Door Widening Services SA 2026 - Get Quotes

Measuring the Opening Properly

The measurement is taken with the door fully open, from the face of the leaf to the opposite stop. That figure gives you the clear opening, which describes what somebody can actually pass through. Hinges beat saws here. The clear opening is the figure that counts, not the door size. A household comparing three quotes on the same doorway will usually find the spread traces to whether the load question and the making good were assessed properly.

Two numbers matter here, not one. A household that gets the measuring right at the outset avoids the common outcome, which is paying for structural work that changed very little. The households who spend least are the ones who worked out which doorways genuinely needed opening up and which needed a hundred and fifty dollars of hardware. Approaches to this vary noticeably between contractors, so compare more than one. Where the corridor is genuinely narrow, no width at the doorway alone resolves the turn and the honest answer involves a slider or a different route through the house.

The nominal door size belongs alongside it. Knowing you have an 820mm leaf giving 770mm clear tells a builder immediately what kind of intervention is in play. Corridors decide outcomes. An 820mm leaf on ordinary butt hinges gives about 770mm of usable passage, and that fifty millimetre shortfall is exactly what offset hinges recover for a couple of hundred dollars instead of a couple of thousand. Original architraves removed carefully and reused on the wider opening keep the character of a period room that a modern moulding would lose entirely.

Builders take different views on how far to take this. Contractors quoting this work should be able to say what clear opening the household will end up with, and one who quotes a door size instead has answered a different question. Measuring the clear opening, the approach and every threshold along the route takes half an hour with a tape and changes the entire conversation with a builder. Flagging it early makes the quotes considerably easier to compare. Contractors who ask what equipment is being used, and how wide it actually is, are sizing the job against the person rather than against a generic figure.

The approach on both sides needs measuring too. Entering head on takes less room than arriving at an angle from a narrow corridor. The load question comes next. The nominal door size and the clear opening describe different things, and a household that knows both can tell a builder in one sentence whether they are looking at a hinge swap or a wall coming out.

Builders doing this work regularly raise it unprompted. Anybody who has done these across the older Adelaide suburbs will reach for the hinges before the reciprocating saw, because the result is usually the same and the cost is not. An internal wall in an older Adelaide home with cut roof framing can be carrying struts that prop the roof above, which nothing visible from the hallway will tell you. Most will explain the reasoning on site if asked.

Measurements taken with the actual equipment beat generic figures. A wheelchair, a walking frame or a shower commode each have different widths and turning behaviour. A tape settles most of it. The door swing and where it lands matter as much.

A door opening into a small bathroom consumes floor space the person needs to turn in. The wider modification is covered at accessible bathroom renovation. Half an hour measuring clear openings, approach widths and every threshold along the route gives a builder more usable information than a site visit spent guessing at what the household needs. Builders differ on how they frame this at quoting stage.

The threshold deserves a look while you are there. A lip at the floor is a separate problem from width and it is usually cheaper to solve. Period homes need care. AS 1428 sets out clear opening widths and circulation spaces for accessible design.

Its provisions apply to public and certain other buildings, and they are a sound reference for domestic work even where not mandated. Copies of the standard are available through Standards Australia. Four panel doors, moulded architraves and original hardware cannot be matched once they are cut out, which is the strongest argument for trying offset hinges on an inner suburb property before anything else. Most builders will walk the doorway with you if asked.

What to Try Before Structural Work

Swing clear hinges at $150 to $400 a door, available from Bellevue and Zanda among others, are the first thing to price. They carry the open leaf out of the opening and typically recover forty to fifty millimetres without any building work. Removing the door entirely costs almost nothing. Plenty of internal doorways exist out of habit and not need, and a doorway with no door is the widest version of itself. The disappointment surfaces after the work when a household discovers the corridor was the constraint all along and the wider door changed very little.

Rehanging a door to open outward frees the room it was opening into. It suits small bathrooms and separate toilets particularly, where the swing eats the turning space. Hanging and fitting work sits at door installation. Replacing a hinged door with a cavity slider, using a system such as CS Cavity Sliders or Hume, removes the swing entirely. It costs more at $1,800 to $4,500 because the wall has to be opened, and it transforms a tight approach.

