A door is the one piece of a home that every person, every sofa, every mattress and, in a bad moment, every stretcher has to pass through. Yet door sizes in India are usually decided by habit: the mason leaves "the usual" gap, the carpenter makes "the usual" frame, and the family discovers the problem the day the double-door fridge or the king-size mattress arrives. The most common complaints Aaditya Interior hears on site are predictable — a bathroom door that hits the washbasin, a bedroom door that cannot open fully because the wardrobe is in the way, a main door that looks mean on a grand facade, and a 750 mm door that an elderly parent with a walker cannot get through.
The confusion comes from three different numbers being called "the door size". There is the shutter — the leaf that swings. There is the frame (the chaukhat) that holds the shutter, which adds roughly 100 mm to the width and 60–75 mm to the height. And there is the masonry opening that the mason leaves in the wall, a little larger again so the frame can be packed and fixed. On top of these sits a fourth number that actually matters to people: the clear width, the space left to walk through once the door is open, which is smaller than the shutter because the frame stop and the open leaf eat into it.
This guide sets out all four numbers for the doors in an Indian home — main, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, balcony and pooja — in millimetres and feet, explains where they come from, how door swing and hardware should be planned, which materials suit which room, and what a full door package costs. It goes deeper into room-by-room planning than this blog's broader door and window size guide, and the figures are consistent with it.
How Indian door sizes came to be
Old Indian houses did not have one door size. The pol houses of Ahmedabad and the havelis of Surat and Rajasthan had heavy carved main doors, often with a smaller wicket door cut into a large gate so that people could pass daily while the full doors opened only for carts, festivals and weddings. Inner rooms often had low and narrow doorways, partly for structure — a thick load-bearing wall with a short timber lintel — and partly for climate, because a small opening kept rooms dark and cool. Ceilings were high, but the doors were not.
The colonial bungalow changed the scale. Its rooms were tall, and doors became tall too: double-leaf panelled doors with fanlights above, often 2400 mm or more, set in pairs along a verandah so that the house could be thrown open for breeze. Many of these doors survive in older cantonments, and they explain why "a proper door" still means height to many Indian families.
After independence, public housing and the first municipal bye-laws pushed towards repeatable sizes. Timber was scarce and expensive, factory-made flush doors arrived, and standard shutter sizes — 750, 800, 900 and 1000 mm wide; 2000 and 2100 mm high — settled into Indian practice through BIS specifications for flush door shutters and timber frames and through PWD schedules. Those are the sizes that most masons, carpenters and door factories still work to, and it is why a 2100 mm door head and a 2100 mm window head line up in almost every Indian house built in the last fifty years.
Today the sizes are shifting again. Taller 2400 mm doors are common in premium flats and bungalows with 3000 mm or higher ceilings, concealed aluminium frames make the door look like a slot in the wall, and accessibility thinking — supported by the National Building Code of India 2016 and the Government of India's harmonised accessibility guidelines — is slowly moving the bedroom and bathroom door up to a real 900 mm.
Shutter, frame, opening and clear width: four numbers, not one
Before looking at any room, it helps to see how the four numbers relate. A standard bedroom door has a 900 × 2100 mm shutter. It hangs in a timber or WPC frame commonly made from 100 × 60 mm sections, so the outside of the frame is about 1000 mm wide and about 2160 mm high above the finished floor. The mason leaves a wall opening about 1010–1020 mm wide, so the frame can be packed, plumbed and fixed with holdfasts or anchors. The lintel soffit therefore sits at about 2160–2175 mm, not at 2100 mm — a detail explained at length in this blog's lintel article and one that site teams still get wrong.
