Here's my list!

1. 5 foot x 5 foot turn around space in the bathroom! Go ahead and make a roll in shower while your at it.

2. 48 inch hallways and 36 inch doors all around the house. Invest in pocket doors if you can. Use lever style handles rather than round.

3. Kitchen cabinets can be modified with pull out shelves. We don't have them because Jim has an elevated wheelchair but it's an option. Also, have at least one cabinet that can be rolled under in case you need to use a wheelchair.

4. Zero access entry doors. Low grade lot. Avoids the need for a ramp.

5. Two exits on each side of the house. I know this sounds silly but our house had no back entrance/exit. We took out a window and put in french doors and added a deck with a ramp.

6. Non-skid tile. Absolute necessity! Wood floors, carpet can catch and cause you to fall. Also, easier to clean up if using a wheelchair.

7. Lower door handles and light switches. You may not need them now but may later. Always prepare for the future I say!

8. At least one bedroom, preferably the master should be larger than all other bedrooms to accommodate a wheelchair if needed.

9. If you can afford it, security doors with access codes and/or remote.

10. Grab bars in the shower and toilet area. And finally, go ahead and get that whirlpool tub. We have a hot tub called the Solo and it is wonderful! Great for loosening the muscles! Of course we keep the water temp low like a swimming pool.

I can take pics of my house for you if needed.

Sandy, I really appreciate your input. When you have time, please post pics!

BTW, I had no idea the doorways needed to be 48"!

Was also wondering about the bathroom, so appreciate that too.

I learned a lot. Thanks!!

I'll chime in on the *wide* doorways... make 'em even wider than ADA minimum (we went with 50 inches), as I hate grazing my *knuckles* lol!

that meant we had to have the doors custom-made, but it's worth it.

grab bars, at least four in the bathroom, (two in the shower, and two by the toilet.)

a pedestal sink, oh yeah! that works perfectly... you can roll right up to it.

a roll-in shower is nice, and I designed mine with a corner bench seat.

I posted some pix of my bathroom a while back:

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...athroom&page=3

from the bench, I can reach the shower handles, the detachable shower-head, AND the soap-dish, and shampoo rack.

and I put non-slip decal-stuff on the floor tiles for extra protection.

the front of my house has a wide entrance ramp... we used a ratio of 1:20, because we had lots of room, but the minimum is 1:12.

ours is concrete, and tiled (for beauty and easy-cleaning) and has sandpaper strips every eight inches.

The ADA mandates that the slope of any ramp must not be more than one inch of rise for every 12 inches of run. In other words, if you need to reach a platform that is 30 inches in height, you must build the ramp to be at least 30 feet long. Measure up from the ground to find how many inches the ramp must rise.

Wood can be very hazardous when wet or icy. Install sand grit strips to enhance traction. (Aluminum or concrete can be used instead wood to build a ramp.)

http://www.mobility-advisor.com/buil...hair-ramp.html

when I designed my wheelchair-friendly dream house, I opted for SMALL, and went with two large rooms.

I put the bed diagonally in the corner, which takes up a lot more room, BUT is a lot easier to make, and to get in and out of.

I put the window latches LOW, so I can close up the house myself when a storm comes... and the door handles are all the LEVER-type, so I can open them easily.

my next project is to put castors on the legs of my heavy furniture, so it can be moved for sweeping and floor-mopping.

LOL - most my furniture is on wheels. It makes it so much easier when cleaning.

I agree Kay, small house with large rooms/large spaces.

Definitely go wide. Angling doors helps as well. It will eliminate sharp turns.

In my old place I had a U shaped kitchen, which had plenty of room for a wheelchair/scooter to move around in. However, I hated it as my balance was so horrible that the space was not functional at all. I now have a galley kitchen and love it. For me it works well as I can turn holding one countertop and then grab on to the countertop on the other side.

Twinks, I will take pics tomorrow and post them. The hallways should be 48 inches and doors 36 inches. But Kay is right about the knuckle scratches. The pocket doors are a great investment to add space that otherwise would be empty. A wheelchair can get through those really good. Doors come in the standard 36" but larger would be better. We decided on the standard for cost.

In th bathroom Jim has a counter that is tiled, no cabinets under it at all. He rolls right up to the sink. We installed a cabinet on the wall for keeping things in. Oh and when you tile the bathroom? Go ahead and install tile baseboard instead of wood. You wouldn't believe how much nicer that looks and avoids mold and knicks.

And if you must install a ramp, go with sanded gravel cement or Trex to build. The wood ones do get slippery here at my house.

Thanks, Sandy. I cut and pasted my house plans half the day.

You change one thing, and it leads to a dozen other adjustments.

I thought I was getting close to getting it figured out, but still working on the bathrooms, so thanks for you timely input.

I read somewhere that you should porcelain tile instead of ceramic? Something to do with the density, but I don't remember exactly why. Tile mouldings sound good -- wouldn't have thought of that.

Considering putting a cement ramp in the garage. My Dad is in pretty good shape now, but even he admits he's slowing down. He turns 95 in August and will move in the new house with us. The HC access. bathroom will be next to the master bedroom, but I'll share if necessary. Hope we never need these accommodations, but you never know.



Looking forward to seeing your pics. Thanks so much!

I have porcelain in the bathroom. From what I hear they are tougher and withstand more wear. I think I also heard something about moisture being less able to penetrate in porcelain? Not to mention they are more slip resistant than ceramic tile.

Here is what I found: ceramic versus porcelain tile

Kay, after looking at your pics, I'll bet you have the nicest house in all of Belize! Thanks so much for the tips. I am saving all the links to refer back to. Am even considering doing a bidet like yours.

Let me know if you think of anything else.

hi twinkie,

I was reading this last night for the first time and was reading the various ideas so I decided to play it on my cad.

I took SandyC's advice and have two exits on every side and the dimension if about 35' front(width) and 50' side (length)

that's not including the garage and the protruding front bedroom

there is a 3 quater wrap around porch and I've enclosed the porch from the master's br but can put a screen door there for the guests that way you can have the privacy when you want and have guests when you want

The layout can be turned side ways if the lot is wide vs. long because of the French doors.

both bathrooms have 5' diameter (that is international building code standard) for handicapped bathrooms

and the kitchen, dining, and living room is open space layout which you can add some arch ways or something

anyways, it was just something that I was playing with. If you want exact dimensions, please let me know and I can upload it.

I won't have a lot of time this coming week cause of my work(I design stuff. LOL) but anyways, just thought you might wanted to have some visual to play with.

The hotub is located outside the master br porch. The laundry room is huge but gives an exit toward the piano shaped patio and for extra storage and animal space

the hallway is 48" like SandyC suggested as well as the doors are all 36" but I can increase it to 50" or more like Cayokay suggested.

well, I hope you didn't mind me drawing this out. I just was having some fun with the suggestions...

below is the link:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...-Modelcopy.jpg

If you want to look at it closely. Just right click over the image with your mouse and goto "save picture as"

and save it to your file so you can view it by making it bigger to see all the notations.

I have this on CAD file so if you somehow like this plan and want to, I can send it to you and you can take it to a local engineer or architect and have them do the elevations.

anyways, good luck with everything and if you need any help, please let me know. If I have the spare time, I'd be happy to help with the design.

*I do want to mention that if anyone would like to download it, that they have the permission from me to download it and use it however they'd like. I took the ideas from the inputs here anyways and had a lot of fun playing with it. Maybe I will play with it some more. So I forfeit the copy right of this particular plan as stated in this post. Besides, I am sure there are a lot of better designers out there than me anyways. LOL