A surface mounted sliding door on a track avoids opening the wall. It is less tidy visually and considerably cheaper than a cavity slider, which makes it worth considering. Changing the hardware solves more than people expect. A lever handle instead of a knob, or a D pull on a slider, makes a door usable for somebody with limited grip. On a stone or double brick internal wall the job stops being carpentry and becomes masonry, with a heavier lintel and considerably more making good either side.

Trimming architraves back can buy a few millimetres. It is marginal and it occasionally makes the difference between fitting and not. Reusing or replacing the trim is covered at skirting boards and architraves. A tape measure settles it before anybody visits. Where original joinery would be lost in a period home, a contractor raising that before cutting is giving better advice than one who simply prices the opening.

Widening the Opening Itself

A non load bearing internal wall at $900 to $2,500 is the straightforward case. The studs are cut, a new opening is framed, and the wall is made good either side. The cheap fixes come first. A load bearing wall at $2,500 to $6,000 needs a lintel and propping. The span, the load above and the wall construction all determine what is required.

Solid double brick walls behave differently from framed ones. Cutting a wider opening in masonry means a heavier lintel and more making good, and the work is slower. Swing clear hinges, a rehung door and a lever handle between them cost a few hundred dollars and resolve a surprising proportion of doorways that a builder would otherwise quote thousands to widen. Households who measure first get a far more accurate quote. A builder who asks to watch the person move through the doorway is assessing the thing that actually determines whether the work helps.

Widening usually means the door and frame are replaced entirely. A new door, frame, architraves and hardware belong in the budget, since the existing leaf rarely suits a wider opening. Making good extends further than people expect. Patching, cornice repair, flooring at the threshold and painting both sides all follow the carpentry. The spread between quotes on this job usually traces to the load question and the making good, neither of which is visible in a headline figure.

Patching and sheeting sits at plasterboard installation. Whether approval is required needs settling early. Structural alterations may need building consent depending on what is being changed, and the council is the place to confirm it. Building information for the state is published at sa.gov.au.

What Is Inside the Wall

Light switches beside a doorway mean wiring in that wall. Moving a switch is straightforward electrical work and it needs a licensed electrician and not a carpenter. Power points on either face of the wall tell you the same thing. The circuit has to be rerouted before the framing changes. Moving switches and rerouting circuits sits at electrical services.

Walls adjoining bathrooms, kitchens and laundries frequently carry plumbing. Pipework inside a wall being altered needs a plumber and it changes both the cost and the sequence. Load changes the price. Ducted heating and cooling runs inside some internal walls. A duct passing through the area being opened up has to be rerouted instead of cut through.

Older homes may hold surprises worth identifying early. Redundant wiring, old gas pipework and unexpected framing all turn up once a wall is opened. A partition wall is carpentry and a load bearing wall needs a lintel sized for the span with temporary propping while it goes in, which is the single largest variable in any widening quote. Two doorways of the same size can need different answers.

Asbestos is a genuine consideration in homes built before the late 1980s. Wall sheeting, backing boards and some linings may contain it and it should be identified before anything is cut. The floor matters too. Testing before anything is cut sits at asbestos inspection. The wall should be investigated before the quote is finalised.

A small inspection hole costs almost nothing and prevents a variation halfway through. Smaller jobs around it sit at handyman services. Thresholds, tile edges at wet areas and level changes between rooms added over decades stop castors dead, and households regularly find those were the real obstacle rather than the width. It separates a considered quote from a standard rate.

Getting the Floor Right

Walking the whole route with the equipment comes before any decision. Level changes between rooms are easy to miss on foot and impossible to miss on wheels. Watch the actual turn. A threshold ramp at $150 to $600 handles a step at an external door. It is removable, it needs no building work and it solves a real obstacle.

Transition strips between floor coverings cost very little. Carpet meeting tile is a classic lip and a proper strip removes it. Turning into a doorway from a corridor demands noticeably more room than rolling straight through, because the footplates and rear wheels catch the frame at an angle no tape measure reveals. Builders vary in how they present this at quoting stage.