The clear width is what remains when the door stands open at 90 degrees. The frame stop (the rebate the shutter closes against) takes about 10–15 mm on the latch side, and the thickness of the open leaf with its hinges takes another 35–60 mm on the hinge side. A 900 mm shutter therefore gives about 810–830 mm of clear passage, a 1000 mm shutter about 910–930 mm, and a 750 mm bathroom shutter only about 660–680 mm. That last figure is why a 750 mm bathroom door is fine for most adults but a problem for a wheelchair, a walker or a person being helped by someone else.
| Number | What it is | Bedroom door example | Who needs it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shutter size | The leaf that swings | 900 × 2100 mm (≈ 3 × 7 ft) | Carpenter, door factory |
| Frame outside size | Shutter plus two jambs and a head | ≈ 1000 × 2160 mm | Carpenter, site engineer |
| Masonry opening | Gap left in the wall for the frame | ≈ 1010–1020 × 2160–2175 mm | Mason, structural drawing |
| Clear width | Walk-through width with the door open at 90° | ≈ 810–830 mm | Family, furniture movers, accessibility |
| Lintel soffit | Underside of the lintel above the opening | ≈ 2160–2175 mm above finished floor | Mason, RCC contractor |
| Finished floor allowance | Tile, bedding and threshold below the shutter | ≈ 40–75 mm over the slab | Site engineer — set the frame to finished floor level |
Main door sizes for flats and bungalows
The main door is the only door in the house that is also a piece of architecture. It must carry furniture, receive guests, resist forced entry, close tightly against dust and noise from the corridor, and look right on the facade or lobby. For a flat, a shutter of 1000–1050 mm wide and 2100–2400 mm high is the practical standard; it gives about 910–980 mm of clear passage, enough for a sofa on its end, a refrigerator on a trolley or a wheelchair. Many builders still fit 900 mm main doors to save cost; when there is any choice, 1000 mm is worth insisting on.
Bungalows and villas allow more. A single shutter of 1050–1200 mm is generous; beyond about 1200 mm a single leaf becomes heavy and hard to keep true, and a double door of 1500–1800 mm (two leaves of 750–900 mm) or a pivot door becomes the better answer. Heights of 2400–2700 mm suit bungalow ceilings of 3000–3300 mm; a pivot door of 1200–1800 × 2700–3000 mm makes a dramatic entrance but needs engineered hardware rated to the door's weight and a recessed floor pivot.
Thickness matters as much as width. A main flush door should be at least 35–40 mm thick with a solid core; a solid teak panelled door is commonly 40–50 mm; a steel security door 50–70 mm. In high-rise flats, the main door may need to be a tested fire-check door set to IS 3614 with a closer and seals, as the building's fire approval requires — it must then be replaced only with an equivalent tested set, never with a decorative door chosen for looks. Where a safety grille door is added outside, check the society rules and make sure it does not block the corridor's escape width when open.
| Main door type | Shutter width × height (mm) | In feet (approx.) | Clear width (approx.) | Indicative door set cost (Oct 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flat, standard | 1000–1050 × 2100 | 3 ft 3 in–3 ft 5 in × 7 ft | 910–980 mm | ₹18,000–35,000 laminate; ₹30,000–65,000 veneer |
| Flat, tall | 1000–1050 × 2400 | 3 ft 3 in–3 ft 5 in × 8 ft | 910–980 mm | Veneer or PU band; taller frames cost more |
| Bungalow, single leaf | 1050–1200 × 2400–2700 | 3 ft 5 in–4 ft × 8–9 ft | 960–1120 mm | Solid teak ₹80,000–2,50,000+ |
| Bungalow, double door | 1500–1800 × 2400–2700 (two leaves) | 5–6 ft × 8–9 ft | Both leaves open: 1350–1650 mm | Above single-door bands — two leaves, more hardware |
| Pivot door | 1200–1800 × 2700–3000 | 4–6 ft × 9–10 ft | Reduced by pivot offset | ₹1,50,000–5,00,000+ |
| Steel security door | 900–1050 × 2100 | 3–3 ft 5 in × 7 ft | 800–960 mm | ₹35,000–1,00,000 |
| Fire-check door (towers) | Per tested design, typically ≥ 1000 wide | — | As tested | ₹30,000–80,000 |
Bedroom door sizes and swing planning
For bedrooms, 900 × 2100 mm (3 × 7 ft) is the standard Indian shutter, and it is the right one. An 800 mm door saves only 100 mm of wall but takes about 100 mm off every piece of furniture that will ever enter the room; queen and king mattresses, wardrobe panels and a hospital bed if one is ever needed all pass more easily through 900 mm. Where ceilings are 3000 mm or higher, a 2400 mm shutter with a concealed or flush frame looks far better than a 2100 mm door with a large patch of wall above it.
