Bifold doors are much commonly installed in our homes. You can have this type of door for the closets and bedroom entrance. These doors are known to be the best picks for interior doors when space is a constraint and you can't go for single doors that will take up a lot of space to swing in or out while opening. When installing a door, rough openings are first cut into the walls. You need to cut an opening so as to make room for installing the bifold door. But the task of deciding the dimensions of rough opening for bifold doors needs to be done much carefully. Here's more about importance of the same and tips on making the right sized rough opening.
Rough Openings in the Wall
When adding in-built wall closet or shelves, you can consider covering them with doors. Also, when you want to create an opening in two rooms, the wall is cut and often a door is installed in the same entryway. In such cases, the rough opening plays a major role. Dimensions of rough openings need to be right so as to ensure that the door perfectly fits in between the same. A large opening can lead to extra gap which needs to be trimmed later and a small opening will mean that the doors will overlap and the opening needs to be increased in size.
Things to Consider
While cutting the doors, size of the door and its framework needs to be considered. Another thing to be considered is whether you will be wrapping the rough opening with a drywall. If not, are you going to add a wooden trim or a wooden frame on the opening? If you are planning a decorative cased opening, then its dimensions need to be considered before cutting the rough opening. Also, consider whether you are opting for a pre-hung door which is already installed in a frame.
The Dimensions
Now what goes between the rough opening and the door plays the primary role in deciding the final dimensions of this opening created for doors. Firstly, you need to measure the total height and width of your door. In case of pre-hung doors, you need to make the rough opening two inches wider and taller than the width and height. While opting for a wood trim or wood frame, consider its width and accordingly cut the rough opening. If the wood frame is 2 inch wide add the same with total width of the door to get the width of rough opening. Add the width of wood frame with the height of the door and further add 3/4th inch more to have the total height of the rough opening.
While you opt to have a drywall wrapping around the rough opening, width of rough opening remains same as the total width of the door. The height of rough opening needs to be ¾th inch more than the total height of the door. Hence, for a door having a width of 48 inches and a height of 80 inches, the rough opening will be 48 inches wide and 80¾th inches tall. If you are working on the bedroom door instead of bifold closet doors, you need to consider the dimension of small gap between the door and floor while counting rough opening height for the doors.
With the right dimensions, the installation is sure to be a perfect one. Once the rough opening is made and you start installing the frame work, once again check the dimensions. You can take help of a professional for this task to ensure that there are no excess gap or lack of space for bifold door structure.
