Bergen County
Aging in Place in Paramus, in a 1950s Floor Plan
A 1950s Paramus bathroom can be too tight for a walk-in shower, or for a walker through the door, without moving a wall, and we find out whether yours is before a product gets picked. More than a third of Paramus homes were built in the 1950s, and more than one resident in four is 65 or older.
Request a quote in Paramus
Tell us which part of the house has become hard and who it is for. That is usually enough for us to tell you which trade the job needs, whether the town has to see it first, and who, if anyone, might help pay.
$100 off your first job
Credited by us on your first booked job.
- One credit per customer per property, on your first booked job.
- Valid through December 31, 2026.
Mention this offer when you book. Full terms.
Widening doors and bathrooms in a postwar Paramus house
In Paramus the doorway is where a simple job stops being simple. Replacing a door in the same opening is ordinary maintenance under the state code, but widening the opening alters the framing, and cutting into a loadbearing wall is structural work, so both go through the borough's construction office. In a compact postwar bathroom the shower, the door and the wall between them should be treated as one decision, which is why a site visit comes before a price. The borough is almost entirely houses: 85.3 percent of homes are detached, the highest share on this site, so on most lots the decision is the owner's alone, subject to the construction office. Lift drawings in Paramus go to the State for review. If you are looking for help paying, the Bergen County Division of Senior Services in Hackensack runs the screening for JACC and the caregiver programs.
Will a walker fit through the bathroom door?
Measure the opening if you can and tell us. It decides whether this is a door swap or a framing change, and those are different jobs.
Paramus doorway, bathroom, ramp and lift work
Accessible Bathrooms and Walk-In Showers
A bathroom you, or a parent, can use without climbing over a tub wall, planned so the right contractor is on the job from the start, including a licensed plumber if the drain has to move.
Accessible Bathrooms in Paramus →Stairlifts, Platform Lifts and Home Elevators
Get up the stairs, or up the steps to the front door, without being carried, with an installer who matches the device and a plan prepared for New Jersey's elevator review in your town.
About Stairlifts and Home Lifts →Wheelchair Ramps and Step-Free Entries
A way into the house with no steps, for a wheelchair, a walker or someone who can no longer manage the stoop, planned around the permit and any association rules before anyone builds.
Wheelchair Ramps in Paramus →Doorway Widening and Interior Access
Get a wheelchair or walker through the bathroom, bedroom and front doors without scraped knuckles or turning sideways, with the wall behind each opening checked before anyone quotes.
Doorway Widening in Paramus →Paramus, the 1950s borough with an older population
The ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates show 71.8% of Paramus's 8,813 housing units were built before 1980, 45.4% before 1960 and 5.5% in 1939 or earlier. The largest single building decade is 1950 to 1959, with 34.8% of units.
Source: United States Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, table B25034, accessed 2026-09-22
The ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates put Paramus borough's population at 26,568, of whom 6,971 (26.2%) are 65 or older and 13.1% are 75 or older, above New Jersey's 17.2% aged 65 and older.
Source: United States Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, table B01001, accessed 2026-09-22
Under N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.7, ordinary maintenance needs no permit, inspection or notice to the construction official. The listed ordinary building maintenance includes the repair, replacement or installation of non-structural elements such as built-in or attached furnishings, equipment, or accessories, including cabinets, benches or seats, and bathroom accessories; the replacement of flooring with a new material; and the replacement of a door in the same opening without altering the dimensions or framing of the original opening.
Source: New Jersey Administrative Code as published by the New Jersey Office of Administrative Law, via New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, accessed 2026-09-22
The ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates show about 974 of Paramus's civilian noninstitutionalized residents aged 65 and older (16.4%) report an ambulatory difficulty, serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs, and 12.1% report an independent living difficulty. The statewide figures are 19.1% and 12.7%.
Source: United States Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, tables B18105 and B18107, accessed 2026-09-22
ACS 2020-2024 5-year share of housing units that are single-unit detached, by municipality: Monroe Township 63.0%, Toms River 78.0%, Manchester Township 48.4%, Freehold Township 62.2%, Middletown 77.6%, Edison 49.3%, Old Bridge 57.2%, Bridgewater 69.6%, Parsippany-Troy Hills 51.5%, Morristown 24.7%, Wayne 67.6%, Paramus 85.3%, Ridgewood 79.0%, Fair Lawn 75.6%, Livingston 84.5%, Cranford 73.4%; New Jersey 52.6%.
Source: United States Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, table B25024, all New Jersey county subdivisions, accessed 2026-09-22
Send the bathroom's size and the door you use
Rough numbers are fine. We come back with the jobs involved and which ones the borough needs to see.