It's hard to make a suggestion without seeing the door you had planned on using. For sure, you could put a register on the side for air and then use a regular door. You should be able to reclaim some storage in the closet too, by putting some shelves across in the space above the unit...

Thanks for your reply, acm. I don't have a picture of the door readily available -- It's a Very Square 4-panel solid core, pre-hung door by Metrie (which has since been discontinued) 24"x80". The door jamb will hit the HVAC unit if installed, and I don't want to modify the door since the style has been discontinued. Reclaiming storage space, while important, isn't top priority ... I just don't want to see the HVAC unit, and a common louvered door will not suffice.

Build out the door frame to where you need it for clearance of the custom door.

This shows a curved door but similar concept.

I presume you mean because of these drain lines? Your hvac guy sounds unpleasant. This may very well be the only place a unit can go, but he needed to have planned the unit to accommodate a door. He can be surprised you want to cover it... maybe there is a way to re route the line.

I’m also confused by the silver tape on the subfloor.

Just build out the frame.

Thanks for your suggestion, but building out the frame isn't an option as this will cause the hallway to be too narrow. The home was built in the 70s and currently, the hallway width meets minimum standards.

Thanks for your comment, HALLETT & Co. I've attached another photo for reference. With regards to the the silver tape, the HVAC installer placed it shortly after the unit was installed due to a water leak.

There are panel bifold doors that may work here. Like the picture, but without glass. It's not ideal but they're way cleaner than the louvered look.

Eric, put a straightedge across the face of the drywall and measure from there to the obstruction. A door is only 1 3/8" thick and the face of a interior door is flush with the drywall so based on your photos it looks like you have room. Have you stood the door up in place to see?

Starting off with, definitely not a pro, and have no idea about codes, so this may be an inane suggestion...

is it possible to shorten the connections coming out of the unit, so it elbows the lines more flush to the unit, and perhaps eke-ing out enough wiggle room for your door to fit?

Never mind my suggestion. That's way too tight. The HVAC created a water leak and the solution was tape on the floor? That's... disturbing.

The only thing I can think of is a thin panel that mimics the look of a door but is wall mounted in a way that can be lifted off as needed.

Good luck!

HALLETT & Co., Yes, I've tried that, and it does hit the unit, so my new contractor and I have been scratching our heads for a solution.

Larri, I've thought the same thing, but again, the HVAC guy will not make the alteration. There are a couple of code violations related to the HVAC system that have to be corrected elsewhere, but long story short, he's not moving it. I've contacted to manufacturer to see if moving it will void the warranty as he stated. My next option is to find a new HVAC company who will move it for me anyway.

Okay so the door cannot come forward so move the wall behind the HVAC unit back, I do not know what is in that room but it looks like you need 5-6 inches of floor space. Then you can scoot the entire unit back into the now slightly larger space to accommodate the door. Yes it will move the unit but not to a different location. Sounds like the HVAC guy was having a bad day.

The issue about moving the unit might be that the refrigerant lines would need to be re-run. Also dealing with the refrigerant.

Since this is a pre-hung door, there is inside and outside trim. For some manufacturers, the door frame is in two parts since you could not slip the completed door and frame through the opening due to the trim. The inside part goes inside and then fits into the outside part when it is brought up to the door opening. With others you just remove the inside trim before putting the whole door into place. In this case, you don't need the inside trim.

This looks like new construction. The guy who framed this was having the bad day. Either that or he was not given the dimensions of the equipment and the required clearances.

I see two large holes cut on the side. Is one supposed to be a supply and the other a return with the thermostat mounted in between the two? That arrangement is not going to work well. Every time the furnace starts the thermostat will be hit with a blast of warm air causing it to shut off prematurely. It is probably going to cause of lot of short cycling on cold days. Your HVAC contractor should know better.

Do you have a floor plan you can post? There may be a place where the equipment could be moved that won't disrupt your floor plan. What you have right now is going to be a long term problem in my opinion.

mike_home,

You are correct about the two holes in the sheetrock. I agree that having them in that location isn't efficient. They will be behind the door to the laundry room, and the HVAC guy's solution to that was to "just leave the door open." And yes, he should have known better ... he did know better, as did I, but he did what was convenient for him, and now I have the mess to clean up. The closet in which he placed the unit was preexisting -- the framing wasn't changed. The only change here was removing paneling and installing drywall.

I want the unit moved into the utility closet that's ten feet or so away, but the building inspector won't allow it there with the tankless water heater on the adjacent wall. The plumbing has to be changed, so I think I can get approval to move the HVAC unit there afterwards. It's just a matter of finding someone else to do it.

Thanks again for your input!

The only return to the furnace is going to inside the laundry room? Will there be a gas dryer in the laundry room? The HVAC contractor thinks it will not be an issue if you keep laundry room door open? What he has proposed will not work well and is potentially dangerous. You need to hire someone that knows what they are doing.

Have you talked to the code official as to why installing the furnace in the utility closet next to the tankless water heater would be a code violation? It might be due to lack of sufficient combustion air. Is it too late to swap the tankless with a traditional tank model?

I get the feeling you are not getting the complete story on the code violation. Ask questions and find out the real reason.

I know I’m late to the game but they make barn door style bi-fold door hardware that is surface mounted.