You should not be able to see the carpeting in the room behind the closed door... this is way too big a gap! I suspect your doorways were a bit longer than the closest standard sized door that would fit... so instead of buying a taller door and cutting them to size, your contractor skimped and went with a shorter door.... I wouldn't pay the contractor until this issue is corrected....

Typically it's 1/4". They should've adjusted door frame height for installation on top of finished floors.

I live in Washington state as well, and have been installing new doors so this is something we've been going through as well. We're doing it ourselves so I had my husband read and look at your picture as he's a big DIY guy, and is doing our doors. Here's what we think based on installing 5 new doors so far:

• The doors might be some sort of custom doors that are different sizes that the contractor had, and don't fit the jambs.
• The jambs could be odd sizes as well.
• The installer messed up, and just doesn't want to admit it and fix them.

Measure all your doors, and make sure they're the same size.

My husband did say the jambs often need to be trimmed at the bottom to fit, but that depends a lot on the flooring.

In your picture, I suspect that the transition piece is part of the problem with the height. If the door was lower, it would hit that.

Document this and try to find examples of other doors that are hung correctly to show that your case in unusual. If they have any open houses, go and take pictures of the closed doors where you can't get your foot under it. Write them a very nice letter telling them you expect it to be fixed or you'll file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. And do it. That usually will get their attention, and inspire them to resolve the issue. Focus on how they pride themselves in their custom work, and that it's far cheaper to fix your doors than have a thread like this on Houzz where they've won design awards the last two years. If you're nice but persistent, chances are they'll fix it just to get rid of you.

http://www.hillcustomhomes.com/about.html

Most manufacturers leave a 1 3/8- 1 1/2" air gap on Prehung doors. With this clearance in mind if you install a door lets say over concrete floor, and sills are limited to 1/2" in height to comply with ADA, when you add 1/2" sill you still have 7/8"-1" gap for air circulation. Same with hardwood floors or carpeting you will have a 3/4" gap and door don't need to be undercut.

With that said, and by what Pam said the OP, if your foot fits under the door, something is not right there.

GN Builders, please cite the location of this ADA requirement. I have searched quite a bit and can not find anything within the ADA guidelines that specify the height of the door gap below the door. In fact, if you read the manufacturer's instructions for pre-hung doors then you will see that they do not reference ADA guidelines for trimming the jam of the door prior to installation to set the door height. In fact, after speaking to a door manufacturer, all door jams are built to the same size which is longer than required so that the bottom of the jams can be trimmed to set the height of the door from the ground to the user's desired height. They also stated that all of their machines are set to cut the same size and this increases speed and reliability of manufacture. Makes sense when you think about it from an engineering perspective. That said, I have seen most door gaps set to 1/2". In my opinion it is better to have to trim the bottom of a door slightly when installing it than to have to lengthen it. My remodel contractor installed my doors with the full door jam which left 1" plus of gap at the bottom of all the doors. This is unacceptable and I will be addressing this on the punchlist. All door slaps are set to 80" unless you build a custom door so you need to plan for changing door slabs in the future if you want a different look. There is a need for an air gap at the bottom for ventilation; however, the size of that gap is very unlikely to be greater than 1/2" for any door. If more gap is required it is easier to trim a door than to lengthen it.

@Mike - "GN Builders, please cite the location of this ADA requirement. I have searched quite a bit and can not find anything within the ADA guidelines that specify the height of the door gap below the door."

GN said ", and SILLS are limited to 1/2" in height to comply with ADA, "

AKA - thresholds by the IBC.

1008.1.7 Thresholds.

Thresholds at doorways shall not exceed 3/4 inch (19.1 mm) in height above the finished floor or landing for sliding doors serving dwelling units or 1/2 inch (12.7 mm) above the finished floor or landing for other doors. Raised thresholds and floor level changes greater than 1/4 inch (6.4 mm) at doorways shall be beveled with a slope not greater than one unit vertical in two units horizontal (50-percent slope).

