Door for wide doorway?

I have a large doorway from my basement to a wide set of stairs that go up to my garage. I would like to put a door in the opening that would be used for normal foot traffic but also have a sort of "side lite" that could be swung open when needed to get furniture or wide things into the basement. I have seen one such thing before in a commercial building I was working in. the door opened and closed like normal but you could release a "dead bolt" at the top and bottom on the side lite and then it too would swing open to make the doorway much larger.

Was this door I seen an "as built" one of a kind thing or can this type of door be found supplied from a manufacturer?

 

Depending on the large door size, you could make a smaller door within the larger section.

 

Standard double door assemblies are available with an optional Astragal and Flush bolt. It's the flush bolt that holds one side fixed most of the time, but can be released when needed.

Standard prehung double door assemblies are available as narrow as 24 inches (two 12 inch doors) but normally have both doors the same width. But since they are made to order anyway, I'll bet a lumber yard could order you one with a 3 foot door and a 1 foot door, or whatever you need.

 

It really would have helped if you would have told us how wide your opening is. From a practical standpoint, you would want a decent sized door for the primary operating door in a double door configuration. 30" is the smallest that would be practical, IMO. And while a custom unit is an option, say 30+12 or 30+24... we are left guessing what size opening you are talking about.

 

I visited a hospital once (I hate hospitals) and for patient room doors, they had a standard 3-0 man door, but a smaller "door", probably 18" wide with pin locks that could be opened up for gurney transport. With a door like that for an exterior door, your main problem would be secure sealing from the elements, so an astragal would need to be in place as well as a wider threshold.

 

sorry for taking so long to get back on the width. this door is at my sons and the opening is 48 inches. When he moved in the door was made of a sheet of plywood and has no threshold and there is about a half inch gap at the cement floor.

the door swings in as the steps are only about a foot from the door that go up to the garage. I am currently working on finishing the basement and would like to put some sort of door in that would still leave us to use the wide opening when needed but not to have to swing a wide heavy door all the time.

 

For a 48" door configuration I would probably opt for either 30+18 or 32+16. The door you get should be an inswinging exterior solid core double door with an adjustable threshold. Any lumberyard worth it's salt will be able to either make this in their door dept or they can order this for you. Be sure they include the astragal and flush bolts (on the smaller half). If you want them to provide the handle set and need it keyed to match the house keys, they can do that too... just bring them a spare key.

Such a door would require a rough opening (between the studs) of about 50 1/2". If the maximum RO you can have is 48... well then you would probably need to go with a 30+16.

 

the door is 48 inches and it has a 2x10 on each side now that is tap conned to the cement.

there is a door and window place in the next town over. I will go and see them now that I know this can be done. Thanks for all the help

 

With only a 1' outside the door, why do you need a 4' door? Could you not frame it in and make a more nominal door size?

 

this door way is into the basement and I like the large entrance, when installing the new furnace and carrying large items into the basement it was quite handy. I was just thinking it is there now, why not keep the large opening? but it is not very attractive nor is it sealed very well.