Old Castle Renovations Blog

Aging at Home ... renovations to enjoy now

For many seniors, living well means living comfortably at home. With age, however, we experience a natural loss of muscle mass, strength, flexibility, onset of osteoarthritis, reduced cardio and impaired balance, all of which can make it hard to get around the house. One solution to remain living at home is to remodel to accommodate these physical challenges.

For many seniors, even a major home remodel is often less costly than the alternative for senior living. For many seniors, selling the family home to purchase a single floor detached condominium is a lateral move, once condo and ancillary fees are included. According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Senior’s Housing Report 2018, the average cost of renting a seniors’ housing space in Ontario was $3,618 per month. Whether you renovate for yourself or a loved one, remodelling a home may be the smart decision.

To remodel your home for ease and accessibility, a few renovation suggestions, along with average costs, are presented for consideration:

Widen doorways
To optimize ease in moving around your home with a gait aid or using a wheelchair for mobility, doorways narrower than 36 inches need to be widened to accommodate freely moving between rooms. To widen door frames, normally a contractor would need to replace the existing door frame, add insulation, re-drywall and paint. The job might also require moving and rewiring light switches.

The cost to widen a doorway varies, depending on whether electrical work or a new door is required. Estimated cost is $400 to $600 for each doorway. An alternative to a new wider door to fit the frame, is the new trend in sliding doors mounted over the widened doorway. A practical solution that may give a new fresh, modern feel to your home.

Install lever-style doorknobs and taps
Lever doorknobs and tap handles are easier to turn on and off than round doorknobs or taps, which require a twisting motion. The lever design is easy on the small hand joints for people who have arthritis or other conditions that limit motion of the hands and wrists. Lever-style doorknobs at home improvement stores are found starting around $30 each, depending on the finish and metal composition. Lever tap handles begin at $20 a pair for bathroom and kitchen sinks.

Put grab bars in bathrooms
Installing grip bars in showers or beside the toilet can help prevent falls because of slippery tubs, shower stalls and floors, or difficulty getting down and up from the toilet. Grip bars range from $40 to $100 each. It is important to have them professionally installed to ensure that they are solidly connected to the studs in case they need to support you during a slip or near fall. Installation by a professional is estimated about $100 each, plus materials.

Replace step-in shower or bathtub
A shower designed to be level with the main floor of the bathroom and wide enough for the potential to accommodate a shower commode is a good long term plan. In the interim, this accessible, european design can be stylish with a trendy teak shower seat or stool, for example. The option for a hand-held shower head will be useful in the long-term to optimize independence for people showering when seated.

Replace flooring with a continuous slip-resistant material
Vinyl and linoleum can provide more traction than slick, hard stone or wood floors. As well, laying a subfloor and thicker under-padding for vinyl, linoleum or laminate wood can be somewhat softer in the event of a fall. Bamboo and cork flooring, although more expensive, are popular floor choices for their non-slip and antibacterial properties. Vinyl or linoleum flooring is the least expensive of the choices among alternatives to stone and wood flooring. Cork averages about $5, and bamboo costs between $3 and $5 per square foot.

If there is no budget to replace a floor right away, make sure any damaged areas or uneven tiles are replaced or repaired, and scatter rugs, mats and electrical cords are removed from the floor to reduce trip-and-fall hazards for people of all ages.

Add lighting
Improving lighting in those rooms with different flooring to eliminate shadows, to illuminate stairs, and have a night light source in bathrooms are important changes to reduce the risk for falls. Also, installing light switches at the top and bottom of stairs, each end of a long halfway, or in large cupboards or closets are good investments in safety. Proprioception and balance are impaired with normal aging and with these losses we rely more on vision to keep our balance and be confident in walking. Good lighting to improve vision when moving around is very important go minimize risk for falls.

Redesign the family or dining room into a main floor bedroom
Living on the main floor of a 2-story home is a very wise option to stay living in your own home longer. Having a main floor bathroom is essential in this plan. A moderate renovation to a main floor powder room is possible to include a small shower stall, with rearrangement of the toilet and a corner sink.

Somewhat larger investment in remodelling options for your home for ease and accessibility are presented for those committed to staying in their own home and recognize that use of a wheelchair for mobility is a definite possibility:

Add a wheelchair ramp
When a need for a wheelchair is in the future, a ramp will prolong independent ambulation prior to use of a wheelchair by eliminating the need to climb stairs to enter the home. And then when walking up a ramp is too difficult or unsafe for a senior, the ramp is available for independent wheeling or ease of wheeling for the care provider. The average cost to build a wheelchair ramp is about $1,500.

Lower kitchen countertops and cabinets
Installing cabinets and countertops at 30 inches from the floor makes it easier for people using a wheelchair or scooter to continue meaningful tasks including food preparation, washing dishes or putting away groceries. The cost of lowering cabinets or installing lower countertops varies depending on kitchen size, countertop material and cabinet quality, but to remodel about 30 linear feet of countertop space, budget at least $3,000.

Many seniors prefer to live in familiar surroundings as they grow older. Completing a home renovation — with reflection about what is needed for those with difficulty walking — can promote and maintain independence for older adults while enjoying the comforts of home.

At Old Castle Renovations we provide practical, stylish solutions. Call for a free quote.

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