Patio Door

What becomes really obvious, really fast, when using a wheelchair is how many doors are not wheelchair accessible! In this house, we opted to replace many of the doors to make the house easier to navigate. Replacing the exterior door in the laundry room felt important - it had three problems: 1) it was too narrow, 2) it swung in such a way that it was difficult to use as you approached it in a wheelchair and 3) it had a very large threshold that was difficult to get over with wheels. This door was also the primary access to the backyard. So, we removed the door and donated it to Bud’s Warehouse in Aurora, Colorado. We adjusted the height of concrete floor in the laundry room so that we could put in a zero height threshold Pella door. And we replaced the original door with a wider door that swung open in such a way that a wheelchair user could more easily travel to the backyard.

Sometimes, we associate “accessible features” with gear like ramps or handrails - but it is important to remember that subtler decisions - like the size of a door, or the height of its threshold, or the direction that the door swings - can make the difference.