# hanging interior doors



## jpete750 (Dec 14, 2007)

Hello everyone. I am new to the forum so I hope I am in the right place to ask this question. If not, please direct me to the correct one.

I have a contractor who is replacing some doors in our house built in 1971. Everywhere I look concerning the distance of the bottom of the door to the floor says 3/8 to 1/2 inch. I came home today to find that he had completed installed two doors and had another almost finished. The distance at the bottom of the doors is s lightly more than 1". This looks terrible. 

What can I do about this? Can he say I should have said how far I wanted the doors from the floor? It seems to me the spacing is standard, as is the installation. I think all he had to do was trim the jamb before installing the door. Am I wrong? 

Also, will I be expected to pay for the replacement of the doors he has already installed as well as for his labor to remove and replace.

Thank you for your help.


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## skymaster (Oct 30, 2006)

Pre hung doors are standard at 1" clearance to the floor. The reason for this is to avoid having to cut doors if installed in carpet. 
Unless you specified that you wanted the doors closer in WRITING then the only recourse is to rip em out cut the jambs, re-hang em, re trim with new trim. If I was the one doing this job and it was NOT SPEC'D b4 I did them than I would charge you to re-do them. Sorry
For your curiosity I would go and measure the old doors b4 you take em out. Either the old jambs were shorter or doors longer. Just make very very sure that you can lower the new doors and still cover the head space with the trim. In fact The old trim may just be your clue it is probably wider.


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

Welcome Pete. 

I had alot of turn-of-the-century homes when I was in the remodeling business. I always asked the customer, because early in my career I had to redo a kitchen door exactly as skymaster describes and for the very reason you posted this question. I did not charge _her_ extra to do it because I felt like I should have known to notice this often overlooked detail. i had not yet had the experience to know the difference yet though so I felt obligated to make the fix on my time. It made a _very_ noticeable difference in her home because she had hardwood floors. The difference looks like alot more than it actually is so I know where you are coming from.

It worked out for me in the end. She turned out to be a regular customer that always called me for everything, never asked for a price, and paid immediately. But I learned from that early on in those victorian style homes especially with hardwood floors that you should always ask if they want the same distant beneath the door. Some would look at me like I was asking a stupid question and say something like "Well, I guess. What do you mean?" etc. Or, "It doesn't matter." Of course on those answers I always cut the jambs and installed them at the height the old doors were because those customers were the most likely to say after the job "Ooooh! Yuck! those doors are too high is there an adjustment you can make?" :laughing: 


The only silver lining I can give you is that if the doors are ones that stay closed most of the time, the increased height will make your heating and cooling a little more efficient because your return air will increase and so then will your air exchange rate. But probably not enough to notice on your bill of course. :glare:


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## jpete750 (Dec 14, 2007)

Thank you for the responses. I appreciate open communication with my contractor. He has done some beautiful work for us and almost always included us in decision-making. 

He and his crew are changing the doors now to 3/8 - 1/2". He told me when I asked about it that he always installed doors at 1". You are right that they looked bad on the wood floors. He wasn't happy with me but he agreed to do it.

As you noted, homeowners often don't think about things like door height. Though in this case I did talk to him about it and told him there was no need to leave room for carpet or area rugs as there would be none. That is what we count on the professional contractors to help us with.

Thanks again for your responses.


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## End Grain (Nov 16, 2007)

With the trend towards solid flooring and away from plush hi-pile carpeting, will the building supplies industry see a new or second standard on interior doors? Perhaps 81" or 82" high instead of the common 80"?


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## woodman42 (Aug 6, 2007)

End Grain said:


> With the trend towards solid flooring and away from plush hi-pile carpeting, will the building supplies industry see a new or second standard on interior doors? Perhaps 81" or 82" high instead of the common 80"?


Thats an excellent question End Grain. I bet it takes them a while before they catch up with what people want.


I do agree with Timbers, you may not see the difference in your utility bills, but you can feel the difference in air movement.


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## art3427 (Dec 24, 2007)

The 1" at the door bottom is also related to the efficiency of your HVAC system. When the door is closed, the only return air you get from the room is under the door. You can't force new "conditioned" air into the room any faster than the return can pull "old" air out. The bigger the crack under the door, the faster the exchange rate.

art3427


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## daryl in nanoose (Feb 18, 2007)

art3427 said:


> The 1" at the door bottom is also related to the efficiency of your HVAC system. When the door is closed, the only return air you get from the room is under the door. You can't force new "conditioned" air into the room any faster than the return can pull "old" air out. The bigger the crack under the door, the faster the exchange rate.
> 
> art3427


I agree totaly on this. I have never liked 1" from finished floor in fact the last time I checked the code it required 3/4". !/2" min is a good choice here with wood flooring.Even without hvac you must have sufficient air coming into a room.


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## Youngman (Dec 28, 2007)

jpete750 said:


> Hello everyone. I am new to the forum so I hope I am in the right place to ask this question. If not, please direct me to the correct one.
> 
> I have a contractor who is replacing some doors in our house built in 1971. Everywhere I look concerning the distance of the bottom of the door to the floor says 3/8 to 1/2 inch. I came home today to find that he had completed installed two doors and had another almost finished. The distance at the bottom of the doors is s lightly more than 1". This looks terrible.
> 
> ...


It is not just the looks that dictates the distance you need to the floor, if you have a forced air furnace and the door is closed the room will become cool as the room pressurizes due to the fact that there is no place for the air to go. With one inch clearance the problem is solved. If the customer requests you leave less room then do so but if not, one inch is a standard. Something I learned when taking my trade was 7/11 and 1, 7 inches from the top of the door to the first hinge and 11 inches from the bottom of the door to the bottom hinge and 1” on the bottom of the door. In the case of three hinges your:glare: guess was as good as mine.


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