Remodeling helps meet accessibility, mobility needs

“When you have existing construction there are all kinds of things to consider, like where they ran the wiring and what wall you can take out,” said Byron Bassinger of Bassinger Architectural Design.

How hard it is to remodel an existing house to meet accessibility needs depends on how the house is built, Bassinger said. For instance, a lot of houses are built with narrow hallways and doors; most are 30 inches. Bassinger recommends a 36-inch door, but he noted that adequate wheelchair turnaround space is another consideration.

“Remodeling a home is on an individual basis because every house is different,” Bassinger said. “You definitely need to get the federal standards and go through that to see what the minimum requirements are. That’s the minimum and then you might want to go a little more. That’s the first place to start with a remodel.”

The Federal Fair Housing Accessibility Guidelines Bassinger recommends are available online at www.hud.gov, in the library of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Among those guidelines are:

• A minimum clear width of 36 inches for accessible routes into and throughout a dwelling;

• Thresholds at outside doors should be no more than three-fourths of an inch high; and

• Light switches, electrical outlets, and environmental controls should be between 15 inches and 48 inches above the floor.

Kitchens and bathrooms have specific requirements under the HUD guidelines. Clearance and space are very important. For instance, a person in a wheelchair needs a clear floor space of 30 inches by 48 inches or more with a parallel approach to the range, cook top and sink in a kitchen.

“There are several things that can be done to remodel a home for accessibility. The first thing – and most critical – is to make sure to have walkways and travel spaces of at least 48-inches wide, which allows the person in a wheelchair to get around,” said Brad Schrock of Kitchenland USA. “Another thing we do a lot is make sure they have side access, so when they pull up alongside they can get to the cook top, and make sure that the wheelchair will maneuver into that position.”

Lower cabinet heights also make a kitchen more accessible.

“If you want to keep cabinets at the popular height for future resale of the house, put an island in for the lower area. I haven’t done a kitchen totally set up for wheelchair accessibility because most people are concerned about selling a house, say, 10 years down the road,” Schrock said.

If a client isn’t worried about resale, they may wish not to have cabinets under the sink and cook top to allow room to pull a wheelchair up under them, Schrock said.

For older clients, Schrock said his company offers sliding shelves and can lower microwaves and raise dishwashers.

“With the older client, it’s not so much reaching up, it’s bending down that’s the issue,” Schrock said.

Costs for remodeling a kitchen for accessibility vary depending on the homeowner’s needs and the kitchen’s size. Schrock said he has done an accessibility remodel for a kitchen for about $7,000.

For bathrooms, there are several options, and again, the expenses vary based on client desires.

“There are products now where you can remove a standard tub and replace it with a wheelchair-accessible shower. There are also grab bars made in various lengths to go around the toilets, and there are handicapped accessible toilets that are taller than usual,” said Marlin Dicke of Edge Supply Co.

The cost of a fiberglass handicap-accessible shower unit, which replaces a 5-foot bathtub, is about $1,200 and has a ramp, seat and handicap bars. A taller toilet is about $177.

Multilevel accessibility

Getting from one level in a home to another may be another consideration and might call for the installation of a residential elevator.

“It’s a little more difficult with an existing home, because you have to determine where to put the equipment. It can be put through a floor or added as an addition to the outside of a house,” said Craig Jones of Country Home Elevator & Stair Lift.

Jones advises planning ahead when buying or building a home. “Have us out to look at an existing home or have us discuss it with a builder and architect way in advance so they have the right dimensions and things don’t have to be changed after the fact,” Jones said.

Mark Bowen of The Mobility Store said, “With an existing structure I take the contractor out with me. It’s on an individual basis. I have to go out and see if I can fit (an elevator) in or if one needs to be on the outside. Some homes aren’t feasible if they have a lot of issues like pipes and ductwork. The key word is custom. It has to be customized for individual use.”

Bowen said that getting the elevator in isn’t the only consideration, because how a wheelchair will be maneuvered into the elevator also must be determined.

“Can they do it themselves? Do they have to have someone help them? Can they come around the corner and get in the elevator? Can they turn the chair to get in?” Bowen said.

Jones said residential elevators can be fairly basic, or they can be more elaborate in order to match a home’s woodwork. Elevators at Country Home range from $14,000 to $20,000.

A vertical platform lift is another possibility for shorter heights, such as from a garage floor and up five steps. Jones said the cost for that is between $5,000 and $7,000.

“Sometimes it costs more to do the construction than for the actual elevator,” Bowen said.

Prices at The Mobility Store are $15,000 for a vertical platform lift and between $30,000 and $50,000 for an elevator.

Country Home Elevator also has a stairway lift, which allows a person to sit in a seat and ride up the stairs. For that, installation cost is around $3,000, Jones said.

The Mobility Store also offers stair lifts, which Bowen said are very economical.

“If you do a straight-run chair lift with standard 16 feet long, it’s about $3,500 (at The Mobility Store). You can take a stair lift out and move it to another house if you move,” Bowen said. “The only time that gets expensive is if you put it on a spiral case. A bend in it costs five grand extra. That’s totally custom.”