Affordably Modifying your Home for the Disabled (Video)

Guest Blogger #639, Entry #1517, August 26, 2012

You may not ever think about it, but one day it may be necessary for you to make your home accessible for a loved one or even yourself. Today, my guest blogger gives tips on how to design your home for the disabled. Whether you instal handicap bathtubs, front entries, or adjust sink and cabinets in your bathroom and kitchen, here are tips to help you design your home.

Ensure your home is accessible for all

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Next, see how a homeowner changes his cookie-cutter home into an accessible and wheelchair friendly home for himself.

YouTube – Making your home wheelchair accessible

Guest Blogger – How to Modify your Home for the Disabled

If you are living with a disabled person there will obviously be things that are more difficult for them around the house. Depending on the disability there are many things you can do to make life easier for them. In order for them to have a good quality of life it is important they can do things for themselves. Things you may take for granted. They certainly won’t want everything done for them.

Some changes will take a lot of work and could cost a bit of money, but there are also simple changes you can make. It’s important you can get as much of them done as possible. Things will sometimes be harder they sound, especially if money is a concern. Do your best to make the changes and you will make life a lot more enjoyable for them. That’s all they want.

Ensure your home can be accessed from all entry points.

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Entry into the home

Anyone in a wheelchair will have a hard time getting into the house if there are steps. You will always have to be there to lift them in. This can also apply to people who have difficulty walking. They might not be able to climb up the steps by themselves. The easiest thing you can do to help them is have a ramp built.

Once a ramp is in place it should be easy for someone to walk up provided the angle isn’t too steep. It’s also going to be easy for someone in an electric wheelchair to get into the house by themselves. Ramps don’t need to be expensive, especially if you have the ability to build it yourself.

Reaching for things

If something is too high it could be hard for someone to reach up and grab it. For someone in a wheelchair they just won’t be able to reach. This could include things like food in the kitchen cupboards, or even something as simple as the telephone.

It means you will have to go around the house putting as much things as possible in places they can reach. It means they won’t need to call you when they need anything, or try and hook it down themselves with a walking stick. You won’t be able to do this with everything, but make sure you get all the important things.

Ensure the bathroom is able accessible and easy to reach items

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Can they get up the stairs?

As long as you have somewhere downstairs for them to sleep they might not even need to go upstairs. Of course this only works if you have a bathroom somewhere on the bottom floor. If you don’t, or if you need to put them to bed every night it could become quite difficult carrying them all the time.

Luckily you can install a stair lift which they can sit on and go up the stairs by themselves. The only problem with this is the cost. They don’t come cheap. If you don’t have the ability to carry them up then it’s just something that needs to be bought. It will save you having to move house.

The author, Mark Ben, is a home improvement blogger and shares home improvement tips through guest blogging. He is a part of the team at Talk Solar Panels, premium installers of solar panels.

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