Sliding Glass Doors for Wheelchairs
A custom-ordered sliding glass door with a low 3/4-inch track and a factory-built aluminum ramp. It’s strong enough for a wheelchair and rider weighing about 500 pounds, and it keeps a sill to help block water, air and bugs.
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A Sliding Glass Door Strong Enough for a Heavy Wheelchair
One of our customers uses a power wheelchair that weighs about 280 pounds. With him in it, that’s roughly 500 pounds rolling across the patio door track.The old door couldn’t take it. Each time the chair crossed, the track bent. Someone in the home then had to pound it back into shape with a piece of 2×4 and a hammer.
The family wanted more than a track that wouldn’t bend. They wanted a door he could open himself and roll out whenever he felt like it. It was a way for him to regain some of his independence.
So we ordered a Keltic sliding glass door with a multi-slide track, and made other modifications to make it more friendly for his wheelchair.
- A track from a multi-slide system made for very large commercial doors
- A low threshold, only 3/4 inch high
- A heavy aluminum ramp, added at the factory
- Heavy stainless steel tracks
- A new concrete slab to support it all
Watch the Sliding Glass Door We Custom Ordered for a Heavy Wheelchair
Why a Normal Sliding Glass Door Track Bends Under a Wheelchair
A normal sliding glass door has a raised stop along the inside of its track. That stop keeps out air and water. For a heavy power wheelchair, though, it’s too high and too thin.Many people start by looking for a wheelchair ramp for their sliding glass door. You may be able to build one, but the track can still bend. A ramp helps the chair get up to the track. It doesn’t make the track any stronger.
The threshold, or sill, is the strip at the bottom of the door frame that you roll over. With about 500 pounds on it, a vinyl threshold can crack. No vinyl door can handle this kind of weight, and almost all aluminum doors are too thin. That makes it hard to find a sliding door that can take it. Our heavy-duty aluminum door is perfect for it. The photo shows our customer crossing his new door.
What We Custom Ordered for This Door
We ordered this door for this one situation. Here’s what makes it different:- A commercial multi-slide track. It comes from a multi-slide door system made for extremely large commercial doors.
- A low threshold. The sill is only 3/4 inch high from the inside floor, and the track is strong enough for a wheelchair and rider weighing about 500 pounds. A sill this low is only an option if the door is under a covered patio where it won’t get rained on.
- A heavy extruded aluminum ramp. We had the factory add it. Extruded means the aluminum is pressed through a shaped die to form the part. The ramp rises about 1 inch for every 3 inches across, so a wheel rolls up instead of hitting an edge.
- Heavy stainless steel compression tracks. These are what the door runs on, and they’re built to take the weight of a heavy chair.
The Concrete Under the Door Matters Too
A strong track still needs something solid under it. On this house, the existing slab ended well short of where the door needed support.So we laid a new concrete slab to extend it, and that came first. The concrete was in place before we installed the door. Not every home needs this, but we’ll look at your slab when we measure.
Looking for an ADA Sliding Glass Door? Here’s the Trade-Off
If you’ve been searching for an ADA patio door, you should know what it gives up. We sell those doors too, and they let in water, air and bugs. That’s a hard trade in the Valley, with monsoon rain, dust and scorpions.- An ADA door: the ADA threshold limit is 1/2 inch, so the sill is very low. That’s easy to cross, but it leaves little to stop water, air and bugs. There’s no frame at the bottom for the door to butt up against, so nothing closes off the gap under the panel. You can see daylight through the bottom of the door. If light can get through, so can rain, dust, hot air and bugs.
- This door: it has a sill, so it doesn’t meet the ADA threshold limit. The sill stays in place, and the track and ramp are strong enough to carry a wheelchair and rider weighing about 500 pounds without breaking. A small ramp on the inside helps the chair up to the sill, and a larger ramp on the outside takes it from the pavers up to the foundation.
What to Weigh Before You Order One
This door solved a hard problem, but it’s not the right fit for every home.- It’s a special order. We custom ordered this door just for this situation, so ask for a timeline at your estimate.
- A lower track holds back less water. The tall stop on a normal door is there to keep out air and water. When a monsoon blows rain at the door, a covered patio helps, and the door in our photos sits under one.
- The work may go beyond the door. On this job, the concrete had to come first.
- You may not need it. It’s built for a very heavy load. If your chair is lighter, one of our regular sliding doors may be enough.
What to Tell Us at Your Free Estimate
The more we know about the chair and how you use the door, the better we can plan it. Tell us:- What the chair weighs, and the combined weight with the person in it
- How wide the chair is at its widest point
- Whether your current track has bent or your threshold has cracked
- Who opens and closes the door day to day
- What’s on the other side of the door: a slab, a patio cover, a step or bare ground
More Doors We Install
Most homes don't need a custom track. See the other doors we install.
Sliding Glass Door for Wheelchairs Questions
Answers to common questions about sliding glass doors for wheelchairs. Have one we didn’t cover? Call us at (602) 678-3737.
Does someone in your home need a door that can take a heavy chair? Call us at (602) 678-3737 or request a free, no-pressure estimate. Our in-house employee installers are paid hourly to get the job done right.