Fair Lawn, Bergen County
Doorway Widening for Fair Lawn, NJ Mid-Century Houses
Doorway widening in Fair Lawn, NJ can change how a small house works. Houses of the early 1950s have small doors, and the one that blocks your walker or chair can be fixed.
Your house in Fair Lawn
- A walker catches in the bathroomThe small bathroom door is often the tightest spot in a 1950s house.
- A short bedroom hallA tight turn at the hall is worth measuring before widening a door.
- A door that swings into a tiny roomA slider or pocket door recovers floor space as well as width.
- A partition wall with no pipesThese may be straightforward to open.
Questions people ask
Which door should I widen first in a small Fair Lawn house?
Start with the bathroom, then the bedroom. Those two carry the daily routes, and the bathroom is often the narrowest.
Is a sliding door as good as a wider hinged one?
For a small room it can be better, since it takes no swing space. The wall must be free of pipes and wiring for a pocket door.
What does door widening cost in Fair Lawn?
The price depends on the wall, the header and the finish repair. Opening a plain partition costs less than moving a wall with pipes. Ask for the carpentry and the wall repair as separate lines.
Is a pocket door a good fix in a small bathroom?
Often, if the wall beside the door has no pipes or wires and is deep enough. A pocket door frees the swing space and gives full clear width.
Doorway widening in Fair Lawn
In houses of the early 1950s, space was treated as a cost, and interior doors, halls and bathrooms were sized to the minimum. In Fair Lawn, where the median house was built in 1953, the hall to the bedrooms is short and narrow, and the bathroom door is often the tightest opening. A walker with a frame can catch on the jamb, and a wheelchair may not pass.
Source: Census Bureau, median year built
Walls from this period are commonly framed in wood with plaster or early drywall, and many partitions can be opened without structural work. The job involves removing the jamb, cutting back the studs, fitting a header over the new opening and hanging a wider door. The room beyond matters as much as the door. A chair that clears the doorway but then meets a vanity or toilet within a few inches of the door has gained nothing.
In a small house a swinging door can also take space from a tiny room. A pocket door or a barn-style slider frees that area and gives full clear width. Both are worth pricing against a conventional replacement.
Check the route with the walker you actually use, and mark the narrowest points before the contractor visits.
Ask who owns the walls. In a duplex or an attached home, a shared wall between units is not yours to open alone. A bearing wall needs an engineer's view before any cutting. Bring up old wiring too. Small capes often run cables through the same partitions you want to open, and a switch or outlet may have to move.
Plan the door swing with the room beyond it. A bathroom door that opens inward can trap a person who has fallen, so ask whether it can swing out or slide instead. Ask for the opening width in writing, as a clear measure with the door open, not the size of the slab.
The permit point
New Jersey lists a door replaced in the same opening as ordinary maintenance, but a wider opening alters the framing and should be raised with the Fair Lawn construction office.
Our 100% Guarantee
- Asking is free. It never commits you to anything.
- We charge you no fee for planning or the introduction.
- You pay only the contractor you choose, at their written price.
- Your $100 credit is honored on your first booked project.
- Not happy with an introduction? Say so, and we will find you another at no charge.
Small print: This guarantee covers our planning and introduction service. The contractor's work is covered by your contract with them. Offer terms. Guarantee terms.
Aging in Place NJ · (315) 640-3590
Doorway widening in Fair Lawn, NJ: why the bathroom door is tightest
In a house of 1953 the hall is short, and the bathroom door sits at the end of it. A 24 or 28 inch door was common. A walker with a frame catches on the jamb, and a wheelchair will not pass.
The federal reference allows a clear doorway width of 32 inches, measured with the door open to 90 degrees. Many of these doors fall well short. Measure yours before you decide how much to change.
Sources: Census Bureau, median year built, U.S. Access Board
Opening a partition wall: header, studs and finish
A non-bearing partition is the easy case. The crew removes the jamb, cuts back studs, fits a header and hangs a wider door. Then the wall is patched and painted. A load-bearing wall needs a beam, and that must be designed.
With 88.2% of Fair Lawn homes built before 1980, expect plaster or early drywall, and be ready for old wiring in the wall. Ask the contractor to look in the attic or basement before pricing so any pipe or wire in the wall is known.
Source: Census Bureau, year built
Pocket doors and sliders in small rooms
A swinging door takes a quarter circle of floor, and in a tiny room that is a lot. A pocket door slides into the wall. A barn-style slider runs along the outside. Both give full width and free the swing.
- A pocket door needs a hollow wall, and no pipes inside.
- A slider needs a clear stretch of wall beside the opening.
- Neither seals sound as well as a hinged door.
Price both against a plain wider hinged door.
Sequencing with other work
A wider door is one piece of a route. Walk it from bed to bath with your walker. Then see what else blocks you. The accessible bathroom work in Fair Lawn often calls for it, and the contractor can plan both together.
A door replaced in the same opening is ordinary maintenance in New Jersey. A wider opening is not, so raise it with the construction office. Our doorway widening page covers the process. Share your measurements through the form, and ask for $100 off your first project.
Source: NJ Administrative Code
Old paint, dust and the contract
A house from the 1950s may have lead in its paint. Under EPA's lead rule, a paid contractor working on paint in a pre-1978 house has to use lead-safe methods. Ask your contractor how dust will be controlled and cleaned.
Put the opening width, the door type and the trim in the written contract. For a job over $500, New Jersey requires the contract in writing and signed. Then compare the cost against the ways to pay for home modifications in New Jersey, since widened doors appear on several program lists.
Sources: NJ Legislature, U.S. EPA
Ready to plan it?
$100 off your first project. Call or send a request.