All door handles, pulls, latches, and locks should be installed at least 34 inches from the finished floor. On most people, this means that the door handle will be comfortably situated around their hip area. On the flip side of things, your new door handle should not be higher than 48 inches above the finished floor.
Most doors open by rotating on a hinge. As such, they are opened through the application of torque. To make it as easy as possible to open the door, the knobs are placed as far from the hinge as is feasible. This maximizes the lever arm, reducing the amount of force needed to open the door.
Door handles, pulls, latches, locks and other operating devices shall be installed 34 inches (864 mm) minimum and 48 inches (1219 mm) maximum above the finished floor.
Handles, Pulls, Panic Bars
Door Hardware – ADA compliant locks, exit devices, handles, pulls, latches, and other operable parts on doors shall comply – Operable parts of such hardware shall be 34 inches minimum and 48 inches maximum above the finish floor or ground.
What is standard door height? The typical standard door height in most American households is 80 inches, or 6 feet 7 inches. Most interior doors are between 24 and 36 inches wide, and the most common size is 30 inches wide.
Height Requirements
The height of the panic bar must be between 34 and 48 inches above the floor. This height allows individuals in wheelchairs to reach the panic bar and open the door easily.
The door backset is the distance from the edge of the door to the center of the 2-1/8-inch bore hole for the door knob, lever or deadbolt. In the United States, there are two common backsets for residential door locks: 2-3/8 inches. 2-3/4 inches.
Standard Size for Interior Doors
The height for all passage doors must be a minimum of 80 inches and the standard width sizes for interior doors are 24”, 28”, 30”, 32” and 36”. The minimum recommended door width to allow persons with disabilities' to pass through is 36 inches.
Deadbolts are typically installed 6 to 12 inches above the doorknob. Mark a line to designate the height of the center of the deadbolt. In addition to the height above the doorknob, you will also need to mark the backset—the horizontal distance from the edge of the door to the center of the deadbolt.
Deciding whether or not to choose the same finish for knobs on every door is a common deliberation homeowners have, but unfortunately there's no definitive answer. However, maintaining balance within the home should be a main priority.
Installing a different doorknob for all doors may not work with the overall design theme of your home, but having matching door knobs could be seen as extreme. In general, selecting handles that remain consistent with each other and the overall style of the house will avoid creating an awkward interior design.
Door knob heights during this time were often based on the average height of the people who lived in the house, and since people were generally shorter in the 19th and early 20th centuries, door knobs were typically lower to the ground.
Historians say one of the reasons for their introduction was to make a room which had high ceilings appear cosier and it was an optical trick to bring the ceiling height down. Door handles may have been fitted high to follow this theme.
If you're upgrading the doors in your home, you should make sure you have the window head heights matching the top of the door frame and not simply the door. This will help to ensure the interior trim within the home also aligns for that ideal visual appeal.
Standard door heights are 6/6 (78”) and 6/8 (80”). In addition, special sizes can sometimes be custom ordered.
Trim, Crossheads & Pediments
Architectural details are a great way to enhance the visual size of a door, whether you just add some trim, or extend the height with a crosshead or pediment.
In the U.S. there are two common backsets for residential door locks, 2-3/8" and 2-3/4". The backset is the distance from the edge of the door to the center of the 2-1/8" bore hole.
The two most common are 5-1/2” and 6” from the centers of the two holes. There are other combinations of spacing which are used on specialty locks, however.
A deadbolt lock is typically installed 6 or 12 inches above the key lock (roughly 44 inches from the bottom of the door). Using the tape measure, determine an appropriate spot and mark it on the edge of the door (the part through which the bolt is going to extend).
Panic hardware is required with delayed egress and controlled egress exit points. Panic bars installed on fire doors must be certified fire hardware. These doors are clearly labeled by manufacturers: “Fire Door to be Equipped with Fire Exit Hardware.”
Other types of door hardware, such as a round door knob (which requires tight grasping and twisting to operate) or a handle with a thumb latch (see above -- center) are also inaccessible and must be modified or replaced, if doing so is readily achievable.
An ADA compliant sales or service counter must have a portion that is 28"-36" inches high, measured from the finish floor to the sales counter top. This portion of the counter must also be at least 36" inches long for a parallel approach or a 30" length for a forward approach.