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threeapples

Front door is 80' tall & ceilings are 10', what height for

threeapples
12 years ago

what height for interior doors? I am trying to find a set of antique french doors for our keeping room because we can't afford to order new doors for that room and I am not sure what height to look for. Should all interior doors be 80" tall if the front door is and the first floor is 10' tall? thanks!

Comments (21)

  • andi_k
    12 years ago

    If your first floor is 10', I'd definitely go with the 8' interior doors....unless you go with the standard 6'8" and add transoms.

  • _sophiewheeler
    12 years ago

    The wall on top of the door looks too top heavy if you use 80" doors in a 120" wall build. That includes your front door. It should also be a 96" door. 80" is not proportionate. You need to build it up with transoms and sidelights to a more substantial height or order a different door. 96" is "standard" with 10' ceilings.

  • athensmomof3
    12 years ago

    Ditto the 96" recommendation - we have 8' doors on the first floor, including the front door, and 10' ceilings. I wouldn't want them any shorter. we have 80" french doors in the basement (to save money) and it doesn't look great, frankly, even though the ceilings are only 9' 5" down there. Once they were installed, I regretted that decision, even though the only other option in the less expensive fiberglass doors we used was 8' and that would have been too tall. Hopefully when they put the trim in and crown on it will look better, and it is certainly fine for a walk out basement, but I would not want it in the rest of the house. We actually didn't do 80" doors anywhere. Our architect specced 7' doors for all areas, even where the ceilings were 9'.

  • athensmomof3
    12 years ago

    I meant to say, he specced 8' doors where the ceilings are 10' (although we do have 6'8" french doors with 18" transoms across the back of the house on the main floor), and 7' doors where the ceilings are less than 10' (upstairs is 9', back hall is 8'8" (to reduce the number of treads needed on the back stairs) and basement is 9'5"). The only 80" doors we have are the basement french doors to the outside (interior doors in basement are 7') and I wish they were taller . . .

  • threeapples
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Our front door will have a transom (14" tall) and side lites. On either side of the front door there will be closet doors in the foyer. Should I do those taller than 80" then? Would that make the front door look short if they are taller next to it? Uggh, I'm so frustrated as I found a gorgeous set of antique french doors for my keeping room in 80" tall, but if that's too short for a 10' ceiling I'm going to have to forego doors there since having new ones made is too pricey. Please advise on the issue of the closet doors flanking my front door so I know what height to do. thanks.

  • andi_k
    12 years ago

    Could your builder put a transom above the french doors? Or maybe a wall/trim treatment above them so it aligns with the front door height (top of transom)...

  • athensmomof3
    12 years ago

    I would match the front door height with the closet doors I think (and match all your interior doors and openings to this height if possible - certainly the ones that are visible from the front door), but does this put you at a non standard height? I think they usually use a 18" transom above a 80" door to get to the standard 8' height. Is yours shorter than that? I am not sure they make doors that height. . . Can you do a taller transom on your front door to bring it to the standard 8'?

  • threeapples
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    The front door height cannot increase unless we lose the spider web transom above it, which I really do not want to do. The height, including transom, cannot go above 9'. The closet doors on either side are designated to be 96" and now I worry they will dwarf the front door. There is also an office/library door very close by and it too is 96". The foyer is two-story and now I worry all of this will make the front door look very short. Do I decrease the height of the closets to match the front door, or decrease the office door height, or just keep all of these doors taller than the front door? Uggh!

  • athensmomof3
    12 years ago

    I wouldn't shorten the other doors. I think you will be unhappy if you do 80" doors in a 10 foot ceiling. There may be ways to minimize this (by trimming out a transom height area above the closet with a panel matching the door or something????), but I think this really falls into the category of something no one will ever notice but you. . .

    Is your front door custom? Can they increase the height of the spiderweb transom by a few inches?

    I know - it is the little things that drive me NUTS!

  • david_cary
    12 years ago

    You say that the front door can't go above 9 feet which is fine at 108 inches. So that would be fine to have 8 ft doors next to that. You always have the option of false transoms to create any size door+trim height.

