Marjie,

I like your attention to this topic. Two recent posts!
You have captured an important point. No question we are getting older, but what are we gonna do about it? Planning for Aging in Place is definitely the best way to keep control of your life. Waiting and denial are not smart options.

A simple quick fix for the not so mobile, easy embarking and especially disembarking from a bath.
Instead of unsightly handles, pipes etc purchase a decent looking efficient hemisphere as used by glaziers for placing and or removing glass sheets/windows etc from their frames.
Apply the hemisphere in a convenient position and you have a safe removable handle to grab onto and assist in pulling yourself out of the bath,or use as a foot rest in your shower cubicle.
Finally it is not too cumbersome to take on your away trips.Small enough to pack and strong enough to provide the support you require

1. LEVER DOORKNOBS, NOT ROUND ONES.
2. LEVER HANDLES ON FAUCETS.
3. TALLER SINKS TO ELIMIMATE BENDING.
4. NON SLIP VINYL FLOORING.
5. MAKE EXTRA LIGHTING STANDARD "CODE".
6. IN NORTHEN AREAS, BUILD ALL FRONT STEPS UNDER
ROOFED COVER.
7. BATHROOM GRAB BARS STANDARD.
8. USE "SUNTUBES" IN ROOFS TO ELIMINATE POORLY
LIGHTED HALLWAYS AND STAIRS.
MOST OF THESE FEATURES COULD AND SHOULD BE
STANDARD.

Marjie;
I'm a builder (injured and now a seller), but I took the Charter class of Accessible Home Modification, put on by a consortium of schools in conjunction with NC's Universal Design. We did it on line with University of So. California. I got my Executive Certificate and not one job since. People talk, but no one does anything. Just like building homes, they want the last 40 houses you did, or no sale. (Not that they ever check ANY of them out.)

I suspect the boomers will rant and rave when they need accessibility and it's not around. You're right, though - it's the whole home, including landscaping, remote monitoring, and caregiver training. Oh well......

I had taller commodes put in my new house. It makes life much more pleasant for me.
Also attractive grab bars which I may need some time.

HGTV should have a program about designing for the Baby Boomer generation. I am 63 years young and a retired school teacher. I realize that eventually the design of my home will present challenges to me. Shows on converting existing homes to be user friendly for the aged or designing with certain disabilities in mind would be helpful to seniors. Most of the shows today concentrate on the young.

I would be so grateful if you could send or direct me to information on how to build a curbless shower. I am in the process of building a master bath for a client and have no knowledge of how this is done.

Thanks!

DS

Thank you for addressing this area. I am aging with Rheumatoid Arthritis. My husband and I built our new home to accomodate our future as well as our present needs. Small things like raising the height of cabinets, fully extendable drawers in the kitchen, higher commodes, and under cabinet toe boards that will accommodate wheel chairs if needed, are ways we can insure that we will Age in Place. I live near Birmingham, AL. Is there any company near me that is planning on building an Active Community for Seniors?

My wife and I are both 59. We live in a boxy 2 story (1935 Historical Registry) with lots of stairs and dust. We have it on the market and are designing our last place, hopefully. We have moved every 2-3 years for ages. Our new design has 36" door throughout with few doors except for a guest bedroom and bathroom. We are going with decorative concrete floors with tile base along the walls. We are designing cabinets to reduce dust collection points. Our goal is not just easy access, but easy clean up as well. The space is 2039 sq ft and we have over 60 recess lights throughout with lots of switches to provided many combination. The kitchen island is 4x12 with just a sink that separates it from the living/dining areas. Older people need lots of level workspace and floor space. The 3 rooms take up 1000 sq ft of the overall house. Everything is simplistic yet eloquent though use of color combination and lighting. White is not a color option.

We have been having this discussion, our first priority is our bathroom. While it is large by most standards the layout would not permit a walker and definitely not a wheel chair.

I have been thinking about handicap access since I was 60. The only housing builders are creating in metro Atlanta is in ranch condos with 4 units to a building. I want a front door AND a back door with a small yard, preferably with a privacy fence on the sides and back of the yard.

I measure the doorways and hallways and size of the garage where ever we go looking at condos. No over the range microwave either, it should be on the counter. Old hands get shaky.

I really enjoyed this article, I plan to have a one level home with a basement that is accessable by a walkdown ramp with rails on both sides instead of stairs so all I would need to do is open a door and the down I go by walking or wheelchair.

Their will be a wheelchair space between the washer and dryer and a double table that looks like two stairs so if I'm in a wheelchair I will have a folding table and I'm standing I will have a folding table.
I know, I know how would I get myself back up from the basement if the ramp is in a downward position? well, their will be a motor at the bottom so when I need to come back up ( wheelchair) I would push a button and the ramp will level the ramp so that it's easy to just rool myself right out.

Thanks for allowing me to comment I watch HGTV each and every evening until bedtime and I always read the information that you guys provide very helpful.

