Design for Elderly and Disabled Environments

1. Design for Elderly and Disabled Environments Doors Part 2 of 10 Making Homes More Comfortable and Accessible

2. Common Barriers at Doors Remodeled Door Exterior Doors Interior Doors Additional Changes Contents

3. Common Barriers at Doors • Insufficient Space • High Door Thresholds • “Peep” Hole • Knob Handles • Lock • Door Closers • Narrow Doorways

4. Remodeled Door • Consider locks that are operated easily without pinching, fine finger manipulation, or twisting. • Consider level and loop handles.

5. Exterior Doors Swinging • 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

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. Exterior Doors Sliding Glass Doors • Hardware • Consider loop and blade handles that incorporate lever locking mechanism and remain exposed even when the door is open.

10. 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.

12. Interior Doors Interior Bi-Passing 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.

13. Interior Doors Pocket Doors • Handle Hardware • The best selection is the loop handle. A stop will be needed to keep the handle from striking the jam.

14. Additional Modifications • Install power door operators. • Install bevel or short ramps. • Install extra wide angle “Peep” hole on entrance door. • Install auxiliary loop handles.