    Heck I am doing a 80 inch entry door into 10 ft ceilings where all the open area interior doors and back door are 96. Then it transitions down to 80 inches on the same floor. The entry door was a cost savings maneuver and in this situation, it works fine.

  • threeapples
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Yes, the front door is custom, but it cannot increase in height because the height with transom cannot exceed 9 ft and that includes a 14" transom, trim, and the door. So you are all saying I should do closet doors that are taller than the front door they will be right next to? Adding a transom detail above the closets will really compete with the front door since that has the spider web transom window and we want to showcase that. What about the two-storey foyer dwarfing the front door? thanks again

  • threeapples
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    it just occurred to me that maybe we can do the front door 90", 14" transom, and then have a few extra inches for trim. the front door will be 42" wide and will have 16" wide side lites. will this all be in good proportion? i fear the transom will look too squashed even for an elliptical style? thanks.

  • athensmomof3
    12 years ago

    I would be afraid the 14" would be too short too. The spiderweb transoms I have seen are quite a bit taller than that, as they have to extend over the door and both sidelights. Here is a picture of the proportion I generally see (not the best one as it is an interior shot and found with a quick google search), but I would think a taller transom would be in order, especially with a wider door.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Interior spiderweb transom

  • threeapples
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Uggh, this is so frustrating. Well, if the side lite glass is 16" wide then perhaps the tallest portion of the transom also should be. I have no idea. I need to find out what is possible considering the support beam on the exterior wall of the house being at 9 feet, so that would mean that we might have to make the door slightly under 90" in order to accommodate at 16" transom and the trim around it. I'm including a photo, somewhat different than what we're doing (the side lites here are narrower and the transom is more ornate than ours) for reference to see the elliptical shape. thanks!

    Here is a link that might be useful: image

  • athensmomof3
    12 years ago

    That transom is taller than 14" I feel sure. For reference, the mullions are either 7/8 or 1 1/8th or in that vicinity. Then you have a couple of inches at least of trim around the spider web to hold the glass before you get to the door trim. . . I would insist on a CAD drawing of your door before you purchase it to see how it will look.

    This is not the best picture of this house but it is one I love in Atlanta where we got the idea for the narrow french doors we have in our new house. The ceilings in this house are 10' I think and the french doors across the front (hidden by the boxwoods in this picture) are 8'. The front door is a good bit shorter - maybe even the 80" of your original thought.

    The transom is not a spiderweb, but a beautiful custom design that is not shown well in this picture. The foyer doesn't have flanking closets like you describe, but the rest of the house also has 8' doors . . .

    Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:2104965}}

  • threeapples
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks, Athensmom. That's a gorgeous home and it's front doors are stunning--you have a great inspiration there! I like your idea of insisting on a CAD drawing to make sure the proportions of the door are perfect. This is too important a feature to just eyeball I think. I'll keep updating......

  • nini804
    12 years ago

    We had this situation due to the way our architect did the staircase in our house. We have 10 ft ceilings, and all of our doors and cased openings are 8'. The front doors are 6'8" with a transom on top. It looks perfectly correct on the exterior, but bugged dh when he first saw it. No one has noticed it and I think it looks fine. It just had to be this way. I suppose we could have done away with the transom and had taller, arch-topped doors, but I really love the transom. We get lots of compliments on the doors,

    Here is the exterior:

  • athensmomof3
    12 years ago

    nini - your house turned out so pretty! Not sure I have seen it with the shutters on - lovely!!!! My brick is still red, unfortunately - picking a color is really hard!

  • nini804
    12 years ago

    Thanks, Athensmom! We are really happy to be in. Picking a color IS hard...that was probably one of the hardest choices I made. Can't wait to see how yours will turn out...your facade is jaw-dropping gorgeous and painting it will just set it off perfectly!

  • threeapples
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Nini, thanks for showing me that. Your home is gorgeous, inside and out! Your foyer illustration was very helpful. I'll keep you all updated on what we end up with. :)

  • cac546
    6 years ago

    @nini804 Any chance you could post the photos of your entry doors again? The photobucket link you posted before no longer works and I'm having this exact dilemma at the moment. I assume your transom is 16"?

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