Size is only half the decision; swing is the other half. A bedroom door should open into the room, swing against a wall rather than into the room's centre, and have its hinge side 100–150 mm from the nearest return wall so the open leaf rests neatly and the frame has a proper masonry nib to hold its fixings. The switch board belongs on the latch side at 1000–1200 mm, where the hand finds it as the door opens. Wardrobe shutters near the door must not hit the open leaf; this is the clash Aaditya Interior most often finds on builders' plans, where a 600 mm deep wardrobe has been drawn into the corner that the door needs.
When a sliding or pocket door is better
In small bedrooms, walk-in wardrobes and attached dressing areas, a 900 mm hinged door's swing takes almost 0.8 m² of floor. A sliding door on a top track saves that area but needs a clear wall beside the opening at least as wide as the door, and it seals poorly against sound and light. A pocket door that slides into a cavity in the wall is the neatest answer, but it needs a cavity wall or a factory pocket frame planned before plastering, and the pocket must stay free of switches and pipes. For main bedrooms where privacy and quiet matter, a solid-core hinged door with perimeter seals remains the better choice.
Bathroom door sizes and details
The bathroom door is the smallest door in most Indian homes, and the one that fails first. The common size is 750 × 2000 mm (about 2 ft 6 in × 6 ft 8 in); some builders use 700 mm, which gives a clear width of barely 610–630 mm. For any bathroom that an elderly parent will use, and ideally for the main common bathroom too, use a 900 mm shutter: the extra 150 mm of wall costs little and the room becomes usable with a walker or with someone helping. The 2000 mm height suits a bathroom with a lower false ceiling, but where the bedroom door is 2100 mm, many designers keep the bathroom door at 2100 mm too so that the door heads line up.
Bathroom doors in India traditionally open inward. For elders, the safer arrangement is an outward-opening door or a sliding door, so that a person who falls behind the door does not block it; at the very least, the lock should be openable from outside. The leaf must also clear the basin, the WC and the shower glass when it swings — in a 1500 × 2400 mm bathroom there is little room to spare, and a door that hits the basin will be left half-open for the next twenty years.
The threshold is where most bathroom doors rot. The bathroom floor is normally set 12–25 mm below the adjoining room so water cannot run out, with the waterproofing membrane turned up at the threshold and walls. The frame should be granite, marble, WPC or a properly treated hardwood with its foot sealed, never a plain timber frame standing in a wet floor. A 10–15 mm gap under the shutter, or a louvre panel in its lower part, helps the exhaust fan draw replacement air from the bedroom.
Kitchen, balcony, pooja and utility doors
Many Indian kitchens now open fully to the dining area, but where a door is fitted, 750–900 mm × 2100 mm is the usual range. A 900 mm opening lets a refrigerator or a dishwasher in without removing the frame, and a glazed or fluted-glass shutter keeps the kitchen lit. Kitchen doors near the cooking range should be in a material that does not mind heat and grease — laminate or PU on a moisture-resistant core is better than raw veneer.
Balcony doors are usually sliding aluminium or uPVC units 1500–2400 mm wide and 2100 mm high, in two or three tracks, with a mesh shutter against mosquitoes. A hinged French door of 1200–1500 mm in two leaves suits bungalows with deep verandahs. Either way, the door sill should step up 25–50 mm above the balcony floor, or have a drainage channel, so that monsoon water blown against the glass does not run inside — the most frequent balcony complaint in Surat and Mumbai flats alike.
