Modifying Home for handicap accessibility

[Anonymous]

Does anybody have experience in modifying a home for accessibility? Can anybody share costs on adding attractive ramps or considerations or companies that can do this? Other than chair lifts, ramps, and seats in showers and grip bars what else should be done? Person primarily uses wheelchair but can stand and shuffle if needed. Please don't suggest moving to an accessible condo

[KDspicer]

For my mother-in-law, we added a wheelchair ramp to our front porch, a ramp inside the house from her room to the kitchen (there was a step down there), and a handicap-accessible shower in the bathroom. We installed a higher toilet, and added rails on the walls next to the toilet. The shower was equipped with a sprayer, and there was a hand rail on the wall next to the shower.

[Anonymous]

I don't have any experience on the construction/pricing side of it (it was done as small projects over many years at my dad's house), but here are some tips that worked for us:

The ramps were custom made of the same type of floor in that particular room, so if it was tile, the ramp was made of the same tile. If it was wood, the ramp was made of the same type of wood. (it had a really strong base, like concrete or something, underneath the ramp.) It looked really nice. We had tried buying ready made ramps, but they weren't sturdy at all, and just looked ugly and institutional. Go the extra mile, and have the ramps made to match the existing floor. It will look so much nicer, and will be better for home value.

Lighting: You might need to get an estimate for lowering all the switches, or better yet, putting them on a remote control. At dad's house, we had a big light installed right behind his headboard that he could turn on and off by using a long cord.

You might want to consider putting double doors in place of single doors. My dad had a big electric wheelchair, and needed the space to get his wheelchair in and out easily, so we had double doors installed in place of the single door.

For his master bathroom, we removed all the doors and widened the entrance. We had a bidet installed in his toilet because he could no longer wipe himself. They're very cheap to install, and incredibly helpful. I can't recommend that enough. The bidet was controlled by a lever on the side of the toilet, and he would just push the lever, and water would shoot out to clean him.

Also, we had a drain installed at his toilet so that he could get his showers (given by a caregiver) while sitting right on his toilet. We just had a shower head with long cord installed, and it was able to stretch all the way to his toilet. It was too difficult for dad to get around the bathroom, so the toilet was his only seat. He could use the restroom and then take his shower without needed to move. We had rubber flooring around the drain to prevent slipping.

Hope this is helpful. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

PP here. I should also mention that it was never a consideration for us to ever move dad out of his house, so don't be shy to shut people down when they suggest it. They're not in your or your loved one's shoes. With all the accommodations that we made over the years, his house was the most comfortable place on the planet for him.

I also forgot to mention: He had a hospital bed with remote that made it move up and down. And in the living room, he had a big Lazy-Boy type recliner that was also controlled by a remote, and moved all the way up and all the way back.

He also had an awesome hydraulic lift that would help us and caregivers move him from his wheelchair to his bed. It was amazing. My dad was essentially paralyzed, but the lift made his life in getting around so easy. It was very similar to this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyAZDXg3QPA

If you need one of those lifts, don't get a manual one. Get a power/hydraulic one. The manual ones are incredibly difficult to use.

[Anonymous]

Also jurisdictions (county or city) have programs for this in the form of loans or grants. Must income qualify (low-mod income)

[Anonymous]

My mom had MS and was in a scooter and we had to modify her house to meet her needs. She lived by herself after my father passed away. Her house only had one step from the house to the garage so that is where we built a wood ramp and she entered and exited the house through the garage using the automatic garage door opener. We put an automatic closer on the door between the house and garage with a rope pull so she could open it in more easily in her scooter and the door closed on it's own behind her.

We also got a natural gas generator installed because she always had to make sure that her scooter was charged so she could get out of the house in case of an emergency and have safety lighting.

We didn't have to modify the interior bedroom doors because they were wide enough for her scooter to fit through. The bathroom was more challenging. The 2 bathrooms in her house were very small and only had 24" doors which made it difficult for her to get into the bathroom in her scooter in case she was unable to shuffle to the toilet, so we actually had the entire wall between the master bathroom and master bedroom removed so she could access the toilet and sink more easily. For privacy, she just closed the hallway door to the bedroom if she needed it.

One of the other things we did that was very helpful was to get a remote light switch for the room that she slept in that was kept by the recliner chair that she sat it and fell asleep in so she didn't have to get back into her scooter to turn the light off in the room.

I hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

Save receipts it is a tax deduction

[Anonymous]

Thank you for everybody's great responses.

[Anonymous]

This is a pretty comprehensive checklist:

https://www.nahb.org/en/learn/designations/certified-aging-in-place-specialist/related-resources/aging-in-place-remodeling-checklist.aspx

Look for terms relating to "aging in place" or "universal design."