16 feet wide · 7 feet high · double
16x7 garage door
Two normal cars side by side. The most common double door in America.
Where it comes from
Why an opening is 16x7
This is the default double door in American tract housing, and has been since the 1970s. If a builder put up a two-car garage and nobody made a decision about it, the opening is 16 by 7. That is why it outsells everything else and why every supplier keeps it on the floor.
Two normal cars, side by side, with the doors opening. Sixteen feet is eight feet a car, and a mid-size saloon is around six feet across the body, so there is room to get out without a door edge finding the other car. Two full-size pickups is where it gets tight — not the bodies, which will clear, but the mirrors and the angle you have to take to line up on the second one.
Fitting one
What changes at 16x7
At sixteen feet the door is wide enough to sag under its own weight, so the top section carries a strut and the spring assembly is a pair rather than one. Two springs on a shaft share the load and, more usefully, a single broken spring still leaves the door partly balanced instead of dropping it. Sixteen feet also means the header above the opening is carrying a real span, and a bowed header is the reason a door that used to seal now lets light in at one end.
The opener. A half-horsepower opener will lift a bare steel 16x7 and will feel tired doing it on a cold morning. Three-quarter horsepower, or a belt drive rated for a double, is the sensible fit — and it stops being optional the moment the door is insulated, because the insulation is weight.
Getting hold of one. Stock everywhere, in every panel style, in whatever colour the maker offers. This is the one size you can have this week rather than in three.
The mistake
What people get wrong about a 16x7
Measuring the opening and ordering a door that size is right. Measuring the CONCRETE — the width of the driveway apron or the slab — and ordering that is wrong, and it is the single most common way a door arrives too wide. The number that matters is the finished opening in the wall.
What it costs
A 16x7 door, installed
| Material | Typical, installed | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Sectional steel | $3,240 | The baseline, and most of the doors on most streets. |
| Insulated steel | $3,990 | Worth it on an attached garage or one with a room above it. |
| Steel overlay, carriage look | $6,790 | The swing-door look on a sectional door. Where the price starts climbing. |
| Wood overlay | $14,640 | Real wood over an insulated core. Beautiful, and it needs refinishing. |
| Aluminium and glass | $8,390 | Modern, lots of daylight, lower insulation value. |
The gap between the cheapest and dearest 16x7 is $16,620, and not one dollar of it is the size. Same opening, same fitting, same morning — what moves the number is the model: panel style, insulation and overlay. Why a door costs what it does →
National guide ranges, checked September 2026, not a quote — what moves the number.
That is the door, the tracks, the springs, fitting it and taking the old one away. An opener, a keypad and any work on the opening itself are separate — what is in a quote and what is not.
Before you book it
What the extras cost · why nobody should touch their own springs
Framing
Rough opening for a 16x7
16'0" × 7'0"
For a sectional door the rough opening equals the door size exactly. A 16x7 door needs a 16'0" wide by 7'0" high finished opening.
Fits
What goes through a 16x7
- Compact car (Civic) — 9.2' spare across the mirrors
- Sedan (Camry) — 9.0' spare across the mirrors
- Small SUV (RAV4) — 8.9' spare across the mirrors
- Large SUV (Suburban) — 8.5' spare across the mirrors
- Full-size pickup (F-150) — 8.0' spare across the mirrors
- Cargo van (Transit) — 7.9' spare across the mirrors
- Pickup, tow mirrors (F-250) — 7.2' spare across the mirrors
Two side by side: compact car (civic).
Questions
16x7 garage doors, answered
How much does a 16x7 garage door cost?
A 16x7 in sectional steel runs about $2,130 to $4,350 installed, and $2,630 to $5,350 insulated. That is the door, the tracks, the springs, fitting it and taking the old one away. An opener is separate.
What is the rough opening for a 16x7 garage door?
16 feet by 7 feet, exactly. For a sectional door the rough opening is the door size — framing it wider leaves a gap the seal cannot close.
How much clearance do you need for a 16x7?
12" of headroom above the opening for a standard torsion setup, 9" front, 4.5" rear of sideroom each side for the vertical track, and the door height plus 16 inches of backroom. The full table, including low-headroom kits, is on the rough opening guide.
Is a 16 ft garage door big enough for two cars?
Two of these, comfortably: compact car (civic). Anything wider across the mirrors gets tight — measure yours, mirror to mirror, before you decide.
Is an insulated 16x7 worth the extra?
About $500 to $1,000 more. Yes if the garage is attached or there is a room above it — you feel it in the summer and in the heating bill. A detached garage you only park in: skip it.
How long does it take to fit?
Four to six hours, plus an hour or two to take the old one away. Plan on losing the morning.
What opener does a 16x7 need?
A half-horsepower opener will lift a bare steel 16x7 and will feel tired doing it on a cold morning. Three-quarter horsepower, or a belt drive rated for a double, is the sensible fit — and it stops being optional the moment the door is insulated, because the insulation is weight.
Is a 16x7 a stock size?
Stock everywhere, in every panel style, in whatever colour the maker offers. This is the one size you can have this week rather than in three.
The next size up
16x7 or 18x7?
A 18x7 is 2 feet wider and costs roughly $0 more in steel. Worth it if you open car doors inside the garage rather than on the driveway. See the 18x7 →
Other sizes