The standard commercial glass door size is 3'0" wide by 7'0" tall for a single leaf — 36 by 84 inches — with 3'6" × 7'0" the other common single and 6'0" × 7'0" the standard pair. Every one of those is a nominal dimension, and none of them is the clear opening you actually get.
That last point is where most sizing mistakes start. Before replacing an entrance, it is worth knowing what the numbers mean — our commercial glass door repair across Dallas–Fort Worth page covers what we do with an opening once it is measured.
The Standard Sizes
Aluminum entrance doors are built to a small set of stock sizes, and the major manufacturers agree on them. Kawneer's architectural manual lists 3'0" × 7'0" and 3'6" × 7'0" as standard singles and 6'0" × 7'0" as the standard pair. YKK AP publishes the same stock sizes. Door leaves are 1-3/4" thick.
| Configuration | Nominal size | In inches | |---|---|---| | Single, standard | 3'0" × 7'0" | 36" × 84" | | Single, wide | 3'6" × 7'0" | 42" × 84" | | Pair | 6'0" × 7'0" | 72" × 84" |
Taller is available rather than standard. 8'0" is an option across the major lines, and above that it becomes an engineered item — Tubelite publishes double doors up to 10 feet with engineering approval. For the framed glazing around the door, our own working ceiling is 11 feet; taller openings become a curtain-wall conversation rather than a storefront one, which is a different system entirely.
"Nominal" Is Not "Actual"
Manufacturer literature states this plainly and almost nobody repeats it: these are nominal door-opening dimensions, not the size of the finished leaf. Kawneer's manual specifies that a 3'0" door needs a 3'4-1/4" masonry opening in its VG 450 framing. The rough opening, the frame, the leaf and the clear width are four different numbers, and only one of them is the one on the catalogue page.
This is why a door ordered off a size chart can arrive and not fit an opening someone measured with a tape. Our team measures every opening on site before anything is ordered.
A 36-Inch Door Is Not a 36-Inch Opening
The number that matters for getting things through a doorway is clear width, and it is measured with the door open 90 degrees, from the face of the door to the stop on the opposite side. The 2010 ADA Standards set the minimum at 32 inches (section 404.2.3). The International Building Code adds a minimum 80-inch clear height (section 1010.1.1).
A 3'0" leaf gives you somewhere in the low 30s of clear width once the stile, the frame and the hinge geometry take their share. It clears the 32-inch minimum; it does not give you 36 inches.
Stile Width Changes the Door
The vertical rails on either side of the glass are the stiles, and the width you choose changes both how the door looks and how much glass it carries. The three standard options are consistent across manufacturers — YKK AP publishes 2-1/8", 3-1/2" and 5", and CRL-U.S. Aluminum's 250, 400 and 550 series sit at 2", 3-1/2" and 5" respectively.
Narrow stile is the storefront look most retail entrances use. Wide stile puts more aluminum around the lock and hinge edges, which is why it turns up on high-traffic doors that take a beating.
Glass Thickness and the Safety Requirement
Aluminum-framed entrance doors take 1/4" glass as standard, with infills available across a 1/4" to 1" range depending on the system. All-glass doors — the frameless kind with patch fittings top and bottom — run 3/8", 1/2" or 3/4" tempered.
The thickness is a specification choice. The safety glazing is not. Under the International Building Code, glazing in a door is a hazardous location (section 2406.4.1), and it has to meet the impact requirements of CPSC 16 CFR 1201 — Category I for panes of 9 square feet or less, Category II above that. In practice that means tempered or laminated glass in every commercial entrance door.
What the Code Sets, and What It Does Not
Two more numbers come up when an entrance is specified:
- Threshold height is capped at 1/2 inch by the 2010 ADA Standards (section 404.2.5).
- Opening force is capped at 5 pounds for interior hinged doors (section 404.2.9). For exterior hinged doors the ADA Standards set no maximum — the US Access Board says so explicitly — though the IBC does, at 30 pounds to set the door in motion and 15 pounds to swing it open (section 1010.1.3).
These are code minimums and maximums, cited here so you know what the numbers on a drawing refer to. Whether a specific installation meets them is determined on the project, against the plans and the authority having jurisdiction.
When the Opening Is Not Standard
Plenty of them are not — buildings settle, old frames were never square, and a tenant improvement leaves an opening that matches no catalogue. That is a measuring job, not a shopping job. Our team measures every opening on site and orders the glass to fit it, which is the same approach we take on shower enclosures, where an out-of-square opening is the normal case rather than the exception.
If the door is still serviceable and it is the hardware that has gone — a closer that no longer holds, pivots that have dropped, hinges that have worn — that is repair rather than replacement, and it is work we do during scheduled hours. Contact us and our team will measure the opening and tell you which one you are looking at.
