I have a wall/storage space section dividing my living room and kitchen.
The dimensions of the wall is 33' on the outside and 23 1/2 inches on the inside. The wall is about 8' long The inside is closet space.
I currently have a 24" door on the long part of the wall for entry into the closet.
I want remove that closet door and put it at the end of the wall, on the 33" side.
Problem is that the "interior" dimension is 23 1/2"
That means the walls are 4 3/4" thick. Now a 2x4 is actually 1 1/2 by 3 1/2. So I imagine the drywall must be 5/8" thick. 3 1/2 + 5/8 + 5/8 = 4 3/4

So, If i remove the drywall from the equation, I have 24 3/4" inches between the 2x4 studs. Do you think I would have problems installing a 24" door in this space? Will it take alot of "tweaking"?

I could go with a door that is 20" but I would prefer to use the larger door if possible.
What do you think I should do?
I have some carpentry skills but am by no means a journeyman.

Thanks

 

You actually need about 26" to install a prehung 24" door, because the door has a 3/4" jamb on each side and you need a little extra room to plumb and shim it.

 

You probably have 1/2" drywall. When you measure the end of the wall, you are measuring the corner bead as well. That will add to your wall thickness.

With that said, you will need to cut the door down to use it. There is no way to get away with not using your door jambs. The amount of space you will need to shim the jamb plumb and level all depends on how out of plumb and level the existing wall is.

If it will look ok, you may want to consider using a bi-fold door that doesn't require a jamb.

 

Your prefinished door jamb is 4 9/16" wide. If it is a split jamb, you can cheat a little, not much. Your sheetrock is 1/2" (if normal, not sure why 5/8 would have been installed), so redoing your math, 3 1/2" plus 1" total for sheetrock would give you 4 1/2". As XSleeper said, make your opening 2" wider and 2" taller than the door measurements (26 x 82 or slightly less on top). You will need to install a header, on top, but since it isn't load bearing, you can put a couple of 2x4's stacked in order to give you something to nail your sheetrock back to. Install king studs with 29" between them, and two jack studs (81 1/2")inside them to hold your header.
Don't worry about your sheetrock, you will have a repair job, so take it out and build the door frame, replacing the sheetrock afterwards. Much easier, even with the repair and painting.

 

I just made it easy on myself and ordered a 22" door.
Thanks to all for the help.

 

I have a similar situation. I moved into a place that was built in 1989. I am replacing the old doors with new ones I just bought from home depot. the new ones measure 24" whereas the old doors measured 23 3/4". because of this, i cannot fit the new doors in. how do I go about shaving off 1/4" from the 24" door (is that the right term...in case i can look up a diy video on youtube?). if its sanding, if i dont have an electric sander, would it be hell to do by hand? i dont want to purchase a bunch of tools that i will be using for 1 job if possible.

 

if it was the bottom or top of the door i would say to use a hand planer. You could still try to use one but it will be hell. I would use a circular saw with a guide to make sure the cut is straight. or run it through a table saw.

 

Be sure to cut the hinge side so you won't mess up the latch set back. You can recut the hinge placement, but you can't modify the latch side.