Bathroom thresholds need more thought because waterproofing is involved. The hob or tile edge at a wet area doorway is holding water in, so it cannot simply be ground away. A level entry shower removes the largest threshold in most homes. It is a bigger job and it is often the one that matters most.

Level entry showers are covered at bathroom renovations. Floor coverings themselves affect movement. Thick carpet and deep pile make a chair harder to push, and a firmer surface improves things noticeably. Firmer surfaces that suit wheels are covered at floor tiling.

Doors, Handles and How They Operate

Lever handles from Lockwood, Gainsborough or Bellevue suit almost everybody better than knobs. A knob requires grip and rotation together, which is exactly what arthritis and reduced hand strength take away. D pulls on sliding doors work where a recessed finger pull does not. A flush pull in a cavity slider is difficult for anybody with limited grip. Handle height matters alongside type. A handle set lower than standard suits somebody seated and it is free to specify on a new door.

Door weight affects how usable it is, and lighter hollow core leaves from Hume or Corinthian take noticeably less effort than solid core. A heavy solid core door takes real effort to open, and a lighter leaf makes a meaningful difference. Closers make doors harder to use and not easier. Where one is fitted for a reason, an adjustable closer set light is preferable to a strong one. Kick plates protect the bottom of a door from footplates and castors.

They are inexpensive and they prevent visible damage over time. Glazed panels or vision panels help where somebody cannot easily step back. Seeing through a door before opening it matters more than people assume. Finishing a new door and frame is covered at interior house painting.

Regional Considerations Across South Australia

Pre war Adelaide housing has narrow internal doorways as standard. Those homes also have solid stone or double brick internal walls in places, which makes widening a masonry job and not carpentry. Hallways in those homes are frequently narrow as well. Widening a door at the end of a tight corridor may not deliver what the household expected. Floor level changes are common where rooms were added over decades. Sleep outs, rear extensions and enclosed verandahs often sit at slightly different heights.

Post war and mid century homes are generally easier. Framed internal walls and slightly wider doorways mean more options at lower cost. Newer estate housing often has wider doorways already. The constraint there is more often the approach space in a compact floor plan than the door itself.

What Door Widening Costs

Swing clear hinges at $150 to $400 a door are the cheapest useful item here. They should be priced before anything structural is considered. Rehanging a door at $250 to $600 changes the swing direction. It suits small bathrooms and toilets where the door consumes turning space. Widening a non load bearing opening at $900 to $2,500 covers framing, a new door and frame, and making good. That covers the common domestic version of this work.

Widening a load bearing opening at $2,500 to $6,000 adds the lintel, the propping and the engineering. Span and wall construction move it within that range. A cavity slider retrofit at $1,800 to $4,500 removes the swing entirely. It suits a tight approach where width alone will not solve the problem.

Threshold work at $150 to $600 and hardware at $80 to $300 round out most jobs. Both pay off regardless of whether widening goes ahead. A wider condition check is covered at building inspections. Raising it early gives a clearer comparison of quotes.

What to Look Out For

The clear opening needs measuring before any quote for structural work is accepted. The door size overstates what is actually available and the gap between them is often the whole problem. Insist that swing clear hinges are priced first. A builder who goes straight to opening a wall without mentioning them has skipped the cheapest answer. Have the wall assessed for load before work is scheduled. In older Adelaide homes with cut roof framing, an internal wall may be carrying roof struts.

Check what services run inside the wall. Wiring, plumbing and ducting each bring another trade and another cost. Confirm making good is in the quote. Guarantees sit with the ACCC and builder licensing with Consumer and Business Services.

How to Get Useful Quotes

Give the clear opening measurement and the nominal door size. Those two numbers together tell a builder most of what they need. Describe the wall construction if you know it. Framed plasterboard, double brick and stone are different jobs at different prices. Say what equipment is being used and its width. A wheelchair, a walking frame and a shower commode each behave differently.

Mention the approach on both sides. A tight corridor changes the recommendation more than the doorway itself does. Note any switches, power points or wet areas adjoining the wall. They signal services that affect the scope. Have each quote state the clear opening delivered, whether the wall is load bearing, what other trades are involved, whether making good is included and whether approval is needed. Pin down those five and the quotes become comparable, and wider modification work sits at accessible bathroom renovation.