A walker needs roughly 30 inches of clear opening. Many older homes have 24-inch bathroom doors. That gap is often the reason someone can't use their own bathroom.
This one surprises families. Someone comes home from a hospital stay with a walker and discovers the bathroom door simply won't accommodate it. The room is fine; the opening isn't. Bathroom and hallway doors in homes built before accessibility was a mainstream consideration are frequently 24 to 28 inches — and a standard walker needs about 30 inches of clear width to pass comfortably.
If swing-clear hinges solve your problem for a fraction of the cost, that's what we'll recommend. It's a small job and we'd rather do it and have you call us again than talk you into framing work you didn't need.
Widening gets more involved if the wall is load-bearing or if plumbing or electrical runs through it. We check before quoting, so the number you get accounts for what's actually there rather than changing halfway through.
A manual wheelchair generally needs about 32 inches of clear opening, and a walker about 30. Note that 'clear opening' is narrower than the door size — the door slab and stop reduce it, which is exactly why swing-clear hinges help.
Usually yes, but it requires a properly sized header and is a bigger job. We identify whether a wall is load-bearing during the assessment so there are no surprises.
It shouldn't. Finish work is most of the job — matching trim, blending drywall texture, handling the flooring transition and repainting. Done right, it reads as original.
Related: Wheelchair Ramps · Home Safety Assessment
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