Doors are one of the most important parts of a building. Whether it is the door of our home or the door of our office. The handle and knob is the mechanical part of a door that helps it to function properly and let you open and close it.
Today, we are going to discuss and find out how high door handles and knobs should be.
How high should door handles and knobs be?
The door handles and door knobs should be installed at a height of thirty six inches from the ground. This height is maintained for functional and comfort purposes. One can also put the door handles and door knobs as high as forty eight inches. But that is not ideal for children and elderly.
Table of Contents
Let’s look at different kinds of doors to find out how high the handles and knobs should be installed for each of them.
Internal door handles:
Internal doors give you the chance to go from one room to another on a floor. The door manufacturers suggest you install the door handle at a distance of three feet from the floor.
Basically, the distance between the floor of your home or office and the door handle should be thirty six inches. The size of the door does not matter here. The door handle and knob height is the same for all sizes of internal doors.
Closet door handles:
Closet door helps you to open your closet and close it whenever you want. Although the function of a closet door is to keep your clothes tucked inside the closet, it does not mean that it is different from other door types.
You will need to install the door handle and knob of your closet maintaining a distance of at least three feet from the floor.
Barn door handles:
There are different kinds of barn doors available like sliding barn doors and pulling barn doors. The barn door handle needs to be installed at a height of thirty six inches from the ground irrespective of whether it is a sliding one or a pulling one.
Front door handles:
The front door is the most crucial door of a home or an office. But the height for installing a handle on the front door is the same as any other door. You need to put the door handle at a height of three feet from the floor.
What is the standard doorknob and deadbolt height?
The standard doorknob height would be at least thirty six inches off the ground. The center of the doorknob is the selected point when it comes to this height measurement. You can install the doorknob as high as forty inches also.
But this is the permitted limit. Installing the doorknob higher than forty inches will put extra pressure on your hip when it comes to using the knob.
The deadbolt needs to be put at least forty eight inches from the ground. The distance between deadbolt and the doorknob needs to be at least a half feet so that both of them can function without interrupting each other.
The six inch distance starts from where the doorknob ends and ends where the deadbolt starts.
To be precise, the distance between the center of the deadbolt and the ground should be four feet at least and can go as long as six feet.
What is the standard door handle height?
Three feet to four feet is the standard door handle height set by the international building code. The door handle height is taken by keeping in mind the finished floor and not the subfloor underneath it.
One important thing to remember here is that it is better to install all the door handles of your house at the same height than different heights for different ones.
Three to four feet height from the floor gives you easy and comfortable access to the door handle. If you want to make the door handle more accessible for the children and the elderly, you will have to put the door handle at the lowest set standard of three feet.
Three to four feet height is the standard door handle height for all types of doors at all types of buildings.
What is the code for door handle height?
The American 1008.1.9.2 Hardware height code states that a door handle needs to be installed at a height of thirty four to forty eight inches from the finished floor. It means you can install your door handle as low as thirty four inches and as high as forty inches.
Anything less or more than that will not be permitted. The only exception to this code is permitted to access doors of dangerous places like swimming pools, spa etc.
The door handle of the access doors to these places can be installed higher than forty eight inches to protect the children.
Many doors come with pre-installed door handles maintaining this code. This particular code is maintained by the international building code also.
How to install a door handle set?
Installing a door handle set involves many steps. Let’s discuss in detail about those steps.
Drill a hole:
If your door does not come with a pre-drilled hole, you will need to drill a hole in the door yourself where you are going to install the door handle set.
Put the latch in:
Next, you will need to put the latch into the hole that has been drilled for the door handle. You will need to screw the latch into place. The latch may come with a rectangular or round shape faceplate.
You can switch the shape of the latch before putting the latch into the place to your liking.
If you are going to install a round shaped faceplate with the latch, you will need to use a piece of wood to mitigate any clash between the latch and the faceplate.
Installation of the door handle:
After that, you will need to conduct the most important part of the installation process by installing the door handle into the latch. You will need to slide in the outside part of the door handle into the latch.
If you alter the adjustable through bolt, then the outside handle will easily settle onto the latch.
The inside part of the door handle will have to be installed using the other side of the hole. You will need to put it into the hole using two screws.
Put in the lower parts:
The lower part of the door handle set needs to be secured by putting in components like washer, screw and its cover. This will set your door handle in place.
Place the strike plate:
The last step of the installation process will require you to place the strike plate onto the door jamb.
How to replace door knob with handle set?
Replacing a door knob with a handle set is an easy task if you follow the correct steps. Let’s discuss in detail about those steps.
The removal process:
First of all, you will need to remove the door knob from the door in order to replace it with a handle set.
To complete the removal process, you are going to need some screwdrivers. You will need to get rid of the screws that reside on both sides of the base plate.
If you can not see any screw on the base plate, that means an extra layer of protection is present there that needs removing. The flathead screwdriver will come in handy in this case.
After getting rid of the screws of the base plate, the door knob can be easily put out with your hand. You can conclude the removal process by unscrewing the latching and the knob assembly from the door.
The installation process:
After that, you will need to start installing the door handle set in place of the old door knob. Firstly, you will need to put the latch into the hole left by the door knob. You will need to screw in the latch using a screwdriver.
After the latch has been put into its place, you will have to place the outside part of the door handle into the faceplate of the latch. In the next part, you will be required to install the inside lever onto the other side of the hole.
This takes care of the door handle installation process.
In the final part, you will have to screw in the strike plate onto the doorjamb using a screwdriver.
Final Thoughts
One should install the door handles and door knobs by maintaining a gap of three feet from the floor. The door handles and door knobs on all types of door follow this standard height barring few cases. The door handles and door knobs can not be put at a height of more than four feet.