We a have really wide L shaped hallway in our lower level that is 5 feet wide. In one leg I placed a bench across from built-in bookcases (not out of the 5ft width) and in the second leg, I have a three drawer chest. Still plenty of room to carry things past. Also put in the maximum ceiling height (over 10.5ft) which is great too.

Standard is 36 inches. I have been researching this lately. Both from a reading and measuring perpective. I wanted to go with four foot hallways, but have reluctanly concluded that we can live with 42 inches. It is amazing how much difference six inches makes. 36 inches feels cramped to me. 42 inches does not. 48 feels generously expansive.

I envy anyone who can afford 60 inch hallways.

The good size of a hallway is 4' wide for a house bigger than 2,000 s.f.
3'is too narrow. 3'-6" to 3-8" is ok for a smaller house.

If the house is more than 3,000 is better to use wider hallways, specially if the hall is long.

IMHO it depends on the size of the house since 6" or 12" can make a difference in the final s. footage of the house. You do not want to waste space in the hallways on a tiny house.

allison,
What height of ceiling do you have or you recommend?
10'6" throughout the whole house?
thanks

One thing to consider, especially for anyone considering a 36" hallway. 36" is too narrow to comfortably navigate while on crutches, and I've been advised that some walkers and many wheelchairs are literally too wide to fit.

While it's true that halls are expensive "empty" square footage, it's also true that if you break a leg, you'll be glad for those extra inches. As one who has spent a great deal of time on crutches, I really hate halls that are less than 4' wide.

Also consider what furniture is going to be moved via hall. No way can you carry a 42" wide overstuffed chair down a 40" wide hall. It's almost as bad if you try to carry a laundry basket back and forth, because narrow halls skin knuckles.

The minimum for a wheelchair to pass is 32 inches, IIRC. The minimum for a wheelchair to turn 90 degree into a doorway is 48 inches, and the minimum for a 180 degree turn is 60 inches.

There are numerous web sites laying these criteria out.

If you can do it, 48 inch hallways and 36 inch doors are a very good idea.

Halls, stairs and doors need to be *at least* 36" wide, IMO.

Our BR hallway is 42" wide; back hall is 48"; stairs are 42". Passage doors (and two bathroom doors) are 36". Entry door is 42".

No hall should be too narrow for a man walking with arms a-kimbo (hands on hips, elbows out to the side).

Chisue, how do you find the 42 inch stairs to be?

House before last had 48" halls, which felt wide and luxurious. Last house had 36" hall, which was adequate, but felt a little tight and dark. In our new house, we couldn't give up the square footage for 4', so have 42" wide bedroom hallway. It works great for our large, busy family (often people passing in the hallway), even when the kids decide to leave a basket of clothes along one side. Our stairs are that same width. Nicely comfortable, while not feeling overly wide.

I'm with frog hopper...48" would be my first choice, 42" is plenty, and 60" is enviable, but not practical or doable for us.

If you have a 36" door on the end of a 36" hallway, how is it going to fit? (need room for jams and trim)

36" hallway is maybe ok when you do not have much traffic, is a small lenght hall and do not lead to more than 1 door so it does not get congested. if the door is at the end of the hall and not on the side then the door have to be smaller than 36"

Oh gosh. I just re-read my post and I didn't mean to imply that smaller halls weren't good enough. Maybe I'm still reacting to having to fight over this issue with the architect. Our house isn't terribly big or luxurious but I've lived in some really squished together houses over the years and hallways are synonymous with breathing space to me. I gave up some square footage in the master bedroom to get the six foot width to go with the upstairs landing because this was the best vantage point for someone to relax and watch the sunset. The architect fought hard about not wanting to do this and it seemed he felt it would reflect poorly on him if his "name" was associated with a small master bedroom and an "unnecessarily" large hallway. Since I don't hang out in my bedroom it was the bedroom that seemed unnecessarily large to me.

I do agree with the general point being made that a 36" wide hallway can be a hardship for furniture moving or for someone with mobility problems. The best way to approach the problem if you have any flexibility at all in room size vs. hallway size is to think about how you really live and where the extra space will be most useful or pleasing to you.

I am trying to design an addition with a hallway and I was going to do a 5' wide hallway--is that too wide? There is a stairway going to the walk-out basement to the right of where I want to make the hallway. Can someone tell me how far away from the top step should I have the hallway start? Also, there is a window on the wall where we are going to cut the opening for the hallway to the addition--how far away from the window should the opening start?

Thanks,
Sue in Wyoming

We have 5' hallways (might be wider) on our 2nd floor and really like them. If you have room for them, I would get them as they really give a nice, spacious feel to the area.

We decided to go with a 66 inch wide hallway and line it with bookcases. I wanted a dedicated library but couldn't afford the room so this is the next best alternative.

