Thoughts on walk door size

[faralta]

Learned so much here and have my own question: In the middle of my build of a 32'x64'x12' with 8/12 pitch and wrestling with the size of the walk door which will be on the eave side with three 3'x4' single hung windows on that side. In my sketches, the 6'8" door looks so small and out of proportion, especially with two 10'4" overhead doors on the street view gable end. I thought I'd throw the sketch up here and welcome your comments - I put in both the 8' door where it will be and added the 6'8" door simply for size comparison. Thanks!

 

[gungatim]

Never heard of an 8' door, are you really tall?

I would use a normal door. if you ever replace it, it will be hella cheaper and easier to source. Just make sure it's a full 36" wide to get stuff in and out. If you want it to look taller, use some pre-formed plasti-foam architectural elements above it.

 

[faralta]

Nope, average size guy... just thinking about proportion and this barn is going to be almost 24' tall at the roof. Lots of houses with 10' ceilings have 8' doors, that's almost an architectural standard. This barn is in a residential setting and I'm concerned with having it look more residentially proportioned.

 

[efinley]

Well I am a tall guy so I like tall doors, but I just put up a 50x60 and used a 4' man door. I am so glad I did, getting things in and out is so much easier than a 3' door.

 

[Voi]

Lots of houses with 10' ceilings have 8' doors, that's almost an architectural standard.

Or they have regular height doors with built in transom windows. You could also consider something like that but maybe put in the transom window in separately to keep costs down.

For what it is worth, the walk door from our attached garage into our house is 42" wide. I actually did that so the door on my Sequoia could swing open a bit wider but that door has turned out to be a great decision. Moving stuff in and out is so much easier.

 

[chops101]

I bought dual 8' doors for my shop. Quite common here really.
Haven't installed yet.

 

[faralta]

ducksface, forgot to mention the overheads are 10'4"x16 and 10'4"x9'. One thing I liked about the proposed larger door was the ability to line up the tops of the windows with the top of the door.

 

[faralta]

Actually, using you phi theory, an 8' door would fit well on a 12' high wall. Much better than 6'8".

 

[gungatim]

It's actually called the golden triangle and used to proportion everything but it's not law...

 

[Riverside]

One thing I liked about the proposed larger door was the ability to line up the tops of the windows with the top of the door.

Have you considered an awning over the door? That could be aligned with the tops of the windows.

 

[MushCreek]

Lots of houses with tall ceilings have 8' doors; they're pretty common, but probably not cheap. On our house, we went with an 80" door with a transom so it was the same height as the windows. I'm not sure if an 8' door would have been cheaper.

 

[faralta]

Thanks for everyone's input. I did think about an awning or a shed roof to help the lines flow along that side, but thought the added utility of the larger door was preferential to anything else. It certainly wasn't a way to save money, but I'll enjoy the look and usage for years to come.

They're almost done bringing in the sand...

 

[gungatim]

no, it's actually called phi.
It may be the golden triangle in a third grade intro class.

What made you make the law comment?

I suppose you consider Pythagoras a 3rd grader? The golden ratio or golden triangle is pretty well known...at least for the last couple thousand years...

the law comment was meant as you don't have to follow it when designing something, especially a barn, where if you go up a few feet in height, you don't HAVE to resize the windows, doors, etc.

 

[kbs2244]

RE:
phi vs the golden triangle
Read your Dan Brown

RE:
The door.
I would go with a standard size door for cost reasons.
You can use side lights and transom lights to increase the apparent size.

 

[bgarrett]

make it wide enough to ride your Harley thru

 

[encantofred]

i struggle with that as well.....what height man door to put in. my garage doors are 15 feet high and the inside ceiling is 20 foot. since i had windows in my inner mancave, i decided to do the exterior windows at a height that would match the man door of 6 foot 8 inches high. yea, the doors look small compared to the tall garage doors, but so would an 8 foot door. btw, price some 8 foot high nice mandoors. a ton more money than normal height doors. i also went with a nice fiberglass man door with leaded glass insert at the top and no window on the rear fiberglass door. they are insulated very well and dont dent like a metal door does.

you can see what i mean by looking at my avatar picture.

btw, on my interior mancave inside the garage, i did frame out 8 foot high bathroom and entrance door and put the inside observation window top height at 8 foot.

tom

 

[larry_g]

Learned so much here and have my own question: In the middle of my build of a 32'x64'x12' with 8/12 pitch and wrestling with the size of the walk door which will be on the eave side with three 3'x4' single hung windows on that side. In my sketches, the 6'8" door looks so small and out of proportion, especially with two 10'4" overhead doors on the street view gable end. I thought I'd throw the sketch up here and welcome your comments - I put in both the 8' door where it will be and added the 6'8" door simply for size comparison. Thanks!

I have a 4' wide man door and I'm really happy I spent the extra for it. I don't know the height of it though.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[The Cobbler]

I'm thinking I will install an awning over my man door to match the height if the garage door.(8')

 

[bczygan]

ducksface, forgot to mention the overheads are 10'4"x16 and 10'4"x9'. One thing I liked about the proposed larger door was the ability to line up the tops of the windows with the top of the door.

This.

Plus, since it is already a non standard size, I would go for wider as well, probably 42".

 

[iminocca]

Looks like your window headers are set at 8', it's typical for the door header height to match the window header height...that's what I would do. Fiberglass is a great choice as others have said, lasts much longer than wood and doesn't dent like steel.

 

[volleyball]

Commercial doors are readily available at 8'. You need to decide what the door is for. Is it truly a man door? Then a 32" door is plenty unless you are really fat. You can use the overhead doors for anything big. But if the overhead doors will be shut most of winter to keep the heat in , then a bigger side door could be useful. The commercial door would give you a chance for security.

I am thinking that the door height won't matter aesthetically. People are going to see the building and call it a monstrosity no matter how nice you make it look.

 

[Rock Hound]

With the garage doors, you do not need to have the man doors be sized for bring things into the buildings. Rather than a larger door, have you considered having a transom window placed over the man door? They are really nice and provide extra natural light and ventilation if you buy one that opens.

 

[captain14]

Have you thought about a covered roof area outside the door? Plenty of members here use those areas for dirty/ grinding work outside the shop. Big help to keep the mess outside .

 

[rieferman]

I put a light over my man door and it makes the window height vs. door height issue unnoticeable in my opinion. See avatar pic

 

[encantofred]

for me, i wanted a nice looking front door into my garage. that is why i did a residential fiberglass door with a leaded glass insert. a 3 foot wide exterior mandoor is a standard size. think i paid a little over 200 bucks at lowes.

you just have to decide what you are going to bring in and out and what look you are going for.

tom