The short answer
Plan on about 5 doors for a one-bedroom, 8 for a two-bedroom and 11 for a three-bedroom apartment, counting bedroom, bathroom and closet doors. A 24-unit walk-up with eight one-bedrooms and sixteen two-bedrooms takes roughly 168 interior doors. Casing runs about 34 linear feet per door (both faces), and baseboard follows the room perimeters.
Typical interior doors per unit type
These are planning counts from common suite layouts. Suite entry doors are left out because they’re usually fire-rated and ordered separately. Your plans always win over these numbers.
| Unit type | Bedrooms | Baths | Closets & other | Total doors | Baseboard (lin. ft) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 140 |
| 1-bedroom | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 200 |
| 1-bedroom + den | 1 + den | 1 | 3 | 6 | 230 |
| 2-bedroom | 2 | 1 or 2 | 4 | 8 | 290 |
| 3-bedroom apartment | 3 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 370 |
| 3-bedroom townhome | 3 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 500 |
“Closets & other” covers bedroom closets, the coat closet, linen and utility closets, and in townhomes the laundry or mechanical room. Double closet doors and bifolds count as one opening here; price them as pairs.
How to take off the doors
- Count by unit type, not by floor. Count the doors in one typical suite of each type, then multiply by how many of that type the building has.
- Split by width. Note 24″, 28″, 30″, 32″ and 36″ separately. Closets and powder rooms run narrow; bedrooms are usually 30″ to 32″.
- Flag accessible suites. Accessible and universal design suites usually take 36″ doors on the path through the unit. Count them separately.
- Mark handing. For prehung doors, count left-hand and right-hand units, or mark the swing on the plans and send them.
- Add the special openings. Doubles, bifolds, barn and pocket doors each get their own line.
How to take off the trim
Casing: a 30″ to 36″ opening takes about 17 linear feet of casing per face (two legs of roughly 7 feet plus the head). Most interior doors are cased on both faces, so budget about 34 linear feet per door. Closet doors cased on one face only need half that.
Baseboard: measure each room’s perimeter and subtract the door openings. On a repeat layout, take off one suite of each type and multiply. Add a cutting allowance for corners and short pieces; many carpenters work with about 10%.
Shoe moulding follows the baseboard run where the flooring needs it.
Worked example: a 24-unit walk-up
| Item | Calculation | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Interior doors | 8 × 5 + 16 × 8 | 168 |
| 36″ doors for 15% accessible suites | 2 one-beds × 2 + 3 two-beds × 4 | 16 |
| Door casing, both faces | 168 × 34 ft | 5,712 lin. ft |
| Baseboard | 8 × 200 + 16 × 290 | 6,240 lin. ft |
Our takeoff estimator does this math for any unit mix. Enter your units and it fills in the quote form for you.
Sources
- Premier Building Products takeoff estimator
- Ontario Building Code Table 9.5.5.1 door sizes, City of Oshawa secondary suite guide
Code requirements change and local rules vary. Confirm sizes and clearances with your designer and building department before ordering. We supply doors and trim; we’re not a code consultant.
