Can You Replace a Mobile Home Door With a Standard Size Exterior Door?

HUD Requirements for Mobile Home Exterior Doors

• Title 24, Part 3280, Section 105 (2), of HUD's Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards table states that "All exterior swinging doors shall provide a minimum 28 inch wide by 74 inch high clear opening." Although there are no requirements for what the exterior doors of a mobile home must be made of, most mobile home doors are created by using two pieces of metal or fiberglass and gluing a piece of foam between them.

HUD Requirements for Standard Home Exterior Doors

• The Minimum Property Standards for Housing, 1994 Edition, Section 4910.1; 402-1.1 states that "Living unit entrance doors shall be side-hinged doors not less than 3 ft. in width and 6 ft. 8 in. in height." Standard home doors are made from wood, steel or fiberglass.

Using Standard Doors to Replace Mobile Home Doors

• While the size of the exterior door opening may be smaller in a mobile home, it is possible to use a standard size exterior door. Simply expand the size of the opening to fit the standard size door. This will require building a new door frame as well. It is time-consuming to build a new exterior door opening but the added security of a solid door may give enough peace of mind to make it worth the effort.