Eventually, many of us will experience mobility problems due to age or disability. As the population ages more of us will require a wheelchair, yet most homes are not designed to accommodate one. As a result, changes will have to be made to make your home wheelchair accessible.
Wheelchairs require wide openings, ramps, and even elevators to access other floors. Installing a walk-in bathtub or shower may also be useful. Today we will discuss the process of retrofitting your home to make it friendlier to those in a wheelchair.
Why Do I Need to Change My Home to Accommodate a Wheelchair?
Homes built to the current international building standard are not necessarily designed to allow free movement of those in a wheelchair. Wheelchair designs vary, but most wheelchairs are designed to pass through a 30” clear opening. In perspective, this means that any wheelchair will be able to enter a home through an egress door, commonly known as the front and back doors. Building codes generally require these doors to provide a minimum 36” wide opening.
However, other doors within a home such as bedroom doors and bathroom doors typically have no size requirement. As such, most builders will install the smallest door feasible to reduce costs. Unfortunately, this often means 28” and 30” doors tend to be used making these rooms inaccessible for a wheelchair.
Doorways designed for wheelchair access should be no less than 32” wide. Because the door slab will narrow the opening, the actual clear opening will be close to 30”, depending on how widely the door is opened. Some heavy duty wheelchairs can be up to 40” wide and will require doors specially made for wheelchairs.
How Wide is a Wheelchair Accessible Doorway?
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires publicly accessible doorways to be at least 32” wide and create a 30” clear opening. For hinged doors, this difference accounts for the thickness of the door slab that narrows the clear opening.
For example, if a hinged door is only opened 90 degrees, the full thickness of the door slab will reduce the clear opening by 1 ½” (the thickness of the door). The door would have to open 180 degrees to allow for the full 32” opening, which most doors don’t do because there is usually an obstacle like furniture in the way.
What Do I Change In My Home to Make it Wheelchair Friendly?
To make a home completely accessible for a wheelchair, you will need to install wide doors (32” minimum), ramps, and possibly an elevator if the home is multi-story. Ramps coming to the home must be built to certain standards and doors are often enlarged. Lifts, such as a one person elevator, are often installed in larger homes for greater access.
The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requires these measures to be installed in essentially any public building, but not residences. An example of one of these requirements is the presence and usefulness of a wheelchair ramp. In a commercial setting, a wheelchair ramp must not rise more than one foot for every twenty feet of distance. For residential applications, the ratio changes to one foot for every ten feet of distance.
Can I Make the Required Changes Myself to Make a Home Wheelchair Accessible?
Those homeowners with a few tools and some carpentry experience can often make many of the required changes for wheelchair accessibility. Common tasks include replacing doors and door frames, widening rough openings, and working with tools to establish appropriate angles. Ramps may involve forming and pouring concrete, but ramps can also be built from pressure treated wood. Widening door openings can require adjusting weight bearing walls, so if in doubt consult a professional.
How to Make Your Home Wheelchair Accessible
In this section we will describe how to make your home more wheelchair accessible in greater detail. As mentioned previously, wheelchair accessibility will require a way to enter the home and a way to move around once inside. Here we will discuss the overall process(s) for building ramps, widening doorways, and installing a lift.
Build a Wheelchair Ramp
Wheelchair ramps require specific angles to function properly. If a ramp is too steep the wheelchair user may struggle to climb it. For residences the ratio of elevation to travel is 1:10, so for every 12” of rise, the ramp should extend no more than 120”, or ten feet. This requirement (also known as the pitch angle) however, does not include landings.
Landings are the flat floor area between sets of stairs or lengths of ramp. Landings allow stairs to turn corners without becoming too steep to climb. In wheelchair ramp parlance, this means the angle requirement only applies to the distance between the landings. In other words, it doesn’t matter how high the ramp elevates, nor how far it extends as long as the angle of the ramp doesn’t not change.
Widen All Doorways to a Minimum of 32”
Widening doorways will require adjustments to the rough opening to accommodate a wider door frame. For DIYers, this means working with lumber, drywall, and possibly electricity if a light switch will need to be relocated. The project will require building a new header for the opening, which will carry the weight over the doorway. The professional method is to replace the old door with a pre-hung door, which will include both the new door and door frame.