Exception: In occupancy Group R-2 or R-3, threshold heights for sliding and side-hinged exterior doors shall be permitted to be up to 73/4 inches (197 mm) in height if all of the following apply:

1. The door is not part of the required means of egress.

2. The door is not part of an accessible route as required by Chapter 11.

3. The door is not part of an Accessible unit, Type A unit or Type B unit.

Speaking as somebody who can't put rugs in front of any bathroom sinks, I understand that sometimes clearance isn't a simple thing. Sometimes flooring heights differ, making the gap seem worse from one side too.

If you really mean "foot fits underneath" and not "toes can be squeezed in," though, then it's gone a bit too far.

@upcountry22, your information is ONLY for a fire door. That would be a door between any individual apartment and the corridor in an apartment building, for instance, not a door into a bedroom in a single family dwelling. It has no bearing to the original question.

http://firedoorguide.com/nfpa-80/

I have designed, built and installed doors since the 1980's.

Ranging from very inexpensive prehungs to 10,000. mahogany with leaded glass and Baldwin hardware.

I can say that the standard GAP allowance for carpet on both sides of the door is 1/4". The reasoning is two-fold. The 1/4" allows for a rug placement and floor movement. I however usually cheat that towards 1/8" if there is not a prior template to adhere to. The overarching idea is that the gap should block almost all light emanating from the interior space, thus allowing privacy and performing as a noise barricade better. Air flow/exchange is not a consideration.

The standard allowance for carpet not yet laid is to create a 1" gap, which should culminate in a net gap of 1/8-1/4"once carpet is installed.

On the matter of dissimilar materials meeting at a doorway the common practice is to carpet to the middle of the door, as it is in the closed position.

And size the door to the carpet, again the 1/8-1/4" gap.

If there is a oversized gap at the base of the door to the carpet (which I would define as any greater than 1/4") I would consider an extension.

A small strip of wood even 1/2" wide at the base of the 1-3/8" door to choke off light that bleeds out.

I am having the exact same issue in my home. My gaps are measuring 1.5 inches! Our builder is telling us it is based on need for 'Green HVAC system' to pull air better. I have a huge air return in my master bedroom (filter size 14x21x1) and another (20x30x1) in adjacent hallway approx 16ft away. Would appreciate a Green engineer to provide standards for gaps. No privacy in masterbedroom and hallway half bath is uncomfortable!

http://www.ba-pirc.org/casestud/return_air/index.htm

.

http://www.finehomebuilding.com/2011/07/30/indoor-airflow-perfect-balance-vs-door-undercut

I agree with European, 1/4 inch is good, never more than 1/2 inch .

Standard doors are 80 inches. It looks like he may have cut the doors judging by the bottom rail. Good luck.

I'm seeing so much misinformation and speculation on this thread so I had to chime in. I trimmed houses for 10 years. Been on my own doing renovations for the last 5. So finish carpentry is my thing. I think what happened here is pretty simple. When you buy a new, off-the-shelf pre-hung door the jambs extend down past the bottom of the hung door by about 1 1/4" - 1 3/4" depending on the manufacturer. This margin is to allow for installation on top of subfloor so that when the flooring is installed you are left with a comfortable margin under the door slab. As a trim carpenter we always verified what thickness of flooring was to be installed so we could then adjust the height of the doors when we installed them. Sometimes this involves cutting off the bottom of the jambs to allow for less margin after the flooring is installed. When you install these prehung doors on top of a finished floor (as you did) you then have to cut down each one of these doors in order to give yourself a margin of 3/8" - 3/4" depending on preference. Some of those considerations/preferences may be things like: are you going to be using throw rugs on top of the finished floor? Are there special air transfer requirements? Or are there special noise/privacy requirements? Anything over 3/4" is certainly excessive unless there are special circumstances. Whomever installed these doors either didn't feel like cutting them down or cut them down poorly. 1" - 1 1/4" is not industry standard. 1/4" is certainly on the slim side though and I wouldn't recommend it. It doesn't allow for any sag, movement of the house (more of an issue with new construction), unlevel floors (more of an issue with old houses), and you will feel air resistance when opening or closing a door with that slim a margin. Not to say it won't work, it certainly will with the right circumstances, it just leaves no margin for error.

