View Full Version : Bathroom Door Expansion
pastor1189
Aug 4, 2012, 07:54 AM
Bathroom door is 24X"80" and is too small for a wheelchair.
a 30"x80" door would be much better. I do not know what
prehung door is with the jambs attached and how much they add to the dimensions.
. But I guess it the door itself that swings. The door must swing
out into a narrow hallway. The swing inside it would hit the toilet. And I guess the wall too must be widen by 6" I hope it is not a bearing wall. I wonder if it can be done at all.
creahands
Aug 5, 2012, 08:57 AM
U need 36'' in hallway for the door. This will give u about 5'' clearance to wall.
Treat the wall as if it was a bearing wall and build a temporary all in the bathroom about a foot from wall u are going to work on.
Remove door, trim and door jamb. Remove jack studs. Layout new door opening. The height should be the same. The width will be 2 1/2'' larger then door. For a 30 '' door the opening should be 32 1/2''.
If the header above existing door is solid, then it is a bearing wall. If it is not then wall is non bearing.
After framing in new opening u will be able to remove temp wall.
Good luck
Chuck
joypulv
Aug 5, 2012, 09:25 AM
In my BROSCO book there's a 'flat board jamb' with stop attached that saves half an inch in rough opening. So 2". Maybe that little bit helps.
But if the door can't swing out 180 degrees (as creahands says, a 36" hallway is best), the opening for a wheelchair won't be 30", more like 27". It's a bit less anyway because of the stops on the jamb.
If your hallway is too small, consider a bifold closet door, as long as it can fold back against the hallway wall. Not very soundproof but it will solve that problem.
If the door you have is in a bearing wall, you could take out the door, jamb, and jack studs, support the header with joist hangers, and finish it all off with drywall, with the bifold door in front of all that, flush with the hallway wall.
Sounds kludgy but that's me, always trying to save money.
pastor1189
Aug 5, 2012, 10:42 AM
Thanks
joypulv
Aug 5, 2012, 12:40 PM
Another thing: if the person in the wheelchair is alone, he will have to open the door almost 180 degrees (I just tried it) and then won't be able to reach the knob to close it behind him, even in a 36" hallway.
pastor1189
Aug 5, 2012, 12:43 PM
So true
joypulv
Aug 5, 2012, 01:10 PM
OK, I think I found what I was looking for... it's called a wall mounted sliding door. It's basically any old door with some special track hardware at the top. If your wall on the toilet side or the other side is 30", then that should work for really minimal cost and labor.
Johnson Hardware sells a kit online for $175.83. It's 48" for cutting down to size. You could leave off the floor tracks for ease of a wheelchair getting through the doorway. All the closets in my 1970 built house have that kind of sliding door, nothing on the bottom.
And if you don't have 30" on either side, you could put 2 narrow doors on tracks to open from the middle.
And I'll bet with a little ingenuity you could do this without buying 2 kits. And your local hardware store might have some ideas too, because 175.00 sounds expensive to me.
pastor1189
Aug 5, 2012, 02:21 PM
Wonderful News
creahands
Aug 5, 2012, 03:30 PM
With bifold doors will only extend into hall by about 15'', but when doors are open they take about 5'' away from door opening. This will leave u with a 25'' opening for wheelchair.
If looking for appearance as well function then the 30'' door is way to go.Tie a string on knob and person in chair can pull door closed.
Chuck
pastor1189
Aug 6, 2012, 05:10 AM
Okay
joypulv
Aug 6, 2012, 05:15 AM
The question still remains, what is the width of the hallway? You need about 31 1/2" for a 30" door. And you didn't like the sliding door?
pastor1189
Aug 6, 2012, 07:09 AM
It is 41" from the bathroom door closed to the hallway. Currently the 24" door swings in.
creahands
Aug 6, 2012, 01:17 PM
Most doors in hallways swing into the room. This is done mostly for safety reasons. Keeps people from getting hit as a person exits that area. Doors in closets typically swing into hallway so that area inside can be used to its max.
Chuck
pastor1189
Aug 6, 2012, 02:41 PM
Yes I notice that in many homes.