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Internal doors

686mm internal doors (78" x 27")

686mm is the second most common internal door width in the UK, quoted in the trade as 78" x 27". It is the standard fit for bathrooms, en-suites, box rooms and cupboards — openings where 762mm would eat wall space that a room this size cannot spare.

If you are measuring a UK house built any time in the last century, most bedroom and reception doors will be 762mm and the bathroom will be 686mm. That pattern is so consistent it is worth checking before you measure anything.

The number that matters for using the room, though, is not the width of the leaf.

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Clear opening width, not leaf width

A 686mm door does not give you a 686mm opening. The frame takes some, the door stop takes some, and the open leaf itself stands in the way of a little more. The usable gap — the clear opening width — is always meaningfully less than the leaf.

This matters if anyone needs to get a wheelchair, a walking frame or a hospital bed through. Approved Document M sets clear opening widths for dwellings, and they are expressed against corridor width rather than as one number. [VERIFY: Approved Document M, current edition] — check the figure that applies before committing to a width for an accessible route.

Where 686mm belongs

  • Bathrooms and en-suites, where the door swing is already tight against a basin or a bath.
  • Box rooms and single bedrooms, where a wider opening takes wall you need for furniture.
  • Cupboards and airing cupboards.
  • Older cottages and terraces with narrow original openings.

If your opening is between sizes

Openings in old houses are rarely a standard size. If yours falls between 686mm and 762mm, buy the 762mm door and trim it down rather than buying the 686mm and packing the frame out. Trimming is a controlled operation with a limit set by the manufacturer; packing a frame out by 40mm each side is joinery you will be looking at every day.

Take the allowance seriously. Most manufacturers permit only a few millimetres per edge, and taking more than that off a door can void its guarantee. The allowance is stated in the instructions supplied with the specific door.