article

Renovations to Make Aging at Home Easier

By Cassandra Gatton via Realty Times

bluehammer

As you or your loved one ages, your home may need to be adapted to accommodate lifestyle changes, accessibility and independence. Over 41% of individuals plan to stay in their own homes until the age of 81 or older. It is important to make gradual adaptations to your home as you age to allow for maneuverability. When remodeling to age at home, start early and plan ahead. It is cheaper to do small renovations one at a time than an entire home overhaul overnight.

Grab Bars

Installing grab bars can significantly decrease falls and injuries. They should be installed where the floor may get wet or transition to a different level. Grab bars should be installed by a professional contractor because they require special reinforcement. If a grab bar is improperly installed it can be pulled from the wall causing injury.

Places grab bars should be installed:

  • showers
  • near toilets
  • stairs
  • room transitions

Home Entry

Access to the main level without the use of stairs is a change you can make to your home without changing the overall curb appeal. This requires planning ahead. A ramp can be designed with wood or concrete that provides a gradual incline to the front door. By planning ahead, you can have a contractor design a ramp that fits the aesthetic of your home without reducing its value. This provides accessibility for wheelchairs, walkers and those who cannot use stairs.

Making Doorways Wider

Increasing the width of doorways is a simple way to make living at home easier with walkers or wheelchairs. Widening a doorway is a project that should only take a contractor about a day. Making a door 36 inches wide as opposed to the normal 24" or 32" allows for easier access, especially in tight spaces.

Floorplan Alterations

Creating room for maneuvering is important. There may be times that you need space to use a wheelchair. A wheelchair requires a square five feet to move freely. Creating an open floor plan is a good way to open space to move around. This can be done by removing full and pony walls, creating cased openings, and relocating furniture and appliances to make sure paths are wide and clear.

When aging in your home you may need to restrict living to a single floor to accommodate for the difficulty of climbing and descending stairs. It is important to ensure that there is a kitchen, bathroom and a space for a bedroom on the main level of your home. If there is not a full bathroom on the ground floor, a contractor can create a full bathroom by adding a shower to an existing half bath or creating a new bathroom entirely. According to HomeAdvisor, a laundry room on the main level may even increase the value of your home.

Removing Thresholds

Removing floor thresholds between rooms can prevent tripping, which is the number one cause of injury for aging individuals. Many homes have a threshold between rooms where flooring changes. This can be alleviated by removing the threshold or installing a ramp that lets them move easily.

Shower Conversion

What are some of the key elements that make a space feel welcoming in photographs? The bathroom can be a dangerous place due to slippery floors and tripping hazards. Even with the help of grab bars and grippy bath mats, it is important to remove tripping hazards. A popular option is to convert a bathtub into a shower without a threshold. This renovation can allow for ease of access especially for those in a wheelchair.

Want to estimate your home improvement costs before talking with a contractor? Claim your home for free with bluehammer to estimate costs, secure your home inventory and learn more about your home.

* THIS REPORT IS AN OPINION THAT MAY BE INACCURATE AND IS PROVIDED SOLELY AS AN INFORMATIONAL TOOL NOT DESIGNED TO PROVIDE DEFINITIVE ANSWERS. ALL ELEMENTS ARE OFFERED "AS IS" AND BLUEBOOK EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, REPRESENTATIONS, AND GUARANTEES OF ANY NATURE, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABLITILY, NONINFRINGEMENT, TITLE, QUIET ENJOYMENT, ACCURACY, OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL BLUEBOOK (OR THEIR SUPPLIERS) BE LIABLE FOR ANY GENERAL, DIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, THOSE RESULTING FROM USE OF THE PRODUCT, INCLUDING : (1) RELIANCE ON THE MATERIALS PRESENTED, (2) COSTS OF REPLACEMENT GOODS, (3) LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, (4) DELAYS OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTIONS, (5) AND ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF INFORMATION) WHETHER OR NOT BLUEBOOK HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

Know what you should pay for your home improvement projects with bluehammer.Claim your home. It's free!

Popular


Find The Right Interior Doors For Your Home

Take a minute to count the number of doors in your house. Surprising, right? Consider then, the impact that a little attention to the doors can have on the overall style and design of your home. Whether you're just moving in or staging for a sale, new doors are a simple way to dramatically update the space. The good news is that there are as many styles of doors as there are doors in your home. Making the decision is the toughest part.

Can't Sleep? Why Your House Might Be To Blame And What You Can Do About It

Not being able to get sufficient sleep isn't just annoying. Beyond making you grouchy and causing you to yawn all day, it can threaten your immune system, impact your memory, and injure your back. There are a number of potential reasons for your sleeping issues, but your house probably isn't helping. With a few fixes, you may be sleeping soundly in no time.

Creative Ways To Keep Your Home Cool Without Running Your Air Conditioning 24-7

Heat wave! Are you feeling it? Are you over it? Are you dreading this month's electric bill that will rival your monthly grocery budget? There are a few tricks that can help you keep cool at home without running your air conditioning all day.

10 Key Problems to Look Out For and Fix in Your Home

Ignore some of these signs and you may end up with major issues. We tell you which are normal and which are cause for concern

8 Clever Ways To Zone Off Space In An Open Floor Plan

We've fallen for open-plan living in recent years. After all, not many of us have a formal room just for company anymore. And with modern building materials, we don't necessarily need every room to have four walls to keep it at a comfortable temperature. But although an open plan may bring the space, light, flow and garden views we desire, it can also feel problematic to organize into zones - and prove distracting to share. Enter the glass partition. It makes room division simple yet doesn't starve spaces of light or compromise the open feel. Decorative, at half or full height, framed or barely visible, a glass partition can work in every environment. Check out these designs.

Are You Prepared For Disaster?

How prepared are you if natural disaster descends on your home?

It's A Great Time for Decluttering Your Home

It's always great to take some time from your busy schedule to declutter your home. While it may not always be enjoyable, here are some useful tips that can make decluttering easy and well worth it.

Replacing Your Water Heater

Hot water is a luxury we all take for granted until it goes cold.

8 Amazingly Easy Tips For A Pet-Friendly Home

For many of us, it's an absolute pleasure to share our homes with our four-legged best friends. But there's no denying that our pets can sometimes lead to wear and tear on our homes. Yet with careful planning and some redesigned elements, we can enhance our house so that it's conducive to our pets and ourselves. If you live with a beloved pet, the following design trends and home-living tips are sure to promote a home that's comfortable for everyone -- and everything -- that lives there.

Are Extended Warranties Worth the Cost?

Extended warranties offer consumers longer terms of coverage on service, repair and replacement for their home's appliances than the standard out-of-the-box warranty from the manufacturer. These warranties are highly profitable for retailers, as they can run up the total cost of your purchase by $100 or more, with very few claims being filed per year. Are they actually worth it?

See More Articles