We build wooden entry ramps, set up modular aluminum ones and widen doorways so a wheelchair, walker or scooter gets in and through the house. Cedar Mill Property Repair is serving Cedar Mill, Beaverton, Bethany and nearby. Market data from November 2026 puts a home ramp at $1,123-$3,588 (typical $2,294) and a widened doorway at $300-$3,000 (typical $1,200), materials included, national averages . See the full price list. To book, text a photo of your steps with a tape measure standing on the bottom one.
Slava has 7 years of hands-on experience and does the measuring himself.
What does a home ramp or doorway job include?
We measure how high the door sits above the ground, then walk the yard to see where a ramp that long can go. Then it's either a wood ramp on posts and footings, built to fit the house, or a modular aluminum ramp set in place and leveled. Either way it gets handrails and a flat landing at the door.
Widening a doorway means pulling the old jamb and trim, framing a bigger rough opening, hanging a wider door and patching the drywall and casing around it.
Small threshold ramps of an inch or two belong with threshold ramps, grab bars and lever handles. Handrails on existing steps are a stairs-and-railings job. Stair lifts and vertical platform lifts are equipment sold by mobility dealers, and we don't install them; they're on our don't-do list .
How much does a wheelchair ramp or a wider doorway cost?
All three rows are market figures; the ramp and doorway rows are national averages, not local quotes.
| Job | Range | Typical | Unit | What's included | Usual labor time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wheelchair ramp installation | $1,123-$3,588 | $2,294 | per ramp | with materials | about 20 hours |
| Doorway widening | $300-$3,000 | $1,200 | per doorway | with materials | about 10 hours |
| Threshold lowering or small threshold ramp | $200-$800 | $400 | per job | labor only | about 3.5 hours |
Market data, November 2026 (national averages for ramps and doorways) .
On a ramp, door height sets the length, and length is most of the bill. A turn with a 5 x 5 ft landing, posts in a sloped yard, or wood over aluminum move it too . A doorway can be a pair of offset hinges or a load-bearing wall cut for a new header, a moved switch and patched flooring and trim.
How long does a wheelchair ramp need to be?
Most ramp builders work from the 2010 ADA Standards. Slope can't be steeper than 1:12: one foot of ramp per inch of rise. One run can climb 30 inches at most. There's a level landing at the top and bottom, each at least 60 inches long, and a 60 x 60 inch landing anywhere the ramp turns. Clear width is 36 inches or more, and once a run climbs more than 6 inches it needs handrails with the grip 34-38 inches off the surface.
Those rules are written for public buildings. At a house they're our target, and a gentler slope is kinder to someone pushing their own chair.
The math on a few common entries:
- One step of about 7 inches: roughly 7 feet of ramp plus the landings.
- Three steps up to a split-level or raised-ranch door, about 21 inches total: around 21 feet of ramp plus landings.
- More than 30 inches of rise: two runs with a landing between them, often folded back along the front of the house.
Beaverton's 1960s-90s ranches and splits, and the hillside lots on West Slope, often have several steps to the front door. Many 1960s-70s ranches have a garage entry with one or two steps, a shorter and cheaper way in.
Wood or aluminum: which ramp holds up in Portland rain?
Through the wet months, and under the shade of big Douglas firs, wood surfaces grow algae and moss and turn slick. A wood ramp here needs a grip surface, ground-contact posts, and a gap at the house wall so water drains and the boards dry. After that it's a stiff brush now and then. Aluminum with a punched or grooved deck sheds water and won't rot.
Wood can be shaped around the house and painted to match. Aluminum goes up fast and can be sold when it's no longer needed.
For a few weeks after a hip or knee surgery, renting an aluminum ramp from a mobility dealer usually costs less than a build. We'll say so.
Is 2x6 lumber enough? That depends on the span between supports, so framing is sized to the ramp .
Do you need a permit for a wheelchair ramp?
That depends on where the house sits, how high the ramp climbs and whether it attaches to the house. We check with the right office first. Around here that office can change across one street: Cedar Mill and Bethany are unincorporated Washington County, while Beaverton is its own city. An HOA may want to see the plan too .
How wide does a doorway need to be for a wheelchair, and can yours be widened?
The ADA figure is 32 inches of clear width, measured with the door open 90 degrees, from the face of the door to the stop on the other side. A door sold as 32 inches gives less, because the open slab and the stop eat part of the opening. Measure the gap you'd roll through, not the door.
Fixes, cheapest first:
- Offset (swing-clear) hinges, which swing the open door out of the opening.
- Take the door and stops off where privacy isn't needed.
- Swap to a pocket door or a new pre-hung door.
- Cut the opening wider, frame it and hang a new pre-hung door.
When the wall carries load from above, a wider opening needs a header sized for it . A switch or outlet right beside the door has to move as well .
The 1950s-60s tract houses in Cedar Hills and the 1960s-70s houses in Cedar Mill were built before 1978, so trim and walls there can carry lead paint. We don't do work that disturbs lead paint. In an older house the paint gets tested before anything is cut .