Do It Yourself or Hire
The Raised Threshold Is a Step: Decide Whether You Swap It Yourself or Hire the Job
A doorway sill is a different job from a saw-and-replace project, and the choice comes down to three measurements and one call to the building office.
A raised threshold is a step your parent has to lift a foot over every time they go in or out. Whether you fix it yourself or pay someone depends less on skill than on what you measure, what is underneath, and what the permit office says.
Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.
Measure the rise and the swing
Measure how far the threshold rises above the floor on both sides of the door. Then open the door fully and check how close its edge comes to the sill as it swings. Note any spot where the door would drag. Write the numbers down. If the door already rubs or has no clearance, a sill swap alone will not fix it, and that is a reason to hire.
Check what is underneath
Press a screwdriver into the sill and into the floor edge beside the door. Soft, dark, or crumbling wood means the problem is rot, not just the sill. Rot is carpentry work. If the threshold is set into the subfloor with adhesive or a metal track, you are doing demolition as well as replacement.
Decide the entry type
A sill on an exterior door has to shed water and seal against weather. A doorway between two rooms does not. If the door leads outside, add weatherstripping to the list. A low threshold ramp that sits over an existing sill is a smaller decision, but it creates an edge of its own. Test it with your parent in the shoes they will wear.
Check the permit line
Call the building office for your address and ask one question: does replacing this threshold need a permit or an inspection? The City of St. Louis and St. Louis County each run their own building offices, so ask the one that covers the address. Some sill work is minor and needs nothing. Some is not. Knowing before you start avoids a surprise halfway through.
Choose the path
Do it yourself if the rise is small, the floor is sound, the door clears, and no permit is needed. Hire it out if there is rot, the door has to be re-hung, the doorway is exterior, or the permit office asks for an inspection. If you hire, ask three questions before you agree. Who pulls the permit? Does the worker carry liability insurance? What happens to the old sill and the trim around it? Get the answers in writing on whatever paper the worker gives you.
After the work
Have your parent walk through the doorway in the shoes they will use, with a helper close by. Check that the door closes and latches, and that the new edge sits flat enough that a foot does not catch. Put the measurements, the permit answer, and the worker's name on the same page as the rest of the discharge papers.
The general home safety checks behind this list, including entries and thresholds, are covered in the National Institute on Aging's home safety guidance (NIA).