That may be what happened. The contractor installed the unit with the maximum full jamb, without cutting, which I find a bit strange, just making the gap whatever the jamb decides. I like 1/4 inch from highest point. I don't like it more than 1/2 " when the door's closed, that's my preference. The contractor should have asked the customer what they wanted. To me , 1 1/4 inches is far too much, it looks bad. The bottom line is..... If the customer dosen't like the gap, it's wrong and needs to be fixed.

Also, I prefer the same gap throughout the house.

Alex

Depends upon the thickness of the carpet inside and the thickness of the wooden /tile floor outside. Better take the higher of the two and allow a bit for smooth movement of the door over the carpet. Now since the doors are installed , is it possible to make a wooden threshold or a concrete one covered by a piece of wood. Though I beleive thresholds are not common in Europe may be because these restrict free movement. Sorry I am no engineer or designer , just based on my personal experience gained from similar problems. Thanks

Mike Lewis- You can ask your contractor to set all your doors to your personal liking, then you can scratch your head when you have to doors next to each other with different flooring and your casing doesn't line up at the head, then blame your contractor for your mistake.Or your bath exhaust isn't exhausting properly because you closed up the intake that it needs because you wanted a 1/4 ". Again blaming the contractor when your walls are damp.I feel for contractors who work for people like you.

Best answer right there from Mattman. Central air requires a pathway to move air. Otherwise you will have severe humidity issues, risk mildew growth, air balance issues. No one on this thread talks about why the 1” to 2” gap. All of you talk about how it should look. Operational function within your livable space investment is far more important than your “ideal” gap at the bottom you your doors. Those who state 1/4” to 3/4” are clueless.

Ugh, I know Mattman is probably correct but I can't stand the gap in our place after replacing the upstairs carpet with LVP. Worse yet, we have only one register in the whole house. I am going to leave it and tell the next owner it's for HVAC efficiency.

Joey,

Manhattan and Yung are not correct. Your contractor did a bad job. Yung is correct about his clueless comment, he doesn't know what he is talking about (Manhattan's assumption is also incorrect.). HVAC systems do not rely on door gaps for balance, that's why every room has a return air duct. Bathrooms are the exception (no returns), which accounts for a small amount of total space/air of the entire system and the door is usually open. Even if it were closed, a very small gap would simply slightly limit the air pushed into the room from the HVAC. A 1/2" gap on a 32" door is 16 sq. in. or about the size of a 4 1/2" diameter hole. For drawing air into the bathroom, your exhaust fan is only 4" so there will be no imbalance. A 1.5" gap is like having an 8" diameter hole

You have every right to blame the contractor for a sloppy job. The extension mentioned above is the best solution short of having it done again the correct way.

I agree with ryanr10. Yung needs to consider that it is not just looks - it is about sound and privacy as well. My master suite is right off the living room. I asked the builder to insulate the wall between the bedroom and the living room and then he put 3/4" gaps above the hardwood in all the doors. So what was teh point of the insulation? someone in the bedroom is kept awake by someone watching TV or talking in the living room. I also asked him to insulate bathroom walls. No one wants to hear the grunts and various other noises coming from the bathroom. (I have a bathroom backing onto the kitchen and surely do not want to hear that while I am cooking). And someone using the bathroom should have the right to feel they have some privacy. But my builder put 3/4" gaps under the doors. There is no privacy.

In reference to Washington state codes, there is, and has been for several years, a requirement to have undercut doors. Code states doors must be undercut a minimum of 1/2" above finish floor surface if that is the method of room ventilation used.

In early 2000's it was part of the Washington Ventilation code, which was one of several overlapping codes in Washington, but it is now part of the IRC as adopted and referred to as the Washington State Building Code and is a bit more steamlined than prior building code schemes.

