Size Requirement for Apartment Entry Door in a 2-family home
We are planning to renovate a 2 family home, with one apartment per floor.
We would like to put an entry door for one of the apartments at the end of a hall that runs adjacent to, and parallel to its stairwell .
Is there anything in the nyc codes that governs the minimum size for an apartment entry door?
Door sizes at the home centers start at 24 inches wide.. How much room will we need for a door casing? Would a pre-hung Metal door have a narrower casing than a wood or fiberglass door?
Thanks in advance.
bklynbabe
in Doors & Windows 6 years and 5 months ago
9
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9 replies
cate | 6 years and 5 months ago
BKlynBabe, forgive me for not understanding, but if you are keeping the house a two-family, why would the DOB compel you to make these changes, such as adding locked doors? We have a two-family with no separation between the units, and it’s grandfathered in. Then again, we’re not doing any renovations that require an Alt-1 or Alt-2 permit, and maybe you are. Possibly you could file under an old set of building codes and keep your doors as you wish.
bklynbabe | 6 years and 5 months ago
@bored: Well, to answer your question, we are not concerned with tenants — we have had great luck with tenants for 18 years. But the irony here is that with this renovation, we’d like to give the apartment to an adult family member (grown child). We will never lock any of the doors we have to have. It is the DOB who seems worried aobout privacy and security. I understand their reasons, and there may come a day when we may rent again.
The house was originally 2 flats, one per floor throughout its history. There isn’t a C of O but there are tenants on each floor since at least 1910 according to old census records. Like most houses of this type including my neighbors in our row of identical buildings there was a door at the end of the hall that led to a kitchen. Someone removed I years ago. I would just put it back but the opening is in the wrong place, because the basement door, which we have to envelop into our apartment, is next to it. It needs to be moved down the hall a little, and unfortunately if we have to put in a wider door, we will be cutting about 3 feet off of a load bearing wall. It seems a waste of money and effort to do that.
The architect doesn’t want to file plans over and over obviously and he wants to err on the side of caution by putting in a larger door than I think is necessary. I want to do things like jonkotaco did it. We want a wood door with nice moldings to match the rest of the doors in this place, (they are the 5 panel type).
Another odd thing the architect told me is that there isn’t a way to put a secure lock on a pocket door. Id love a pocket door in the front room (the other entry) to see space. If we keep the house a 2-family, we would be required to put a secure lock on both of those doors, the LR one and the hallway one.
Thank you both for your comments.
helen40
in Doors & Windows 6 years and 5 months ago
Not really sure I understand the question. Your architect should be familiar with the Building Code and let you know how wide the door needs to be and the number of egress points. They should also be familiar with door options that allow you to meet the code.
If you are concerned that your tenant will try to gain access to the basement via a locked door (keyed from the tenant’s side) then you are considering the wrong kind of tenants. If you are sharing your home with someone, I would hope they have more respect for you and your property. We carefully screen our tenants and have never had an issue like this (access to the basement is via a locked door from the tenant’s hallway) A simple conversation at the lease signing letting the tenant know that the basement is private and off limits should suffice.
andy | 6 years and 5 months ago
Anytime you touch anything it has to be updated to code (as I understand it). Your expeditor may have an idea (or, your plan examiner may not care/notice). Personally, I didn’t want to risk it and my details were not original here. If your living room entrance is wide enough for code, you should be okay with a narrow door beside the staircase. My examiner OK’d this set up.
bklynbabe | 6 years and 5 months ago
I don’t like the sound of this… metal doors?
It’s almost as if they are forcing you to change the C of O if you want your original detail.
andy | 6 years and 5 months ago
I had this issue and ended up with 2 doors due to code. One at the end of the hall (very narrow) and another into the living room. For the living room entry, I had to use a full sized door. Also fire-rated (ie metal) and on springed hinge. Don’t forget to think about angles for getting couches, mattresses, etc into the apartment.
bklynbabe | 6 years and 5 months ago
I was hoping someone else faced this challenge? Or has knowledge of how to install a door casing in a narrow -ish space.
bklynbabe | 6 years and 5 months ago
Oh. 🙂 sorry.
Yes — we have an architect and doing it all “legal”
The house is 115 years old and always a 2 family. Nothing changing there. It was remodeled by someone 25 years ago and the entry was in an awkward location. There is an entry door in the front hall which allows access to the living room. It’s lockable. We are adding a second entry to the apartment, at the other end of the hall, so the stairs that accesses the basement will be contained in the apartment comprising the 1st floor and basement.it is an English basement.
I understand that simply putting a lock on the basement staircase door is not good enough to ensure that the person on the second floor cannot get into the basement. No one will be living in the basement — it will be workshop laundry and storage space. We don’t want it to seem like another apartment.
Thanks for asking.
cate | 6 years and 5 months ago
Are you changing occupancy or egress? Filing a permit? Working with an architect? Requirements are complex and ever changing, also depend on type and history of property and what code year you file under.