Why Is Exterior Door Sizing So Different in Mobile Homes and What to Do About It

Your front door is the first thing that welcomes you home each day and what protects you from the outside world. That's why purchasing an exterior door that properly fits your mobile home is so important.

An outswing exterior door from an outlet or retail store may save time and resources, but chances are you'll end up with a standard-sized door that won’t fit the opening of your home.

Researching online and shopping at big box stores can lead to confusing and contradictory advice, causing frustration for homeowners and community managers.

Specialized distributors with the right knowledge and expertise can help ensure the manufactured home exterior door you select fits properly, lasts longer, and saves you from stress.

Why Standard Doors Don’t Work in Mobile Homes

Purchasing a standard-size exterior door may lead to costly modifications to make it fit a mobile home, which can shorten the product’s lifespan. A poorly measured and misaligned door also allows drafts and leaks to slip through, which is the most common escape route for conditioned air. These issues ultimately result in a loss of money — you'll spend more on monthly utilities because heated or cooled air more easily escapes the home.

Affordable manufactured homes follow different construction standards and sizing not typically addressed by retail outlets. These include:

• Lower ceilings than traditional housing (generally, 76-inch-tall doors, not customary 80-inch doors)
• Customized door jambs that better accommodate a mobile home’s thinner walls
• Outswing design that makes the most of a mobile home’s interior space

 “Contractors or community maintenance managers may be tempted to retrofit a home to accommodate a door that’s intended for a site-built home. This approach can create a host of problems for the resident, including higher heating and cooling bills, rain getting into the home, and an insecure closure of the door that impacts safety and security,” notes Kyle Cordell, Division President, Caliber Doors. 

The Solution for Mobile Home Exterior Doors

Specialized distributors supply the full spectrum of building products for manufactured homes, including doors, specialized HVACs, vinyl siding, and skirting. They are highly knowledgeable about the differences between mobile and modular homes and traditional houses constructed on-site. These specialists offer expert solutions, including assistance with:

• Pre-sized and customized doors
• Solid doors that help insulate the home for long-term resilience and energy efficiency
• Purchasing options for community managers with volume pricing, delivery, and installation support

Manufactured home distributors and suppliers also offer a full range of services. When doing your pre-purchase research, check a company's measuring and installation instructions while ensuring you have support from a reputable contractor. Look for distributors and suppliers with a reputation for high-quality customer service and read online customer reviews as well.

Measuring Matters More than You Think

The starting point in the exterior door selection process is ensuring you find the right fit for your mobile home. Specialized distributors and suppliers can help provide the best fit, through the use of precise measuring guides.

Follow these steps to get an accurate door measurement:

1. Measure from the inside to avoid including the outside doorframe in your measurement.
2. Measure the width from stud to stud.
3. Measure the height from top to bottom.
4. Measure the wall thickness for choosing the correct jamb size.

“Precise measuring is the right approach for homeowners,” notes Cordell, “as well as for community managers looking for scalable upgrades in the future.”

Looks Matter, Too

One of the reasons people may try to make a door for a site-built home work in a mobile home is curb appeal. You may believe that mobile home doors are limited on stylish options for windows and doors. That couldn't be further from the truth. While the "classic" mobile home diamond door remains a popular replacement choice, there are hundreds of possible options for mobile home doors, including decorative windows, built-in mini-blinds, craftsman styling, integrated storm doors, and more. When you consider the opportunity to paint a pre-primed version any color available at a paint store, the options are truly limitless.

Find The Right Fit Today

In the end, the best solution for choosing an exterior door comes through a partnership with specialized distributors like Style Crest. The benefits are clear-cut: An ideal fit for your door, greater longevity for your purchase, and a manufacturer that’s both knowledgeable and responsive to your needs.

Find out more by exploring our full line of mobile home doors.