Reference
Garage and roll-up door sizes
A door opening on a new building costs you more wall than the opening itself, and the eave height you order has to clear the opening plus the manufacturer's published headroom.
Written by Gary Thompson · Steel Building Research EditorSteel Building Research EditorReviewed by Find Steel Buildings Editorial Team
- Common single
- 9 × 7 and 9 × 8
- Common double
- 16 × 7 and 16 × 8
- Published headroom
- 10 in to 14 in
- Published sideroom
- 3¾ in each side
Quick reference
Openings, the wall they consume and the eave they need
Wall width = opening + 0.5 ft each side; eave height = opening height + 14 in headroom
| Opening (W × H) | Wall width consumed | Eave height needed | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8′ × 7′ | 9′ | 8.17′ | Single car, compact |
| 9′ × 7′ | 10′ | 8.17′ | Single car, most common single opening |
| 9′ × 8′ | 10′ | 9.17′ | Single bay with roof-rack clearance |
| 10′ × 8′ | 11′ | 9.17′ | Pickup or workshop bay |
| 12′ × 10′ | 13′ | 11.17′ | Equipment, trailer or tractor bay |
| 14′ × 14′ | 15′ | 15.17′ | RV or tall equipment bay |
| 16′ × 7′ | 17′ | 8.17′ | Two cars behind one opening |
| 16′ × 8′ | 17′ | 9.17′ | Two vehicles, taller opening |
| 18′ × 8′ | 19′ | 9.17′ | Two full-size vehicles behind one opening |
Both allowances are shown so you can substitute your own supplier's figures. The 14 in headroom is the largest value in the published Clopay table below.
Manufacturer literature
Published headroom and sideroom
Clopay residential sectional door headroom
| Extension spring, 12 in radius track | 10″Verified source |
|---|---|
| Extension spring, 15 in radius track | 12″Verified source |
| Torsion spring, 12 in radius track | 12″Verified source |
| Torsion spring, 15 in radius track | 14″Verified source |
Headroom is measured above the opening, inside the building.
Low-headroom options and sideroom
| Low-headroom extension kit | 4.5″Verified source |
|---|---|
| Low-headroom torsion kit | 9.5″Verified source |
| Sideroom, vertical track | 3.75″ each sideVerified source |
| Sideroom above opening, torsion | 4.5″Verified source |
These figures are published by one manufacturer for one product family. A roll-up door on a steel building has its own published figures; ask your supplier for them rather than reusing these.
Diagram
Opening, headroom and eave on one elevation
What changes
Ordering openings for a new building is not measuring for a replacement
Replacement guidance starts from an opening that already exists. On a new steel building you are buying the opening, and every foot of it comes out of a wall you also need for corners and for the spacing between doors. Two 9 ft openings on a 24 ft wall consume 20 ft once a half-foot jamb allowance is added on each side of each door, leaving 4 ft split across three pieces of wall.
Door wall arithmetic on a 24 ft bay
| Configuration | Openings | Wall consumed | Wall remaining on a 24 ft bay |
|---|---|---|---|
| One 16 ft opening | 1 | 17′ | 7.0′ |
| Two 9 ft openings | 2 | 20.0′ | 4.0′ |
| Two 10 ft openings | 2 | 22.0′ | 2.0′ |
Jamb allowance of 0.5 ft per side is a stated planning input, not a manufacturer requirement.
Vehicle fit
What clears which opening
Vertical margin = opening height − published unit height
| Vehicle or unit | Height | 8 ft opening | 10 ft opening | 14 ft opening |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pickup, planning envelope | 6.5′ | 1′ 6″ | 3′ 6″ | 7′ 6″ |
| Winnebago Travato (all floorplans) | 9.33′ | -1′ 4″ | 0′ 8″ | 4′ 8″ |
| Winnebago Minnie Winnie 26T | 11′ | -3′ 0″ | -1′ 0″ | 3′ 0″ |
| Winnebago Adventurer 35F | 12.5′ | -4′ 6″ | -2′ 6″ | 1′ 6″ |
A negative margin means the unit does not pass under that opening. RV heights are published manufacturer figures.
Limits
One thing this page will not tell you
No universal standard
Evidence
Where these numbers come from
Evidence record
- Verified source
Residential sectional door headroom above the opening: 10 in (extension spring, 12 in radius track), 12 in (extension, 15 in radius; or torsion, 12 in radius), 14 in (torsion, 15 in radius)
- Verified source
Residential sectional door sideroom: minimum 3-3/4 in each side for vertical track; minimum 4-1/2 in each side above the opening for torsion spring attachment
- Verified source
Low-headroom track options reduce the published headroom requirement to 4-1/2 in (extension spring kit) or 9-1/2 in (torsion kit)
Computed values are recalculated whenever this page renders. Published figures link to the source document. Planning inputs are shown as inputs so you can substitute your own.
Keep planning
Next step
Answers
Common questions
There is no single standard. Single openings are most often 9 ft wide and 7 or 8 ft high; doubles are most often 16 ft wide. Steel buildings also use 10 x 8, 12 x 10 and 14 x 14 openings for equipment and RVs.
Clopay's published installation literature gives 10 in for an extension spring on 12 in radius track, 12 in for a 15 in radius or a torsion spring on 12 in track, and 14 in for a torsion spring on 15 in track. Low-headroom kits reduce that to 4½ in or 9½ in.
The opening height plus the headroom your door needs, plus whatever the building's own framing takes. Using the largest published Clopay figure of 14 in, an 8 ft opening wants at least 9 ft 2 in of clear wall above the floor before framing.
More than the opening. Adding a half-foot jamb allowance on each side, a 16 ft opening consumes 17 ft of a wall, and two 9 ft openings consume 20 ft.
Continue your research
Related planning topics
Background reading on the questions this page raises. None of these pages sells anything.
Planning a building?
Get door openings quoted with the building
Door count, width and height change the price more than most buyers expect. Quote them together.
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