Pooja room doors are commonly 750–900 mm wide, often in two leaves of a jaali or carved pattern, at the same head height as other doors; utility and service doors are 750 mm, in WPC or PVC because they face wet floors and washing machines. A store or shaft door can be as narrow as 600 mm. Terrace and staircase-cabin doors face sun and rain and should be steel, WPC or treated hardwood with a weather bar, not interior flush doors.
| Door | Shutter (mm) | Shutter (ft, approx.) | Wall opening (mm, approx.) | Clear width (mm, approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flat main door | 1000–1050 × 2100–2400 | 3 ft 3 in–3 ft 5 in × 7–8 ft | 1100–1170 × 2160–2475 | 910–980 |
| Bedroom | 900 × 2100 | 3 × 7 ft | 1010–1020 × 2160–2175 | 810–830 |
| Kitchen (if a door is fitted) | 750–900 × 2100 | 2 ft 6 in–3 ft × 7 ft | 860–1020 × 2160–2175 | 660–830 |
| Bathroom / WC | 750 × 2000 (900 for elders) | 2 ft 6 in × 6 ft 8 in | 860–870 × 2060–2075 | 660–680 (810–830 at 900) |
| Pooja room | 750–900 × 2100, often two leaves | 2 ft 6 in–3 ft × 7 ft | 860–1020 × 2160–2175 | Depends on leaves |
| Balcony sliding | 1500–2400 × 2100 | 5–8 ft × 7 ft | Per window fabricator's survey | About half the width per track |
| Utility / service | 750 × 2000–2100 | 2 ft 6 in × 6 ft 8 in–7 ft | 860–870 × 2060–2175 | 660–680 |
| Fire exit (NBC 2016, general) | ≥ 1000 × 2000 clear | — | Per fire design | As required by the fire authority |
Accessibility: when 900 mm is the minimum
A wheelchair is typically about 650–700 mm wide, and its user needs hand room on the wheels, so a clear width of at least 800 mm is a practical minimum and around 900 mm is comfortable. Accessibility guidance in India, including the National Building Code of India 2016 and the Government of India's harmonised guidelines on universal accessibility, broadly asks for clear door widths of this order on accessible routes, with lever handles and level or bevelled thresholds. For a home this translates into a simple rule: at least one bedroom, the bathroom that serves it and the route from the main door to both should have 900 mm shutters or wider, with no step greater than a bevelled 12–15 mm at any threshold.
Families often think about this only when a parent comes home from hospital. By then the bathroom door is 750 mm, opens inward and has a 50 mm step; changing it means breaking the frame, the floor and the waterproofing. Planning it from the start costs a few hundred millimetres of wall and almost nothing else. Lever handles rather than knobs, a door that does not need a strong push, and a 1500 mm turning circle inside the bathroom complete the picture.
Hardware heights and positions
Door hardware is placed by habit as much as by drawing, and a mismatched handle height across a flat is one of those details that guests notice without knowing why. The heights below are the ones Indian door factories and carpenters commonly use; they should be fixed in the door schedule before shutters are ordered, especially for factory-made doors where the lock body is routed in the factory.
| Item | Typical position | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Lever handle / lock centre | 900–1050 mm above finished floor (≈ 1000 common) | Keep the same height on every door in the house |
| Main door peephole or viewer | 1450–1550 mm | A second lower viewer at about 1100 mm helps children and wheelchair users |
| Video door phone outdoor unit | 1450–1550 mm (lens height) | Beside the latch side, not behind the open leaf |
| Hinges, standard 2100 shutter | 3 butt hinges: ≈ 150–200 from top and bottom, one in the middle | Use 4 hinges for 2400 mm or heavy solid shutters |
| Tower bolts | Top bolt near the head; bottom bolt 100–150 mm above floor | Bathroom doors: an outside-openable lock is safer than a bolt |
| Door stopper / magnet catch | On the wall or floor where the leaf rests | Protects wardrobes, switches and the wall finish |
| Door closer (main doors in towers) | Head of the door on the push side | Often required on fire-check doors |
| Switch board beside the door | 1000–1200 mm, latch side, 100–150 mm from the frame | Never behind the open leaf |
Shutter and frame materials: which door goes where
Size and material are linked. A large or heavy shutter needs a strong frame and more hinges; a wet room needs a material that will not swell; a main door needs security and finish quality. The choice is simpler than the market makes it look. In dry rooms, a solid-core flush door in laminate or veneer is the reliable default. In bathrooms and utility areas, WPC or PVC shutters on WPC or stone frames do not rot. At the main door, a solid-core veneer, PU or laminate door, a solid teak door or a steel security door is chosen for looks and security; this blog's comparison of WPC and plywood doors and its main door design guide cover these choices in detail.