You can see the Washington State Building code here:

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=51-51

Undercut Doors Required

M1507.3.4.4Ventilation openings. Each habitable space shall be provided with outdoor air inlets or operable windows with an openable area not less than 4 square inches of net free area of opening for each 10 cfm of outdoor air required by Table M1507.3.3(1). Where outdoor air supplies are separated from exhaust points by doors, provisions shall be made to ensure air flow by installation of distribution ducts, undercutting doors, installation of grilles, transoms, or similar means. Doors shall be undercut to a minimum of 1/2 inch above the surface of the finish floor covering.

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=51-51-1507

Ventilation methods may be different in other states and locales, but the OP was in Washington.

Having a rug get bunched up behind a minimally undercut door is not fun.

But 1-1/2" above a finished floor is excessive.

I live in Arizona and just bought a house that was made 2014, and the gaps are about an inch and a half. My last house was built in 1994, and the door gaps were like 1/4 of an inch. My master bedroom would seal very tight forcing the door to crash against the jab when the air kicked in. So, I guess instead of putting in registers above the doors the builder cut the bottoms of all the interior doors in the newer house. It gets the job done.

science, experimentation, measurement. That is what's needed https://www.finehomebuilding.com/2011/07/30/indoor-airflow-perfect-balance-vs-door-undercut

Really interesting article. Thank you

25 year carpenter here...Here are the cold facts of the trade in almost every job in the world:

If you are hanging a pre-hung door on a bare subfloor, you put the door right on the floor and install it. If you are hanging a door on a finished floor, you cut 3/4" off the bottom of the jamb, then install. Either way it gives you about 3/4" clearance over the finished floor. This is an "industry standard rule of thumb" for trim carpenters across the states. Knowing the exact height of the finished floor before installation and adjusting the door height is usually not practical, and can change. It is best to keep the door as low as possible, it can always be cut later if it needs more clearance for hvac considerations.

It's really that simple. If the OP, or anyone else has 1.5 inches clearance, you or your contractor screwed up and hung those doors wrong. The doors were installed on a finished floor without cutting the 3/4" off the jamb.

You could add a door sweep to the bottom of the door to take up some of the space...or...remove the trim/door, cut the 3/4" off the bottom jambs, and reinstall. If you have narrow door casing, keep in mind lowering the frame like this could expose unfinished sheet rock at the top of the door that might need to be patched/repaired. Good luck!

Edit: Higher quality pre-hung doors are usually manufactured with 1.5" clearance under the door as described above, assuming the flooring will be premium as well, in the 3/4"+ range. Cheaper pre-hung doors give about 1"-1.25" clearance and this is because the rise of thinner floor systems for the mass consumer market. Again, either way 3/4" finish clearance is usually the result.

You can get at a hardware store an item (I think it is called a sweep) that will "lower" the opening or you can buy on amazon etc a door draft stopper. One thing about these high hung doors that hasn't been mentioned yet is how much sound will also travel due to them.

You definitely want to keep it like that unless you want those rooms to be hot in the summer the gap is there to allow your hvac system to pull all warm or cool air from bedrooms by not having a gap at all would lead to uncomfortable rooms and it’s like like the gap is big enough to stick you head in so it’s fine you should definitely be able to stick your foot under.

In response to an earlier question about an ADA reference for door clearance. ADA does not dictate door clearance heights, it only dictates threshold max heights (which your door should hopefully clear). 1/2" max threshold height if beveled, 1/4" max threshold height for vertical change (see ICC A117.1-2009 or 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design, section 303 in both, or whichever version of ICC your jurisdiction has adopted). If this is for your personal home, you do not need to comply with ADA so you don't need to worry about any of that.

The clearance is also not governed by IBC or IRC. As mentioned above, it's more of a rule of thumb or preference unless your state has an amendment that says otherwise. I'd say 1/4" min-3/4" max above whatever floor finish or threshold you're trying to clear. Anything above that is probably just a someone trying to hurry through a project without cutting the jambs where they should be.

i live in NORTH CAROLINA you should not close the gap uner your door to tight remember your heat and air cannot work properly if it can't return the air to the unit if you your heat and air system come on and your door closes something is wrong . Check with your heat and air company. remember measure you vents in room and common sense tells me what goes in must come out. Check with your heat and air co. I personally think there should be a return in evry romm that will be close off at times. Good luck