Solving The Wheelchair Door Access Conundrum

Individuals who rely on wheelchairs for day-to-day mobility find themselves at times with unnecessary doorway challenges. Whether you are a wheelchair user yourself, or someone trying to make your business or home more accessible, knowing how wide a doorway needs to be is crucial. According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), doors must be a minimum of 32” to satisfy accessibility requirements. Traditional mortise hinges on popular 3080 doors, however, consume entryway space and therefore fail to meet ADA 32” requirements.

Here are a couple of possible wheelchair door access solutions:

• Remove Doors or Trim – You can improve clearance by removing the entire door, however, this may pose privacy, noise, and safety problems. This is not a great solution for those who work from home.
• Widen the Door Frames – A more intrusive solution involves widening the door frame, which requires a significant modification. This is a big commitment of time, money, and effort, not to mention the question of space availability.

Sadly these aforementioned solutions lead to costly and time-consuming renovations that involve frame modifications, changing doors, etc. These are possible solutions, but they will undoubtedly cause higher costs and effort.

The Waterson Solution

The Waterson swing clear door hinges (K51L-SW) uniquely combines swing clear design with our patented self-closing function in an innovative and attractive stainless steel component. Easy to install and heavy-duty, the K51L-SW meets Fair Housing Act (FHA) code, and thus provides a minimum 32” clearance when using a 34” door slab. This attractive hinge is also fire-rated hardware that meets ADA requirements. The increased clearance afforded by Waterson’s state-of-the-art design greatly improves wheelchair door access without requiring complicated renovations.

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