Install a Lift
Installing a lift isn’t nearly as unique as it once was. Many luxury homes are designed to include a lift, but a lift can be installed almost anywhere. Lifts are electrically powered and can be installed in a matter of days using a readily available kit. Most lifts require a space about the size of a walk-in closet, making them very adaptable for retrofitting. Older options like stair lifts are also common, which include a seat that mechanically glides along a stair handrail.
Install a Wheelchair Accessible Shower
For complete wheelchair access, installing a wheelchair shower should be considered. These showers are designed specifically for those in a wheelchair and the seat height is the same as most wheelchairs. This design provides easy transfer from chair to shower and back to chair without getting the chair wet. Other designs have doors wide enough to accommodate the entire chair, which are popular with caregivers.
Simple Changes Make a Difference
All home adjustments made for wheelchair access can be made individually or as part of a total remodel. The important part of a wheelchair remodeling project is not the effort nor the expense, but rather the freedom gained. Losing mobility can have a marked effect on depression, so every bit of freedom matters. Spending the necessary time and resources to make a home friendlier to wheelchairs can be the best investment a homeowner can make.
How to Make Your Home ADA Compliant
The Americans With Disabilities Act of 2010, also known as the ADA, implemented changes to public and private structures to enable those with mobility limitations to move more freely. Before the enactment of the ADA, features like wheelchair ramps and elevators were considered a convenience, not a requirement. Obviously, without physical access to these structures, disabled people could not enjoy them.
The ADA enacted certain rules that architects, designers, and builders must follow when constructing any public building. Personal homes do not require ADA compliance, but the guidelines can be implemented into personal homes to greatly improve mobility. Today we will discuss the main features you can add to your home to make it much more disability friendly.
What Does ADA Compliance Mean?
Generally, compliance with the ADA means any building that the public is designed to access must meet certain guidelines. For example, these entities must provide amenities as needed for the structure, like wheelchair ramps and wide doorways. Your personal home would not fall under this requirement, but structuring a home around ADA compliance is still a great idea. Even for those not disabled, the modifications needed for ADA compliance are very useful, especially as we age.
For example, the ADA requires that any doors or doorways in the home must be wide enough for a wheelchair to pass through. Today, this minimum width is 36” of clear passage. Obviously, wide doors are beneficial to wheelchair users, but these wide doorways also allow the movement of furniture and other large objects. Standard doorways tend to take a beating from furniture strikes, but wide doorways tend to live longer useful lives.
Another great example is installing a stairlift. ADA compliance infers that a disabled person should be able to access the same locations within a structure as an able-bodied person, including upper floors. We all age, and features like steep stairs can become difficult to climb, limiting our movement. Stair lifts have evolved greatly in recent years to become very affordable and easy to install. Since stair lifts use the existing stairs and stairwell, the home does not require extensive modifications like installing an elevator could.
ADA-Compliant Home Requirements
To make a home ADA compliant, you must modify certain features and perhaps add others to allow those in a wheelchair to move around freely. Generally, doorways must be widened, powered elevation must be provided (if applicable), and bathrooms must be accessible. Most homes built today comply only with the governing building codes, which do not require ADA compliance. To convert a normal home to an ADA compliant home, you will likely need to address all three concerns.
These modifications will, of course, change depending on the structure. For example, an existing sidewalk might very well meet the ADA slope and pitch requirements and be considered a wheelchair ramp. Some homes have also been built with extra wide doorways for other reasons, so there is no need to modify them.
Here we will briefly discuss the modifications required to consider a home in-line with ADA compliance. However, it should be noted that full ADA compliance would generally be unnecessary in a private home. The ADA was designed to help the disabled in a public setting, so even having services available, such as an ASL interpreter, are common. Private homes can use ADA compliance as a guideline to achieve a level of comfort and usability without applying every requirement to the home.
