To accommodate a standard wheelchair, you need a minimum of 32 inches of 'clear width'—the space between the face of the door and the opposite stop. Because the door itself takes up space when open, this usually requires installing a 34-inch or 36-inch door. Depending on the wall's structure, this fix ranges from $150 for specialized hinges to $2,500 for a full structural widening.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandates a 32-inch clear opening, but most residential contractors didn't get the memo when your house was built. A standard 30-inch interior door actually only provides about 28.5 inches of clearance because the door itself sits inside the frame even when open. If a wheelchair is 26 inches wide, that leaves 1.25 inches on either side for the user’s hands. That is not a margin of error; it is a recipe for injury.

Power chairs and bariatric chairs are wider, often requiring a full 36-inch clear opening. You must measure the chair at its widest point—usually the handrims or the motor housing—and add at least 4 inches for comfort. If the person using the chair is self-propelling, those extra inches are the difference between independence and needing a push.

Don't forget the 'approach.' If a wheelchair has to turn 90 degrees from a narrow hallway into a doorway, 32 inches won't be enough. In those cases, you often need to widen the door to 36 inches or even 42 inches just to account for the turning radius of the footrests.

The cheapest fix is the 'Swing-Clear' or Z-hinge. These specialized hinges cost about $20 to $40 per pair and are designed to swing the door entirely out of the opening. This adds about 2 inches of clear width without touching a single piece of drywall. It is the first thing every homeowner should try, though it won't work if the door hits an adjacent wall or furniture.

The mid-range fix is removing the door stops and the trim to gain another inch, or replacing a 30-inch door with a 32-inch door by 'stealing' space from the frame. This typically costs between $500 and $800 in labor and materials. It’s a clean look, but it only works if you have the extra two inches of wall space to spare on either side of the existing frame.

The heavy lift is structural widening. If you have to move a light switch, a plumbing line, or a load-bearing stud to get to 36 inches, you are looking at $1,500 to $2,500 per door. While this sounds expensive, compare it to the $6,000 monthly cost of a nursing home. In that light, a one-time $2,000 construction bill is the best investment you’ll ever make.

People love the idea of pocket doors because they 'disappear' and save floor space. In reality, retrofitting a pocket door into an existing wall is often the most expensive way to solve a width problem. You have to tear down the entire wall to install the track, and if there is any electrical or plumbing inside that wall, the costs spiral.

A better, cheaper alternative is the barn door. You get the same space-saving benefits without opening the wall. A heavy-duty barn door hardware kit costs $150, and a solid-core door costs $200. A handyman can usually install this in four hours. Just ensure the door is wide enough to overlap the opening by at least two inches on each side to provide privacy.

Finally, consider the floor. When you widen a doorway, you are often left with a gap in the flooring where the old threshold sat. Matching 20-year-old oak or tile is nearly impossible. Budget an extra $200 for a wide transition strip or a custom marble threshold to hide the scar where the wall used to be.