Do Wheelchairs Come in Different Widths?

The person who uses an electric wheelchair or manual wheelchair usually encounters this dilemma. He/she can not access the entrance, so he/she has to change the other way to reach the destination. Then, in this post, the author would discuss of the width of the wheelchair and doorway.

Yes, they do come in different widths, because they should be designed to various widths to meet various movement needs for various groups. Then, the narrow wheelchair has a width of 16″ for narrow adults. The wheelchair has a width of 18″ and is designed for the average adult. The wheelchair has a width of 20″ and is good for wide adults. For children and small adults, the wheelchair is designed with a width of 8″.

Yes, it can. The standard manual wheelchair usually has a width range from 25 to 36in wide. Then, the standard electric wheelchair has a width of 23in.

A standard manual wheelchair and an electric wheelchair can not fit through a 24-inch door. It is because the size of the wheelchair is larger than the door.

Aluminum Wheelchair

A variety of house designs also make the various size of the doorway. Then, you may wonder what actually the acceptable doorway width is to accommodate most wheelchairs. Then, According to the ADA standards, the clear width of a door opening should be a minimum of 32 inches. This width can allow most wheelchairs to access and provide people with the most convenience.

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Manual Wheelchair

If your doorway is not large enough for wheelchair users, you should resize the doorway. However, how to resize the doorway is a problem. In this section, the author would teach you how to resize the doorway for wheelchair users.

Before undertaking any remodeling to accommodate a wheelchair, it is important to thoroughly check your local building regulations. By doing so, you can ensure your remodeling is not inadvertently violate any residential codes.  Otherwise, it may result in local building officials.

While most residential building codes align with ADA regulations by calling for a 32-inch clear width for the main entry door, it is important to note that this does not necessarily mean a 32-inch wide door will suffice.

Specialists recommend that to achieve a 32-inch opening, you will need to opt for at least a 36-inch door. It is crucial to select the correct door size to avoid the need for resizing in the future.

While there are no specific requirements for indoor doors, it is advisable to use common sense and ensure they are not excessively narrow. Even a narrow and lightweight wheelchair would struggle to fit through a tiny 20-inch door.
In general, bathroom and hallway doors tend to be some of the narrowest in a house, typically measuring between 25 and 30 inches. Therefore, these doors may require resizing to accommodate wheelchair accessibility.

High Strength Lightweight Manual Wheelchair

As a matter of fact, if the door is just short an inch or two, you don’t have to take too much effort to widen the doorway to accommodate a wheelchair with bedpan.

Then, you can take a shot to offset hinges to swing the door clear and gain an inch of clearance. The offset hinges are cheap and easy to install, so you can take a shot before widening the door. Another method is to remove the entire door.

Then, if the above tricks don’t work and you have to widen the doorway, you need to make a good preparation. You need to check whether there is some house equipment near the doorway such as light switches, electric wiring inside the wall, electric sockets, etc. Then, you should remove this equipment before widening the doorway.

All in all, the width of the doorway determines whether the wheelchair can access the house. If you want to build up a wheelchair-accessible passage, you should ensure the width of the doorway is large enough to allow wheelchair access.