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buildiva22

Interior door height for second floor

buildiva22
11 years ago

I always think that in an open area or in a good size room, the taller the door is, the more airy or the more grand feeling a room will give.

We are going to have 10 ft ceiling on main floor with all 8 ft doors, we are trying to decide the height of doors we should be using on the second floor for a 9ft ceiling. We got some quotes of the doors and was surprised to see that a 7ft door costs more than an 8 ft door, with 6'8 door the cheapest.

Here are a few options we are thinking about and would like to seek some opinions.

1) Debating if it's worth it to spend an extra $1K to upgrade all the doors to 7ft on the second floor. I looked through some old threads on this forum and it seems like 7ft door would look proportionally best with a 9 ft ceiling.

2) Since 8ft door is actually cheaper than 7ft, go with all 8 ft door on second level. Concern here is that when a person walks upstairs from a 10 ft ceiling to 9 ft ceiling with the same door height, would the 8 ft door on the second floor suddenly give a bigger "tall" effect since the door head's closer to ceiling? Our intention to do all 8 ft door with 10 ft ceiling on main floor is to create an airy/grand look, we would not want to defeat this purpose if using the same door height on the second floor as the main floor will actually make first floor doors look "shorter".

3)Go with 7 ft door for all doors and openings on second floor that will be seen in hallway but use 6'8 door (like bathroom door and closet door) for the inside of each of the room . Will this be weird?

4) 6'8 for all doors on second floor.

If anyone who has gone through a similar dilenma and can share your opinions that will be very helpful, thanks much.

Comments (11)

  • virgilcarter
    11 years ago

    Why don't you consider a standard 6'-8" door with a transom above? The transom could be solid or glazed; fixed or operable.

    You could do the same on your lower level.

    If it were me, I'd do "special" doors in the public spaces, but consider if they were really necessary in the "private" spaces.

    Of course, if the budget is not a problem then go for broke!

    Good luck on your project.

  • renovator8
    11 years ago

    My house was built in 1891 and published in The Scientific American Architect Supplement the following year. The first floor ceiling height is 10-0 and the door heights are 7-0 . The second floor ceiling height is 9 ft and the door heights are 6-8. There are several 6-0 wide double-pocket-doors on the first floor that are 7-6 tall.

    I would support to the OP's philosophy about tall doors but I believe that proportion is also important so when a doorway gets taller it should also get wider. Therefore for normal 32" doors I would stick with the lower heights and avoid transoms unless they are needed for ventilation.

  • chibimimi
    11 years ago

    What is your trim, especially above the doors? Is it wide or narrow? Is there crown molding?

  • pps7
    11 years ago

    Our main level has 10' ceilings with 8' doors. Second floor has 9' ceilings and We did 6'8". No regrets! Save your money for something else.

  • auroraborelis
    11 years ago

    I was in a model home recently with 9' ceilings with 8' doors and thought it looked great! we are doing that in part of our home.

  • threeapples
    11 years ago

    We did y ft. doors on our 9 ft second floor and don't regret it. Anything taller would have looked odd with our crown moulding.

  • buildiva22
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    @ Chibimimi, we haven't decided on crown molding yet but most likely narrow. Thanks everyone for your inputs!

  • galore2112
    11 years ago

    I solved this dilemma with 11 ft tall rooms and 8 ft tall doors for both the first floor and second floor. I didn't want to compromise with a shorter second floor.

  • Farn
    10 years ago

    I agree with pps7 above. 6'8 doors will look fine with a 9 ft ceiling upstairs. Experience has shown me that the difference will not be as noticeable on the second floor as the first. Save your money for something else. I would stick to one height on both the whole downstairs and one height one the whole upstairs.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Custom Home Ideas

  • nini804
    10 years ago

    We have 10' ceilings with 8' doors on the first floor, and 9' ceilings with 6'8" doors on the second floor...it looks just fine. We have very wide casings, crown, and baseboards. I agree with the others...there will be plenty of things to use that $$ on!!

  • okpokesfan
    10 years ago

    I agree with pps7. We have 10' ceilings/8' doors on the first floor and 9' ceilings/6'8 doors on the second floor. You will get more bang for you buck spending your money elsewhere, IMO.