Ok I'm stuck. Literally stuck with a space that is 31 inches wide. I'm looking at adding two bedrooms over a garage. The problem is that widest access point between the beams is 31' wide. These beams are 6x10 and are load bearing so I cannot move them. The other beams are 2x10 trusses. Modifying these supports would double the cost of the project so I'm staring at using this 31 inch width for a four foot hallway. Finishing will cut another 1.5 inches off. I can cheat and move the insulated wall back to the next set of trusses and box in the beams to add shelves. This will give me the appearance of an additional 12 inches of width and let me get away with a thinner facing on the beams. Problem is the beams run diagonally so they will still get in the way. Any space gained will be an illusion as far as access is concerned. It sounds like some folks may have some experience with narrow halls. I would be curious if a four foot stretch of narrow hall that leads to a landing and two kids bedrooms would be a deal breaker when looking at a home. The last thing I want to do is "improve" the home and in the process make it harder to sell.

Of course, the greatest efficiency is to have no corridors and do all circulation from one space to another through rooms. In many cases, however, this may be neither desirable nor possible.

The applicable building code will have minimum standards to be met in residences for exit corridor and door widths, headroom, floor levels and, in sleeping rooms, a secondary exit window. Anyone building a new house, or remodeling an existing house, would be well advised to ensure they are familiar with and in compliance with their local building codes.

As has been said above, the best design dimension for a required corridor that is designed for 1-2 people passing, carrying furniture and large objects is 4-feet clear. The same applies to stairs which are required to move large furniture objects up and down, besides letting people move between floors.

A 36" door or framed opening should be the minimum width for all major rooms and circulation spaces. With 4" trim on each jamb and the head, that comes to approximately 3'-8" wide--another reasong for corridors that are 4-feet clear.

Bath and closet doors may be 32" and work reasonably well.

4-feet clear is also a good design dimension to use to caluclate circulation spaces in living rooms, kitchens (5-feet clear minimum is better for two people, for disabled people and for such things as refrigerator/oven doors when open). Of course, large spaces and houses may increase these dimensions where appropriate, but I'd never go less than these dimensions unless there was some special, over-riding reason.

Regardless, RockandAHardPlace's 31 inches is a deal-breaker. Gotta find another way.

Good luck on your projects.

Growing up, my mom's house had a 5' hallway. It was oversized, and she used the space by adding floor-to-ceiling bookcases down one side. We kids used to lay in the hallway in front of the bookshelf to read, and it was plenty big for other people to pass by.

I wouldn't plan a hallway that wide UNLESS you're planning something like a bookcase.

RockAndAHardPlace your plans will not meet building codes. That is certainly a complete deal breaker and would never pass any type of inspection! You need to contact your local building codes office to find out what permits and inspections you will need to undergo in order to have living space over your garage. There are quite a few requirements that you need to be aware of for safety's sake.

That is what I was afraid of. I had a feeling that three feet was the minimum. Thank you for the verification. The code book is tough to go through for a layman and I'm one of those people that likes to educate himself before getting quotes from the professionals so I know what I'm looking at on the quote sheet.

Rock, do you have a local building department? They would be the place to visit for information and insight into not only what the building code requires, but also how you will need a building permit and how to obtain it.

Any work without a building permit may not only jepordize the completed work (it may have to be undone), the occupant's safety and also be a severe liability if you ever decide to sell. Best course of action is to things legally, by the book!

Good luck on your project.

One thing to consider is how you are going to get your new furniture in and out of the home you are building or remodeling. Furniture has been getting bigger and bigger the last few years. Most of the furniture on the scale used in homes with 10' ceilings or higher is massive and difficult to get in and out. I definitely recommend larger hallways (4' or more, especially if there is a turn in it) for this purpose. If your home is smaller with 8' ceilings and you don't want big furniture it is easier to go with the 3' hallway.

The second reason I favor a wider hallway as several people mentioned above is wheelchair access. Even if you don't require one on a regular basis you never know if you or a family member may be in one temporarily. My father was in one for about 6 months due to a motorcycle accident and my best friend's father is in one permanently. Being able to accommodate someone in a wheelchair without having them being restricted to just the main rooms or only the one entry room helps them feel more included and less like a burden.

This is a very old thread but a 36" hallway is not a standard; its just the minimum allowed by most building codes. I would never make one less than 42" if for no other reason than getting an ambulance gurney from a hall into a room. And although I would not specify a door less than 32" wide, I believe 36" doors are difficult for disabled people to use.

Thanks for that - we have a 5' hallway planned in our home (and it will also function like a "gallery" for some art) coupled with 36" doors everywhere and think this will provide aging in place and the ability to deal with walkers / wheelchairs and anything else that gets thrown our way!

