Ideas for Senior Accessible Bathroom Renovations

If you or a member of your family has become disabled, or mobility has become more challenging with age, it’s important to execute plans to change your home to make it more accessible.  One of the most important things to think about when improving the mobility of your home is bathroom accessibility.  Designing a senior accessible bathroom in your house is a huge undertaking that requires extensive detail and planning, and Budget Construction Company has the expertise and years of experience to simplify this process.

When designing an accessible bathroom, it’s important to consider a number of options.  First, the needs of the disabled person or persons must be considered.  Is the individual wheelchair bound?  Does the individual have trouble moving around?  Are there issues with sight, strength or other factors?  Once we determine your needs, we’ll provide you with some options a well-designed bathroom that is safe, easy to navigate, and comfortable- offering the disabled person freedom to bathe and use the bathroom alone or with a caretaker.

Other things to consider:

When remodeling a bathroom to make it more accessible, people don’t always realize the amount of changes that need to be made.  Some common alterations are:

• Increased Floor Space – Ample space will be needed to allow use of wheelchairs if necessary, and should be large enough to accommodate two people if a caretaker is needed.
• Lowered Countertops – Countertops will need to be easily accessible, with space to comfortably access items and faucets
• Lowered toilets – Toilets should be the appropriate height to meet the individual’s unique needs, along with easily accessible handrails
• Handrails – Handrails are one of the most common items featured in a safe, handicap-accessible bathroom.  Handrails should be placed wherever they are necessary, especially in the shower and near the toilet.
• Accessible light switches, faucets, bathtubs and showers
• Widening doors for wheelchair accessibility
• Nightlight installation—important for individuals with difficulty seeing, especially at night time
• Non-slip flooring – In addition to handlebars, non-slip flooring essential to prevent slips and falls on a wet floor

Most of all, a handicap accessible bathroom needs to be a space that is both pleasant and simple for anyone using it.  There should be little clutter, edges and corners should be rounded, fixtures should be easy to access.  Another important thing to consider are the ADA regulations and requirements for disabled individuals.  Depending on the person’s needs, requirements can vary based.  With regard to  regulations, the larger and more complex your plans are, the more thought you will need to put into being compliant.  For more information on designing a bathroom that complies with ADA regulations, visit www.ada.gov.

While designing a handicap accessible bathroom may seem like a huge undertaking, Budget Construction Company of Chicago can help.  We’ll work with you every step of the way to make sure that all of your unique needs are met.   For more information on senior and handicap accessible bathrooms, call Budget Construction Company at (773) 283-9200 to speak with a member of our team.