Accessible Apartment Door Upgrades — Levers, Thresholds, Wider Doors
A tenant uses a wheelchair or walker, or you are updating common-area doors, and you want levers, low thresholds and wider doors done right in an occupied building.
Reply within one business day. Or call / text 763-204-2099.
Accessible apartment door upgrades for a unit or a common area: JMB Builders swaps knobs for lever hardware, replaces raised thresholds with low-profile ones, and widens door openings where the framing allows, with a rated door on rated openings. What the building must meet is set by the owner's architect or the building official; we build to that and do not certify compliance. Twin Cities metro, priced per door.
- Priced per door
- Levers, low thresholds, wider openings
- Rated doors stay rated when widened
Accessibility work on an apartment door is usually one of three things. Knobs become levers that work with a closed fist. A raised threshold becomes a low-profile one that a wheelchair or walker rolls over. A narrow door becomes a wider one where the wall has room for it. In an occupied building each one is a short, planned job.
Lever hardware is the simple one: in most units it goes in the existing bore. On a fire-rated unit or corridor door the lever has to be hardware suited to a rated door, so it is ordered to fit. Threshold work at an exterior or patio door also has to keep the water out, so the low threshold goes over a proper sill and pan.
Widening is a framing job. We open the wall, check what is in it, set a new header, and hang a wider door. On a rated opening the wider door and frame are a new rated assembly. Bearing walls and anything electrical or plumbed in the wall can stop a widening or change its cost; a header in a bearing wall is sized by an engineer where needed. What clear width, hardware and threshold height your building must meet is decided by your architect or the building official, not by us, and we do not certify compliance. Before we bid a building of five or more units, we check the city's contractor licensing and permit rules for that building.
Get a written quote for this job
Three photos and a sentence is enough: a reply within one business day, or ask for a free in-home estimate. Or text the photos to 763-204-2099.
What you supply
- Which doors, and whether it is one unit or the common areas
- Any requirement list from your architect or the building official
- Your lever finish and key standard
- Tenant notice of entry and the tenant's preferred work days
What JMB supplies
- Look at each door, the wall and the floor before quoting
- Lever hardware, suited to rated doors where needed
- Low-profile thresholds set to keep water out at exterior doors
- Wider openings reframed with a new header; new prehung or rated door
- Drywall, casing and floor transition patched at the opening
- Door and casing painting as a separate line
- Photos of each finished door in your job folder
- COI and W-9 on request
How it is priced: per door
Quoted in writing from your photos, with a reply within one business day. What moves the number:
- Levers only vs. threshold or widening work
- Rated doors, which need rated hardware and doors
- Bearing wall, wiring or plumbing in the way of a widening
- Floor change at the threshold: carpet, vinyl, tile
- Exterior vs. interior threshold
- Painting and patching as their own lines
Photos of each door and the floor at the threshold get a reply within one business day; a free in-home estimate checks the walls.
How long it takes
Levers: typically under an hour a door. A threshold: a few hours. A widened opening: one to two days with patching. Doors are ordered first.
How your project works
- 1
Send photos, get a written quote
Send three photos of the space and a sentence about what you want. You get a clear, itemized reply within one business day. Prefer a look in person? A free in-home estimate is always an option.
- 2
Pick materials, or bring your own
We help you choose profiles and materials that fit the house and the budget, or match your existing millwork exactly — or you buy the door or trim yourself and we install it. Everything is confirmed before the crew is scheduled.
- 3
Clean, precise installation
The crew shows up on time, protects floors and furniture, and installs with tight joints and consistent reveals. Photos of the finished work go in your job folder.
- 4
Walkthrough and invoice
We walk the finished work with you. If anything is not right, we fix it before we call the job done. Then one invoice, paid by check or direct deposit — no card fees, no payment links.
Accessible Apartment Door Upgrades — Levers, Thresholds, Wider Doors: questions, answered
Can you widen an apartment door for a wheelchair?
Where the framing allows, yes. We open the wall, set a new header and hang a wider door, then patch the drywall, casing and floor. A bearing wall, wiring or plumbing beside the opening can limit it, and we say so after looking.
Can lever handles go on fire rated apartment doors?
Yes, with hardware suited to a rated door. The lever has to fit the door's lock prep without new drilling that the label does not allow. We order the lever to the door and keep the label intact.
What kind of threshold works for a walker or wheelchair?
A low-profile threshold with a beveled edge, set so the floor on each side meets it without a lip. At an exterior or patio door it still has to shed water, so it sits on a sill pan. The height your building must meet is set by your architect or the building official.
Do you make apartments ADA compliant?
We build what your architect or the building official specifies. Which accessibility rules apply to a unit or common area, and whether the result complies, is their decision, not ours. We do not issue compliance certifications.
Who pays when a tenant asks for an accessible door?
That is between you and your tenant, and the rules depend on the building and the request; ask your attorney if you are unsure. We quote the work to whoever approves it in writing.
How long does an accessible door upgrade take in an occupied unit?
Levers take under an hour a door. A threshold takes a few hours. Widening a door is typically one to two days with patching. The tenant keeps a working door every night.
Recent JMB work, from our job log
59 installs recorded across 30 Twin Cities communities since Dec 2025. Window and door installs for homeowners and the builders we work with. Counts come straight from our job log; no customer names.
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Read morePage reviewed October 9, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All apartment buildings pages
Where we work
Apartment & Multifamily Window and Door Projects near you
Based in Zimmerman, scheduling across the Twin Cities metro. Closest first: