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Internal doors

826mm internal doors (2040 x 826mm metric)

826mm doors belong to the metric size family, normally 2040 x 826 x 40mm. They are fitted in newer UK housing and are the standard across Ireland. A metric door is taller, wider and thicker than the imperial size it looks closest to, so the two families cannot be swapped.

Metric doors are where a confident measurement goes wrong. Somebody measures a width of roughly 830mm, decides it is close enough to 838mm, orders the imperial door and finds it is 60mm too short in height.

Height is the giveaway, not width, and it takes one measurement to settle.

Showing all 3 doors

How to tell metric from imperial in under a minute

Measure the height of the opening. Imperial doors are 1981mm tall. Metric doors are 2040mm. That is a 59mm difference, which is far too much to trim and far too obvious to miss once you have the tape on it.

Thickness is the second tell. Imperial internal doors are usually 35mm, metric ones 40mm. A 40mm leaf in a lining rebated for 35mm will not sit right against the stop.

The two families side by side
Imperial familyMetric family
Height1981mm (78")2040mm
Common widths610, 686, 762, 838mm526, 626, 726, 826, 926mm
Typical thickness35mm40mm
Usually found inUK housing built before the 1990sNewer UK housing, and standard across Ireland

Why you cannot substitute one for the other

The height difference alone rules it out. You cannot add 59mm to a door, and taking 59mm off a metric door to fit an imperial opening removes far more than any manufacturer allows — on most doors it would cut straight through the bottom rail.

If you have a mixed house, which happens after an extension, buy each opening the door it needs and accept that the two will differ slightly in height. That reads far better than a door that has been butchered to fit.

The rest of the metric range

826mm is the most-fitted metric width, filling the role 762mm plays in the imperial family. The narrower sizes cover the same jobs 686mm and 610mm cover in an older house: bathrooms, box rooms and cupboards.

  • 2040 x 526mm — cupboards and very narrow openings.
  • 2040 x 626mm — box rooms, cloakrooms and store cupboards.
  • 2040 x 726mm — bathrooms, en-suites and smaller bedrooms.
  • 2040 x 826mm — the standard room door.
  • 2040 x 926mm — wide openings and accessible routes.