“This is where honest and frank conversations with your attending physician or physical therapist are important because it will make the difference of whether temporary products/repairs are in order or permanent fixtures and remodeling are required,” he added. In situations where you’ll have a physical therapist, Erwin recommends getting your therapist, possibly even your doctor, involved in a planning meeting.
Rooms & Costs
The most common room requiring changes when remodeling for accessibility is the bathroom where national statistics show 33% of falls in the home occur. Tubs pose a particular problem because of the high step up required to get in. Options for making your bathroom more accessible can range from simple, inexpensive quick fixes, such as installing grab bars for the individual whose mobility is not severely impaired and who still has good upper body strength, to bath tub lift chairs that lower the individual into the bath water. They cost around $1,000. More permanent options for increasing mobility in the bathroom can range from $12,000 to $14,000 to replace a tub with a shower designed specifically for accessibility, to $25,000 to $30,000 for a full bathroom remodel. “You may need to take a whole wall out to make a 5’ x 8’ bathroom into an 8’ x 8’ bathroom so you have accessibility for a wheelchair or a walker,” Dickey said. While permanent changes can be much more expensive, they are worthwhile considerations for the individual thinking beyond rehabilitation, staying safe in spite of decreased mobility as they grow older. A full bathroom remodel, including the relocation of walls usually takes three to four weeks, so a fair amount of advanced planning is required.
Steps & Stairs
The second most common obstacle individuals with impaired mobility are likely to encounter at home is the stairs. Outside the home, ramps provide an easy solution and ease of access into and out of the house. “There are aluminum ramp systems that are more temporary in nature,” Dickey said. You can also have a semi permanent wooden ramp built, or you can opt for a permanent ramp made with composite
materials or concrete. According to Dickey, permanent options are more aesthetically pleasing than aluminum ramps and are designed to look like they were there when the home was built. The cost of a ramp installation depends on the materials used, as well as the number of steps it must be built over to reach floor level in the home. Inside the home, options for navigating the stairs are harder to come by, and the most practical and economical choices involve making an already accessible part of the home livable during recovery. “That person is probably going to be limited to one area of the home until they can negotiate stairs,” Dickey said. “Stair lifts in homes are possible, but are often cost prohibitive.” The average cost of a stair lift, including installation, can be as much as $15,000. In Washington State a contractor is required to have an elevator license before he or she can legally install stair lifts.
Quick Install Temporary Solutions After grab bars, Erwin said offset hinges are the most common quick fix to mobility issues. “An offset door hinge allows the door to swing open another inch and a half, and a lot of times, that will be just enough for a person to be able to get in and out with their walker or wheel chair,” he said. “So we do a lot of that. It’s quick, and it’s easy, and the hinges are probably only $5 or $10 a piece. So in an hour, and with $100 or less, you can have adoor that swings open a little bit more without having to modify anything,” he said. For the individual with upper body strength, Dickey recommends the Superpole. “It’s an amazing piece of equipment, and it works well in a temporary environment,” he said. “It’s a tension pole between the floor and the ceiling, and it has a horizontal bar for the person to assist themselves in sitting up and getting out of bed, and getting to a walker or a wheel chair. The Superpole can also be used for assistance getting off the toilet, getting into and out of the shower, or even your living room chair.”
chair,” Dickey said.
Accessibility Remodeling & Your Home’s Resale Value
One of the most common questions contractors are asked when remodeling a home for accessibility, is if and how the changes will impact the resale value of their home. The good news is that the options available today are far more aesthetically pleasing than those available a couple of decades ago. Quick fix, temporary options are just as easily removed as they are installed, with little to no disruption, and with no evidence that they’d been there at all. If permanent accessibility changes are required, universal design concepts allow for options that are modern, aesthetically pleasing, and popular both with people who have accessibility challenges and those who do not. Done correctly, Dickey says that a home remodeled for accessibility can even increase its resale value. “The baby boomers are retiring at 10,000 a day, and there are not enough [accessible] homes on the market to accommodate that need,” he said. “So if you have a house and you would like to remodel it for your accessibility, it may make it one of the most marketable houses on the block” Dickey said. “If it’s all on one level, has a low threshold or walk in shower, those are all things that people are looking for. So it’s actually a plus and not a minus in this real estate market.” Erwin said it’s a conversation he often has with his clients, and the advice he gives them is almost always the same. “We have materials and ways we can do things that don’t make it look like a hospital,” Erwin said. “But first and foremost, I tell them the number one concern is for your safety.”
There are also permanent options like the Dependa-Bar, which is bolted to the wall. “It also ratchets out of the way so that as the person stands up, the bar moves…so that they can get to their walker or wheel2014 OMB Buyer’s Guide
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