Design for Elderly and Disabled

Environments
Making Homes More Comfortable and Accessible
Doors
Part 2 of 10
Contents
Common Barriers at
Doors
Remodeled Door
Exterior Doors
Interior Doors
Additional Changes
Common Barriers at Doors

Insufficient Space
High Door Thresholds
Peep Hole
Knob Handles
Lock
Door Closers
Narrow Doorways
Remodeled Door
Consider locks that are
operated easily
without pinching, fine
finger manipulation,
or twisting.
Consider level and
loop handles.
Exterior Doors
Hardware
Consider using loop or
lever handles

Hinge
Consider installing a
swing away hinge

Threshold
Thresholds with
maximum height of
half inch can be
managed by most
people
Swinging
Exterior Doors
Peep Holes
Consider adding a
second Peep hole at
a lower height
Door Closer
The recommend level
of force required to
open exterior door is 8
lbs. & interior is 5 lbs.
Exterior Doors
Double Door
Replacement
Consider replacing
equal size double doors
with doors of unequal
size to achieve a 32
clear opening.
Reversing door swing
Sometimes reversing
the swing or opening
direction of a door will
increase space on the
latch side.



Exterior Doors
Replacing Screen
Doors
Consider using a door
with at least 12 of
sold material at the
bottom to prevent
damage from walkers
and footrests of
wheelchair.
Exterior Doors
Hardware
Consider loop and
blade handles that
incorporate lever
locking mechanism
and remain exposed
even when the door is
open.
Sliding Glass Doors
Interior Doors
Swinging Doors
Consider eliminating
an interior door where
it serves no real
purpose.
The door should swing
out of the way of other
doors, furniture, and
access path.
Changing the door
swing from into a room
to out of a room may
increase room space.
Interior Doors
Handle Hardware
Replacement
Consider loop handles
for Bi-Passing Doors
Stops will be needed to
keep the handles from
striking the opposing
door.
Bi-Passing Doors with
loop handles can
reduce the clear door
opening.

Interior Bi-Passing
Doors
Interior Doors
Handle Hardware
The best selection is the
loop handle. A stop will
be needed to keep the
handle from striking the
jam.


Pocket Doors
Additional Modifications
Install power door
operators.
Install bevel or short
ramps.
Install extra wide
angle Peep hole on
entrance door.
Install auxiliary loop
handles.