Someone in the family is going to end up pushing this chair through a doorway with a grocery bag over one arm. Before anyone orders anything, settle two things: whether the chair fits the house you have, and who does the measuring. The person who measures is usually the person who gets stuck with the result.
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 narrowest point, not the nicest one
Start with every doorway on the route from the front door to the bedroom, the bathroom, the kitchen, and the car. Measure the clear opening with the door swung fully out of the way, from the inside face of one jamb to the inside face of the other. The outside frame width is not the number you need. Write down the narrowest figure on each route and label which doorway it belongs to.
Measure the chair with its parts out
Take the overall width from the spec sheet, then check it against the chair itself. Footrests, armrests, and wheel edges often stick out past the seat frame, and those are what catch on door trim. Ask whoever is buying to confirm the width with the footrests in place and the wheels fitted. Get the folded size and weight too, since those decide whether the chair fits your trunk or back seat.
Check the turns, not just the straight runs
A hallway wide enough to walk down may not let a chair turn into a bedroom. Look at every corner and every spot where a door opens into a short hall. Compare the turning diameter in the chair's spec with the open floor you actually have at each corner. Then do a test run: clear the throw rug, the plant stand, and the shoe bench from the path, push the chair through the full route, and note every place it stops or scrapes.
Look at the step, the threshold, and the floor
A chair that fits a doorway can still stop dead at a threshold. Note every step, raised sill, carpet edge, and change in floor height on the route. Each one is a line item: it needs a ramp, a changed route, or a plan that says who lifts the chair over it. Note the floor surface as well. Thick carpet and heavy mats slow a chair down and make pushing a longer job for whoever is doing it.
Write down who lifts, folds, and loads
This is where the labor shows up. Put one name next to each task: who takes the measurements, who sends them to the seller, who folds the chair for the car, who lifts it into the trunk, and who checks the route on a bad day. If one name appears on four of those lines, you have the grievance in writing, and you can take it to the family meeting as a line item instead of a complaint. Ask the seller to confirm the folded size and weight in writing before anyone picks up the chair.
Bring the sheet to the family
Put the measurements on one page with the route drawn out: doorway, corner, step, and floor. Send it to every sibling before the meeting, not during it, so the discussion is about the numbers rather than who is right. Then agree on the rule for changes. If a route fails the test, who pays for the fix, and who sets it up? That is easier to settle before the chair is in the living room than after.
For local equipment support and help with house checks in the St. Louis area, start with the local help page. For how these guides are put together, see how we write.