So many people seem to put thought and effort (and square footage!) into hallways and doorways, and people seem to imply that those things'll make a house ready for "aging in place".

While those are important, they aren't at the top of the list. In dealing with my grandmother in her elderly years, I'd say toss out all the hallways and pay more attention to the bathroom ... and whether the laundry room is accessible ... and the details in the kitchen ... and put effort into one entry to the house. All of these are more important than hallways and doorways.

Hallways should be minimized or maximized.

By minimized, I do NOT mean narrow, but short to nonexistent. Our small house (under 800 sq.ft.) has open living, dining, kitchen (the plan called it a great room...with the size of the house, we refer to it as the so-so room). Instead of a narrow, meandering, dark hallway as if often found in small houses (and that feels extremely claustrophobic to me), ours has more of a vestibule with three doors: bedroom, bathroom, and laundry/studio. It works beautifully separating public from private spaces, which is quite a feat in this size of house.

When true hallways are required, I prefer those that act as another room, as some have described above -- library, sitting room, kid study area, etc. Serendipitously, this sort of hallway also facilitates wheelchair usage, emergency access, furniture moving, air movement, and many things that make a home safe and pleasant.

I have a 37 inch hallway leading to guest bedrooms which I feel needs either a large mirror or some art on the walls. My husband says it's too narrow at 37 inches. The hallway leading to the laundry room which is perpendicular to this hallway is 43 inches wide. There is no issue with putting art in the 43 inch hallway. I wanted to put art on both sides of the 37 inch hallway, but I'm now thinking that perhaps it will make it too narrow. I was going to put something on one wall with a 1 3/4 inch depth frame and on the other wall a mirror with a 1 1/4 inch frame. Is that going to make the hallway too narrow? I wish the mirror were larger, but my large one has a 3 inch depth frame. Some people have stenciled on this hallway, but I'm not a stencil fan.I have a beautiful tryptych of 3 miniature paintings (each are about 7 inches by 6 inches. Would I be able to spread them out more than usual and put them on one of these walls (takes up very little depth) and then put the mirror (1 1/4 inch depth) on the other wall? Any advice?

I hate our narrow hallway upstairs and narrow doorways. Carrying my laundry basket up and down is a PITA because I have to turn to pass through.

Next house, I'm looking for generous hallways, stairways (if any) and doorways.

Lenachristina, you raise a good question about art installations. Everyone is different, of course, so there is no universal answer. A couple of things to consider:

--A 37-inch corridor is very narrow. It becomes more problematic if it is frequently used for transporting large and/or heavy loads, i.e., loaded laundry baskets, clothes from the cleaners, clean sheets, vacuum cleaner, etc. It is very easy, under these circumstances, to brush against or literally bounce off a wall during transit;

--Art display is generally a balance of the art work size and the space available in order to create a visually balanced display. In other words, in most cases, art work may be best displayed in spaces proportional to the size of the art work, i.e., large art work in large spaces; small art work in small spaces. Your pieces at 7 X 6 inches are small, and will look odd if they are spaced very far apart;

--Art is usually best displayed in a manner such that the work can be viewed and considered from a distance appropriate to truly appreciate the work. Being able to stand and look at the art work is a part of being able to appreciate it. The distance to look at art varies with the size of the art work, of course, and the lighting necessary to see and appreciate the work. It's hard to visualize your situation, but installing art work in a narrow corridor, with typical residential corridor lighting, may not be the optimum way to display good art.

All of this said, if you can't stand the aesthetics of the corridor, then by all means do whatever it takes to improve it! Good luck with your situation.

5 ft wide hallway from the entry is what attracted me to my house plan. Been in the house almost a year and I would not give up an inch.

I like bluesanne's theory that halls should be minimized or maximized. Our new house has an entry hall that will vary between 5 1/2' and 61/2" + a bench/coat niche about 16 inches deep --a very maximized hall which will also serve as a gallery. Elsewhere the halls are very minimized -- hall to laundry and office is 42" wide but only 5 1/2' long and the hall to our bedroom is about 4 1/2' wide by 6' long.

Thank you Virgil Carter for your thoughts. I decided against placing the triptych there and put a mirror on the shorter wall. The hallway leads to guest bedrooms which are not frequently used. However, I agree that one can bounce into walls, particularly when one is unfamiliar with the house. I like that the mirror seems to open the hallway (although I should have a wider mirror from a visual perspective, perhaps this is better from a walking in the hall perspective), but the negative is that when one stops to look in the mirror, one sees a bare wall behind one's reflection. I know I'd have that problem with any size mirror. I also appreciate your reminding me that one cannot appreciate good art in a narrow hallway. That is so true.

36" minimum for code, 48" minimum for me, 96" minimum for patient corridors.

I've lost patience several times. Never thought about it being due to narrow corridors...