If you could change your home espec. bathroom what

[chomskychick]

Bathroom

We just finished our bathroom. There a re few things that I would recommend:
1. Brab bars. My dh has MS, but I use them all of the time for shaving legs etc. We both like them. We put them by the toilet and in the shower.
2. Roll in shower is great. We did that please we put a seat in the shower. My dh is not in a wheelchair at this point, but the seat comes in really handy.
3. Two showerheads--we have a traditional one coming out of the wall, and we added a handheld on a slidebar so it can be accessible at wheelchair height. We put in a diverter in order to change which one we use.
4. We sloped the bathroom floor toward the drain, used tile on the wall and had the entire thing made into a wet bathroom. This means that there is a giant shower pan in the entire bathroom (it is small) and it has red guard (water resistant goop they put on the walls, and hardibacker (cement board) everywhere in the bathroom. Our contractor said you could have a fire house in that bathroom.
5. We used a pebble floor (medium size). A wheel chair can easily get over it, but it provides tons of traction.
6. ADA toilet. We got a TOTO Drake II that is water efficient, powerful, and at a good height.
7. We got a pedestal sink that is wall mounted. This way it will be wheelchair accessible if we remove the pedestal part. We picked one with ADA recommended height.
8. We put in a barndoor, but we thought about a pocket door. Basically it slides on a track so you don't need to open and close the door inward or out ward. It just slides to the right and it will work for wheel chairs well.
9. We kept the light switches and plugs low for wheelchair accessibility.
10. Get a contractor you trust who understands handicap bathrooms. Ours is a good friend, and we conducted our research together. He even cut us a deal on his rate since we were going ADA.

[robyn55]

Thank you so much for your ideas and reasonings. The thoughts that the ramps would be easier for everyone does make me feel better. Not so much like I'm giving up. One thing I'm catching is that everyone seems to be more comfortable with a shower. I had never even heard of a roll out one. I have to admit, getting up and over the tub is getting more difficult and slipping is one of my fears with balance issues and all. I sure do miss my long soaks in a hot bubble bath, though.

Jazzgirl what a beautiful baby!

It's probably too expensive - and you probably don't have enough room - but my late FIL's nursing home had a tub on rails - it went up and down in a semi-circle. Resident would sit on chair - tub would slide down rails into regular tub position under chair - resident would get bath - tub would be emptied - and then roll up the rails again so resident could leave. It was quite a Rube Goldberg contraption - but worked for very disabled residents.

Also - all the toilets in the whole place were raised with grab bars on both sides. There were also grab bars lining the walls (and the hallways as well).

If people have a good/great nursing home in their neighborhood - might be worth a visit for a "look-see" to get ideas.

Also - no one has mentioned mirrors. Maybe a big one on the wall that tilts forward (either moveable tilt or permanent tilt). And a small wall mounted adjustable lighted mirror in a convenient place for shaving face - applying make-up - flossing teeth - etc. My wall mounted mirror is 3x magnification (my eyesight isn't so great) - although when I look at it these days - I sometimes think it's time to make an appointment with a plastic surgeon .

Places for towels. I like hooks - easier than towel racks. Levers instead of door knobs. There's a company called Hewi that makes attractive accessories like this in some kind of plastic in various colors. The line is expensive in general - but these accessories won't cost a fortune (because you don't need a lot of them).

Motion activivated or other easy to use plumbing fixtures.

Remember that drainage and greenboard in a roll-in shower are critical if you don't want to wind up with a rotten floor. Our showers are actually recessed into our foundation - but you really can't do that when you remodel.

And hope the mods don't mind references to other websites. There's a place called Gardenweb that deals in part with things like kitchen and bathroom remodels. Very active place. I went there a short while back to get some opinions when my oven died and had to be replaced. At least in the kitchen section - these are by far the most obsessive people I have ever seen on a chat board in my whole life. The bath section is probably the same. You'll see 20+ message threads about whether tile X looks better than tile Y. No detail is too small to be discussed to death. Might not be the OP's cup of tea - but it might be fun to take a look and ask some questions.

There's also a free CAD (computer assisted design) program on the Better Homes and Gardens website called Design A Room (a little primitive but excellent considering the price). Although I think that doing a bathroom is a professional job - it is much easier to make and correct 10 mistakes on paper first than dealing with them after the contractor shows up to do the work. Robyn

[hunterd]

i didn`t read all the replies, so if i`m repeating, sorry.
i just had a complete handicap bathroom built and here`s what was done;
a rollin shower with two shower heads and seperate controls for each. the shower has a built in bench to sit on (my wife likes it for shaving her legs too).
a sink mounted to the wall which will accomodate my wheelchair under it.
ada toilet with safety bars on both sides.

my e mail address is in my profile, and i have pictures of the work that i`ll send you if you want. good luck.

dave

[Anomalie]

Throne

Grab bars...lots
and
Yeap...the ADA toilet...much higher (very easy on the 'sit-down'...and the 'giddy-up')

New toilet made a BIG difference...seat is also the longer
oval shaped one...very important

Next will be a walk-in shower (don't use tub anymore)

[Sir-Voor]

Personally I don’t like the ADA toilets, I find them to be too high for comfort.
So I recommend trying one out first, grab bars for the toilet may be what is right for you.


I’m planning on remodeling my shower this year and one feature I’m putting in is a bench.
I going to create a 3” ledge about 17” from the floor going around the shower and I will place a wooden bench going from wall to oppose wall on the ledges.
By just having it set on the ledge it can ether be fold-up or removed, if needed.
For doing something like giving my dog a shower.

Also you want two places for you, soap, shampoo, etc. one for when standing and anther for when setting.