| Shutter material | Typical thickness | Best rooms | Avoid | Indicative cost (Oct 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solid-core flush door, laminate both faces | 30–40 mm | Bedrooms, kitchen, main door in flats | Wet floors without a sealed foot | ₹18,000–35,000 per door set |
| Solid-core flush door, veneer with PU polish | 35–40 mm | Main door, master bedroom | Doors exposed to rain and sun | ₹30,000–65,000 per door set |
| WPC shutter on WPC frame | 30–35 mm | Bathrooms, utility, balcony-side doors | Heavy hardware without through-bolts | ₹20,000–40,000 main size; ≈ ₹14,000–28,000 bathroom size |
| PVC shutter | 25–30 mm | Economy bathrooms, service areas | Main and bedroom doors | Below the WPC band — verify locally |
| Solid teak panelled door | 40–50 mm | Bungalow main doors, heritage homes | Unprotected west-facing exposure | ₹80,000–2,50,000+ per door set |
| Steel security door | 50–70 mm | Ground-floor flats, independent houses | Interiors where weight is not needed | ₹35,000–1,00,000 per door set |
Frames follow the same logic. A seasoned hardwood frame such as sal costs about ₹4,000–7,000 for a 900 × 2100 door supplied and fixed, teak about ₹12,000–25,000 or more, WPC about ₹5,000–9,000, granite or marble about ₹5,000–10,000 and pressed steel about ₹3,500–6,000, indicatively in October 2026 and consistent with this blog's lintel and frame guide. A concealed aluminium frame for a flush-to-wall look is usually quoted with the door set. Whatever the material, every timber frame should be treated against termites, and every frame foot in a wet area sealed.
What a door package costs: a 3BHK example
Doors are a modest share of a home's interior budget, but they are bought once and used thousands of times a year, so this is not the place to save on hardware or core quality. The example below is for a typical 3BHK flat with a veneer main door, three laminate bedroom doors, three WPC bathroom doors and one WPC utility door. All figures are indicative October 2026 ranges per complete door set — shutter, frame, standard branded hardware and installation — and should be confirmed with local suppliers before budgeting.
| Door | Quantity | Rate per door set (indicative) | Amount (indicative) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main door, solid core with veneer and PU polish | 1 | ₹30,000–65,000 | ₹30,000–65,000 |
| Bedroom doors, solid-core laminate flush | 3 | ₹18,000–35,000 | ₹54,000–1,05,000 |
| Bathroom doors, WPC shutter and frame | 3 | ₹14,000–28,000 | ₹42,000–84,000 |
| Utility door, WPC shutter and frame | 1 | ₹14,000–28,000 | ₹14,000–28,000 |
| Total door package | 8 doors | — | ≈ ₹1,40,000–2,82,000 |
Add-ons sit outside these figures: a smart lock for the main door, a video door phone, metal inlays or CNC grooves, seals and drop seals for quiet bedrooms (kits of about ₹1,500–6,000 per door), a safety grille door, and GST. Changing a door's position after the walls are built costs about ₹15,000–40,000 per door in a typical flat, including the new frame, shutter refitting and making good — far more than drawing it right at the start.
