42” isn’t wide enough for a pivot. You need to start at 48”. You can go much larger, as is shown. But your architectural plans don’t show an opening that is really wide enough to work with a pivot.

I love the look of large, wide, pivot doors, but I was worried about my dogs trying to sneak out the smaller, non-entry, portion when the door opens. OR, getting a paw/head squeezed in there when it closes. Following to see what people have to say regarding them and their use.

Hi Judy,

My wife and I installed both an exterior pivot door, and an interior pivot door in our new custom. Both doors are: 96"H x 60"W. We bought them from : The Pivot Door Company https://www.pivotdoorcompany.com/ out of Colorado Springs, CO. They specialize in pivot doors, especially designs that compliment your homes mountain vibe style. They have been in this business for years. Only issue is the doors are custom made (numerous glass and finish options) so it takes about 6 weeks from order to curbside delivery. Note, the exterior entry doors are steel construction (for security) covered in thick real hardwood veneers and insulated glass, so they weigh a lot (I think my front door is 1200 lbs) and they only provide curbside drop off, so your contractor will need 3 or 4 guys to carry up to the house.

The doors are excellent quality and finish. Exterior entry doors are pre-hung, the interior doors (much lighter) will need to be hung by your builder/ door installer. Also, the doors are pre-finished (clear; color provided by species of wood you choose) but need to be sealed on site. In addition, for the exterior door, note is is not the standard thickness of an exterior door, but thicker (2 3/4") so you will need hardware for a thicker door size. You can purchase from PDC or else procure your own, just remember you need hardware that fits a thicker door. The interior door is a standard 1 3/4" thickness. Hope this helps. Good luck on your project.

@User structurally, we have nearly 6’ of an opening to work with. I do not want a sidelight. That exterior entry wall is 7’6” so I thought smaller than 4’ may be more appropriate. Do you think a 4’ door would overwhelm the space/look out of place? The ceiling is open in the foyer so we have height but not dramatic ft2.

@Jazz Easy Thank you! I've been on their website and the doors look beautiful. Would you mind sharing pics? And where are you located? We are in PA so my hesitation with that company would be worrying about shipping/potential damage in the process

No pivot for 42”.

@User Im not sure how I thought 42“ would work with egress.... anyway the foyer and external overhang protect and allow function of a pivot of up to 72” so we have options. When you say “A 72” opening width needs a 60” door.”, you would suggest a 60” door is spatially appropriate for a wall only 90” wide? I am just concerned about such a large door feeling forced or out of place given the house is not huge.

Hi Judy,

Sorry for the delayed response, I was out of town. I live in CA. The shipping PDC uses is FedEx Ground regardless of where in the country you are located. The doors I ordered were packaged in a custom sized and built wooden crate with sufficient dunnage to ensure the doors arrive undamaged. I don't think there is any issue just because you are in PA, As to the dimensional info you are receiving. A 60" wide pivot door with a 12" from door edge pivot location needs approximately a 63" rough opening to achieve a 60" finish opening (i.e. the door will be 60" wide, but the casing will add approximately 3/4" each side, but you also need room for shims, etc. As for the distance of the pivot point to the door edge, you will see that PDC will allow a variety of pivot placement options: (from their website) The pivot placement is the distance the pivot pin will be placed away from the vertical edge of the rough opening. Generally speaking, we suggest placing the pivot over one quarter of the distance of the door width. We find that this presents a solid aesthetic for most door dimensions. See table below for suggested pivot placements.

If your rough opening is 48” and you choose a 9” pivot placement, the door will roughly have a 37” pass through opening. You want to ensure you leave at least a 36” opening. See diagram for details or contact us for clarification.

As stated above, if you only had room for a 42" wide door, 1/4 of that is 10.5", therefore the egress would actually only be 31" which is too narrow. HOWEVER, with only a 42" wide door, PDC will allow a 4" pivot placement, resulting in a 37" opening. I think it best that you call PDC or else configure the door you think you want on their configuration page. It won't let you order a door that won't actually work and function well. However, I would have your architect review to insure that the door you choose is proportionally correct and aesthetically pleasing. Be advised that PDC is a custom pivot door builder, so they can build to any width and height you specify. Attached is a picture from the inside of the exterior door "Sydney in white oak" from when it was just installed in our house (sorry, only photo I had on my phone; door had yet to be clear stained and sealed). The second picture is of the exterior of the house; you can see the exterior of the entry door. (The white oak shutters you see are part of an outside room, and pivot as well, but from the center - to control light and airflow in the outside room. Continued best on your project! JE

Considering a pivot door for Michigan - how is your pivot door holding up?

Judy,
I don’t share home pics on public website for privacy reasons. We are located on the CA central coast. I wouldn’t worry about shipping, the doors are shipped in a wooden crate and packaged to prevent shipping damage. Shipping is FedEx Ground whether to CA or PA, so the only issue is increased transit time. For the exterior door we choose the Sydney in natural white oak, with opaque glass for the door lights. For the master bedroom door we chose the Dina in white oak.

After 6 years, both doors look as good and function as well as the day they were installed. Cheers, JE