Enter the door and the hallway it opens from. You get how wide the doorway really is with the door open, the door size that clears 32″, and whether a wheelchair can turn in from the hall.
Your doorway
30¹⁄₈″ clear: 1⁷⁄₈″ short of 32″a 34″ door gives 32¹⁄₈″ · a 36″ hall is too narrow to turn a wheelchair into this door: the ADA asks 42″
Quick answer: a wheelchair needs a doorway 32″ clear, measured from the face of the open door to the stop (ADA §404.2.3). A door takes about its own thickness and the stop out of its width, so a 32″ door gives only about 30″: buy a 34″ or 36″ door. Halls are 36″ by the home code; turning a wheelchair into a door off a hall takes 42″ or more.
How to use the wheelchair door calculator
- Measure the door itself, not the frame: a “2′8″ door” is 32″ wide.
- Pick its thickness (inside doors are usually 1⅜″, outside doors 1¾″), its hinges and whether it has a closer, and measure how far the door stop stands out from the frame.
- Measure the hallway, wall to wall, and pick where the door is: in the side of the hall or at its end, swinging into the room or toward the hall.
- Have a tape measure at the door? Open it to 90° and measure from the face of the door to the stop on the other side: type that as the measured clear width and it replaces the estimate.
- You get the clear width, the door that reaches 32″, what swing clear hinges would add, and whether a wheelchair can get into position to open the door from the hall, drawn from above.
The rules behind the numbers
The doorway: 32″ clear
“Door openings shall provide a clear width of 32 inches (815 mm) minimum. Clear openings of doorways with swinging doors shall be measured between the face of the door and the stop, with the door open 90 degrees. Openings more than 24 inches (610 mm) deep shall provide a clear opening of 36 inches (915 mm) minimum” (2010 ADA Standards §404.2.3). At a house the International Residential Code asks the same 32″ only of the required exit door (R311.2): “Other doors shall not be required to comply with these minimum dimensions.”
Why a 32″ door is not 32″ clear
Opened 90° on ordinary hinges, the door stands in its own opening, so its thickness comes off the width, and so does the stop on the latch side. Swing clear hinges move the door out of the way: Ives describes its 5BB1SC hinges as “Designed to completely clear the opening when door is opened 92°” and “Recommended for use in ADA door opening applications”. The stops on both sides are then the limit.
Room to open the door
A wheelchair has to sit beside a door to pull it open, clear of its swing, so the ADA asks for floor in front of every door (Table 404.2.4.1): from the front, 60″ deep on the pull side and 48″ on the push side; from the hinge side, 60″ (or 54″ with 42″ beyond the latch) to pull and 42″ to push; from the latch side, 48″ to pull and 42″ to push, with 6–12″ more when the door has a closer. In a hall, the hall’s width is that depth.
The hallway
“The width of a hallway shall be not less than 3 feet (914 mm)” (IRC R311.6). The ADA’s accessible route is also 36″ (§403.5.1); a 180° turn round the end of a wall under 48″ wide takes 42″ in, 48″ at the turn and 42″ out (§403.5.2), and turning a wheelchair right round takes a 60″ circle or a T in a 60″ square (§304.3).
Clear width by door size
With the door open 90° and a ½″ stop; ordinary hinges and swing clear hinges:
| Door | 1⅜″ inside door | with swing clear hinges | 1¾″ outside door | with swing clear hinges |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28″ (2′4″) | 26¹⁄₈″ | 27″ | 25³⁄₄″ | 27″ |
| 30″ (2′6″) | 28¹⁄₈″ | 29″ | 27³⁄₄″ | 29″ |
| 32″ (2′8″) | 30¹⁄₈″ | 31″ | 29³⁄₄″ | 31″ |
| 34″ (2′10″) | 32¹⁄₈″ | 33″ | 31³⁄₄″ | 33″ |
| 36″ (3′0″) | 34¹⁄₈″ | 35″ | 33³⁄₄″ | 35″ |
An estimate: the slim gaps round a door are left out, so measure yours with the door open.
The hall a wheelchair needs to turn in
The hall’s width, by where the door is and which way it swings (Table 404.2.4.1, a latch on the door):
| The door | No closer | With a closer |
|---|---|---|
| In the hall’s side, opens into the room | 42″ | 48″ |
| In the hall’s side, opens into the hall | 54″ | 54″ |
| At the hall’s end, opens away (36″ door) | 36″ | 48″ |
| At the hall’s end, opens toward you (36″ door) | 54″ | 54″ |
Four worked examples
A 32″ bedroom door. 32″ − 1⅜″ of door − ½″ of stop leaves 30¹⁄₈″, 1⁷⁄₈″ short of the ADA’s 32″. A 34″ door gives 32¹⁄₈″.
A 34″ outside door. 1¾″ thick, it leaves 31³⁄₄″: short. Swing clear hinges take the door out of the opening and give 33″, enough without a new door.
A bathroom door that opens into a 36″ hall. To pull it open from the hall a wheelchair needs 48″ from the latch side and 54″ from the hinge side: the hall is too narrow either way. Hung to swing into the bathroom it needs 42″.
A 34″ door in the side of a 42″ hall, opening into the room. 32¹⁄₈″ clear, and the 42″ hall is room enough to turn in and push from either way.
Common doorway mistakes
- Measuring the door, not the opening. The 32″ is between the face of the open door and the stop.
- Buying a 32″ door for a wheelchair. It gives about 30″ clear.
- A door that swings into a narrow hall. Pulling a door open takes the most room; a door that swings into the room is easier to reach.
- Forgetting the threshold. The ADA allows ½″ at most (§404.2.5); anything higher is a step.
- A hallway that only just fits. 36″ lets a wheelchair roll along it; turning into a room off it takes 42″ or more.
The ADA Standards are written for public buildings; at a private house they are the measure to build to for a wheelchair, and your building department has the last word. Order the door and its rough opening with the door size finder, plan the way in with the wheelchair ramp calculator, the bathroom with the ADA bathroom dimensions calculator, and draw the rooms in the free 2D planner.
ADA bathroom sizesRead next
Door and hallway width questions
What is the ADA door width?
32″ clear at least, measured between the face of the door and the stop with the door open 90° (§404.2.3), and 36″ where the opening is more than 24″ deep. The door itself has to be wider: about 34″ on ordinary hinges.
What is the doorway width for a wheelchair?
32″ clear. A 32″ door gives about 30⅛″ once its 1⅜″ thickness and a ½″ stop come off; a 34″ door gives about 32⅛″, a 36″ door about 34⅛″.
What is the standard hallway width?
The home code’s minimum is 36″ (IRC R311.6), and the ADA’s accessible route is 36″ too (§403.5.1). For a wheelchair to turn into a room off the hall, the ADA’s door clearances ask 42″ or more.
What is the minimum hallway width?
36″ by the International Residential Code (R311.6). The ADA lets a route narrow to 32″ for 24″ at most, between stretches 36″ wide and 48″ long (§403.5.1).
What is the ADA hallway width?
36″ for an accessible route (§403.5.1), 42″ approaching and 48″ at a 180° turn round an element under 48″ wide (§403.5.2), and 60″ for a wheelchair to turn right round (§304.3).
Do offset door hinges make a door wider?
They make the opening clearer: swing clear hinges move the door out of the opening when it is open, so its thickness no longer takes width. Ives rates its 5BB1SC hinges to “completely clear the opening when door is opened 92°”. On a 1⅜″ door with a ½″ stop that adds about ⅞″.