Wheelchair Ramp
To make a home disability friendly, the first step is to build a wheelchair ramp to allow the disabled person to reach the front door. Building a wheelchair ramp is not especially complicated, but you will need to follow a few rules. Wheelchair ramps must not exceed a specific slope, because doing so might make them difficult to climb. Wheelchair ramps should have at least 36” of clear path, so handrails (if applicable), must not encroach on the minimum 36” width.
Widening Doorways
The same requirement applies to doorways. In most homes, only the front egress door (the front door) and the rear egress door (the back door) must be 36” wide, according to most building codes. Interestingly, this minimum width is not to assist those with a disability, but rather to allow firefighters to exit the home while carrying a person. So, in most standard-built homes, a person in a wheelchair could enter the house, but would likely be unable to visit the next level, any other rooms, or the bathroom.
Stair Lifts
For those with the means and a multi-story home, installing a stair lift or elevator coincides with ADA compliance. Many homes built in the last few decades are multi-story because it allows builders to sell more square footage on a smaller lot. Unfortunately, upper stories and small lots are usually unfriendly to those with a disability, but stair lifts and elevators can solve this space problem.
Stair lifts are similar to garage door openers in that they use a carriage and rail system, powered by a remote controlled electric motor. These systems can generally be installed over any stairs as many are designed for DIY installation. One of the best features of a stair lift is that most versions do not permanently change the stairs, so the system can often be removed and reinstalled in a new location if needed.
Elevators
For those that have the space and resources, installing a small wheelchair elevator can be a good investment. Many upscale homes install one or two person elevators as standard, especially if the owners plan to spend the rest of their lives in the home. Elevators are not nearly as expensive as they once were. As the population ages, elevators become more budget and installation friendly, putting them within the reach of more consumers.
Elevators can sometimes be installed more easily than a stair lift, because elevators have a smaller vertical footprint. An unused closet can be converted to an elevator shaft, making elevators convenient to retrofit into older homes. Any powered elevator with a 36” clear pass-through would satisfy the powered elevation requirement, so most users shop around. In today’s modern construction industry, there will be a solution available for virtually any situation.
How to Make Your Home Bathroom ADA Compliant?
Bathrooms will likely require the most modification to employ the ADA guidelines due to fall hazards the guidelines are meant to prevent. Most ADA modifications are fairly simple, but bathrooms usually require special fixtures to be considered ADA compliant in a public setting. For example, at least one sink must be low enough to be accessed from a wheelchair. Bathroom ADA compliance requires grab bars installed at maximum heights and maximum distances from fixtures, like the toilet.
Bathrooms must have enough space for the wheelchair to enter and turn around without hitting any fixtures or the door. Most full-size bathrooms are at least 60” wide and 108” long, but many have narrow doors that cannot accommodate a wheelchair. Bathing facilities, like a walk-in shower or walk-in bathtub can replace existing tubs and showers, but they can be expensive. This is why bathroom ADA modifications tend to require the lion’s share of the budget when renovating for those with disabilities.
For example, although there are no minimum or maximum bathroom size requirements, the bathroom must allow the person in the wheelchair to enter, close the door, access the fixtures with at least 36” of clear passage, return to the chair, open the door and exit. Interestingly, many modern bathrooms (although certainly not all) have the required floor space to maintain the required clearances, but the door is too narrow for a wheelchair to enter. If this applies to your project, consult a professional architect or structural engineer. These professionals can assess your particular situation, draw up a plan to widen the doorway, and even suggest a contractor.
To help the disabled gain independence, the ADA allows for both disabled accessible showers and bathtubs, most of which allow the user to remain in the wheelchair. ADA compliance will require that grab bars and fixture controls be tightly controlled and relatively uniform from manufacturer to manufacturer. These grab bars will be specifically located around the toilet and inside the bathing facility. When needed, many builders will reverse the entry door to the bathroom so that it does not open into the bathroom, saving space.
Making Your Bathroom Disability Friendly Is a Gift
Unless you have ever experienced a disability it may be difficult to understand the importance the ADA guidelines have provided for those with mobility challenges. Even those temporarily on crutches learn the importance of wide doorways and ramps. Whether you are preparing your home as a way to show a family member that you care, or simply preparing for the future, those that enjoy your disability-inspired modifications will be very grateful.
Comments are closed