Where door sizes are heading
Three trends are visible in Indian projects. The first is height: as ceilings in premium flats and bungalows rise to 3000–3300 mm, 2400 mm and even floor-to-ceiling doors with concealed frames are becoming common, and the 2100 mm door is starting to look dated in such rooms. Tall doors need stiffer cores, four hinges or concealed hinges rated to the weight, and careful site storage so the shutter does not bow before it is hung.
The second is accessibility. As more families plan homes for parents who will live with them for decades, the 900 mm bathroom door, the level threshold and the lever handle are moving from special requests to sensible defaults. The third is factory finishing: pre-hung door sets, with shutter, frame, architrave and hardware machined and finished in a factory, reduce site work, give consistent gaps of about 2–3 mm, and suit the tighter timelines of modern fit-outs. All three point the same way — doors are being designed as a system, not ordered as a plank.
Rules for getting door sizes right
- Write four numbers in the door schedule for every door: shutter, frame, wall opening and clear width.
- Use 1000–1050 mm for a flat's main door, 900 mm for bedrooms and at least one 900 mm bathroom door for elders.
- Set the lintel soffit at about 2160–2175 mm for a 2100 mm shutter — not at 2100 mm.
- Keep the hinge side 100–150 mm from a return wall, and draw every door arc on the furniture layout.
- Drop the bathroom floor 12–25 mm, turn the waterproofing up at the threshold, and use a WPC, PVC or stone frame there.
- Fix one handle height (about 1000 mm) and one head line (2100 or 2400 mm) for the whole home.
- Use four hinges for 2400 mm or heavy solid shutters, and through-bolts or long screws in WPC frames.
- Check that a fridge, a king mattress and a wardrobe panel can pass every door on the delivery route.
Frequently asked questions
What is the standard size of a bedroom door in India?
The standard bedroom door shutter is 900 × 2100 mm, or about 3 × 7 ft. It needs a frame about 1000 mm wide and a wall opening of about 1010–1020 × 2160–2175 mm, and it gives about 810–830 mm of clear width when open.
What is the standard bathroom door size in feet?
The common bathroom door is 2 ft 6 in × 6 ft 8 in (750 × 2000 mm). For bathrooms used by elders or anyone with limited mobility, 3 ft (900 mm) is far better, ideally opening outward or sliding, with a level or bevelled threshold.
What is the ideal main door size for a flat?
A main door of 1000–1050 mm wide and 2100–2400 mm high suits most flats. It gives about 910–980 mm of clear passage for furniture and appliances. Use a solid-core shutter at least 35–40 mm thick, and in high-rise towers follow the fire-check door requirements of the building's approval.
How much bigger should the wall opening be than the door?
Allow about 100–120 mm more than the shutter width and about 60–75 mm more than its height for a standard 100 × 60 mm frame and packing. For a 900 × 2100 mm shutter, that means an opening of about 1010–1020 × 2160–2175 mm, measured from the finished floor level.
Should a bathroom door open inward or outward?
Indian bathroom doors traditionally open inward, which keeps the leaf out of the bedroom. For elders and accessible bathrooms, an outward-opening or sliding door is safer because a person who falls inside cannot block it. Whichever is chosen, the leaf must clear the basin and WC, and the lock should be openable from outside in an emergency.
Sources & standards
- Bureau of Indian Standards — National Building Code of India 2016, Part 3 (Development Control Rules and General Building Requirements) and Part 4 (Fire and Life Safety)
- Bureau of Indian Standards — IS 2202 (Part 1), wooden flush door shutters, solid core type; IS 4021, timber door, window and ventilator frames; IS 1003 (Part 1), timber panelled and glazed shutters
- Bureau of Indian Standards — IS 3614, fire check doors
- Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India — Harmonised Guidelines and Standards for Universal Accessibility in India (2021)
- Neufert, Architects' Data — door types, clear widths and circulation clearances
- Manufacturer standard ranges for flush, WPC, PVC and steel door sets in India, described generically
- Price ranges: indicative October 2026 estimates — confirm locally before budgeting
