening of a bifold door
• Typical size of a bifold door
• What is the rough opening of a 30 inches bifold door?
• What is the rough opening of a 32 inches bifold door?
• What is the rough opening of a 36 inches bifold door?
• What is the rough opening of a 28 inches bifold door?
• What is the rough opening of a 48 inches bifold door?
• What is the rough opening of a 60 inches bifold door?
• What is the rough opening of a 72 inches bifold door?
• 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?
• Conclusion

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)

How a bifold door is built?

A typical bifold door is built up of multiple sections. These are connected with one another with hinges to fold into one side of the door frame. They don’t swing in or rout like a typical leaf door. These doors are ideal for a balcony or a patio where you can have a large window but due to limited space can’t have a full swing door.

Mostly homeowners prefer bi-fold doors as a gateway to garden or conservatory. They’re a flexible door to have that let you access the other half of the house without losing your space for no reason.  

Rough Opening of a bifold door

While ordering for a bifold door, it is critical that you measure the rough opening and order the right size. Any confusion or mistake in the rough opening will not just cause problems for you while installing the door but you might also have trouble operating it in the future.

The rough opening of a typical door has a 2” inch more in dimension of both height and width.

So, that means a rough opening width will be 2 inches more than the door width while the rough opening height will be 2 inches more than the door.

The rough opening margin in the size is to account for the finished lumber that will be added to the jambs of the door. So, that means a 36 inches wide bifold door will have a rough opening of 36+2 = 38 inches in width.

Typical size of a bifold door

Bifold door usually come with height of 6/6 (78”) and 6/8 (80”) while the width typical comes from 30 inches to 72 inches as: 2/6 (30”), 2/8 (32”), 3/0(36”), 4/0(48”), 5/0(60”), and 6/0 (72”).

So, a 36” x 80” door (width x height) will require a rough opening of approximately 38” x 82” (36+2)” x (80+2)” to fit. But even if the door size is right, still you need to make sure the door is fully square up in order to fit perfectly into the door opening.

The 2 inches of allowance in rough opening is to cater for the drywall on both sides and top as well as in the bottom for the clearance under the door floor finish.

What is the rough opening of a 30 inches bifold door?

A typical 30”x80” bifold door (30 inch or 2/6) require a rough opening of 32 inches in width and 82 inches in height. So, a 30 x80 inch bifold door will set fit in the rough opening of approximately 32 inches by 82 inches. This allowance will on the sides and top for the drywall finish and for floor clearance at the bottom of the door.

What is the rough opening of a 32 inches bifold door?

A typical 32”x80” bifold door (32 inch or 2/8) require a rough opening of 34 inches in width and 82 inches in height. So, a 32 x80 inch bifold door will set fit in the rough opening of approximately 34 inches by 82 inches. This allowance will on the sides and top for the drywall finish and for floor clearance at the bottom of the door.

What is the rough opening of a 36 inches bifold door?

A typical 36”x80” bifold door (36 inch or 3/0) require a rough opening of 36 inches in width and 82 inches in height. So, a 36 x80 inch bifold door will set fit in the rough opening of approximately 38 inches by 82 inches. This allowance will on the sides and top for the drywall finish and for floor clearance at the bottom of the door.

What is the rough opening of a 28 inches bifold door?

A typical 28”x80” bifold door (28 inch or 2/4) require a rough opening of 30 inches in width and 82 inches in height. So, a 28 x80 inch bifold door will set fit in the rough opening of approximately 30 inches by 82 inches. This allowance will on the sides and top for the drywall finish and for floor clearance at the bottom of the door.

What is the rough opening of a 48 inches bifold door?

A typical 48”x80” bifold door (48 inch or 4/0) require a rough opening of 50 inches in width and 82 inches in height. So, a 48 x80 inch bifold door will set fit in the rough opening of approximately 50 inches by 82 inches. This allowance will on the sides and top for the drywall finish and for floor clearance at the bottom of the door.

What is the rough opening of a 60 inches bifold door?

A typical 60”x80” bifold door (60 inch or 5/0) require a rough opening of 62 inches in width and 82 inches in height. So, a 60 x80 inch bifold door will set fit in the rough opening of approximately 62 inches by 82 inches. This allowance will on the sides and top for the drywall finish and for floor clearance at the bottom of the door.

What is the rough opening of a 72 inches bifold door?

A typical 72”x80” bifold door (72 inch or 6/0) require a rough opening of 74 inches in width and 82 inches in height. So, a 72 x80 inch bifold door will set fit in the rough opening of approximately 74 inches by 82 inches. This allowance will on the sides and top for the drywall finish and for floor clearance at the bottom of the door.

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”.

Conclusion

The rough opening of a bifold door is 2” more in width and height to allow for ½ inches of drywall thickness on both sides and at the op. And also for the bottom clear height from the bottom of the floor. So, a typical 36” x 80” bifold door should have a rough opening of approximately 38” x 82”.