Annie Cole
Florham Park, NJ

Hello I am a CAPS builder, yes we should have a show about this. I built a home with these concept in place for our Parade of homes in Traverse City, Michigan. It was surprising how easy at the new construction phase it is to integrate these concepts. Go to our web site for a virtual tour of the Liveable lifestyles home. Louis Tenenbaum who commented earlier helped to create a program, the Certified Aging in Place Specialist CAPS) for builders like me to become proficient in this area. Our home is a hybrid with it also being earth concious and energy star rated. I hope this trend catches like a brush fire. take care Sally

Some of the newer homes I've seen recently place the microwave in the center island cabinet space. Better than above the oven which gets too high as we get older and hands less steady. Would work great for wheelchair access too.

planning on retiring in 2 years and have no clue or plan im 46 right now .would like ideas on how to prepare

Not only do boomer's want their homes built for the later years, they want in a community with a center to gather for activities. Here in Indiana, most builders don't want the expense of building community centers and then wonder why it takes so long to close out their community. The Villages in Florida is one of the biggest success stories in the country. Builders need to wake up and smell the roses and get a faster return on their money.

We just built a new home to accommodate our daughter who is in a wheelchair. It is built with an open concept which makes all areas accessible. The 36" wide doors, lever handles, a roll-in shower with a built in bench, a bathtub with a door, pocket doors where needed for easy opening from the chair, laminate flooring, ramps instead of stairs, and a room for a caregiver if the need arises are just some of the amenities that make our home so appealing to our daughter, as well as our older guests. People should think for their futures. We looked for years for somewhere to buy which we could adapt for our needs. Homes with the handicapped and aging population in mind are just not on the market. I had to draw my own plan because plans are not available either.

HELLO HGTV!!! ARE YOU LISTENING! Apparently you have a ready made audience for several series! People want this info and apparently are very hungry for it. If you took the ideas from the several people here, you would have a win-win situation for everyone concerned. This is an untapped market. Go for it!

I would love to see a show on HGTV that shows us plans for the future. Our current home is not user friendly. I am in my early 50's and my husband in his late 50's and it is time to start looking for that last house. The homes have to be energy efficient. I love HGTV, but would like to see more shows geared to the more mature audience (the boomers).

We are beginning the process of converting 2-1/2 baths into 1 easily accessible bath with walk in shower and low tub (I thinking of the walk in bathtub).
Recently remodeled our kitchen. Since I am short already and think about what if's I didn't add upper cupboards.
Our sun room is a one-step down so will be good for a wheelchair accessible if the time comes.
I've been thinking about getting old for a long time. Want to make sure that everything is "just right" for my husband and I to get old and still be able to take care of each other.

How about a more extensive list of factors/features to consider in construction of a house for he aging? Thnx.

Thank you for this attention to what's in store for "Boomers". I currently live in Georgia on a nice little street with 50 homes mostly occupied by young families. I have noticed that as these young families sell and move on retired or near retirement age folks are buying their homes. I live on the cul de sac at the end of the street and have often thought how nice it would be for a developer to do a small subdivision like this with attractive age appropriate homes with a gathering place at the end of the culdesac where maybe a property manager and a maintenance person would be located. How do you go about finding a developer to do this sort of thing?
Thank you
Martie

After two back surgeries and a broken shoulder, I find bending down and reaching up to be very unbearable and stools for sitting or standing very precarious at best. For those of us in this situation, cupboards that are deep and to the floor or ceiling are useless. We need cupboards at mid range from shoulder to knees that are deep enough to store most allfoods and dishes. Even in bathrooms we need this, as you'd think we'd need less space in bath with no children around, think again, we have more meds, rubs, linaments and wraps that we need to have handy, we need more mid waist storage with pull out shelves for easy reaching, too. And another thing, why do we have to have stairs to basements, why not ramps as a norm, easier on knees and eyesight, less to break bones on if we do fall!

I am a 71 year old man and I live in a one story house and I do all off my repairs. Becouse of the lack of money I do everything around the house. Homedepot is my best friend. My bigggest concern about getting older is being taken advantage of. It can make your life terrifying when take your life saving and there is nothing you can do about it, so you have to live the best way you can on what you have left. But life goes on and I enjoy my life the best I can and at this age I know what it is like to live younger but I love my life now.

How refreshing to see some discussion of like minded people. I'm a real estate broker who took the classes through the Washington State, Builders Association and received my CAPS designation. My intent was personal as well as professional in my desire to assist clients to stay in their homes as long as possible. My problem, most of area builders would prefer to build "New" instead of modifications or remodeling.

We currently are building a house, even though we only turned 50 this is the house we plan to live in until the end, also we have aging parents, so all the doorways are 36" with lever handles, the whole house is a single floor with hardwood floors, barrier free showers in all baths. The floor plan is open that the kitchen, dining and great room (30' x 45') have no interior walls, also the second bedroom is off the great room with double french doors (easy to get a hospital bed in). Hopefully we covered all the structural aspects with only minimum adjustments as they arise.

Hi everyone! I wanted to respond to all of you who've commented and to HGTV: I am very young still, but my husband is now disabled and requires walkers and wheelchairs. We built a home that was accessable. It was perfect for him, but our children also navigate easily, and being pregnant is so much nicer in an open and accomodating home! It's a lot easier to keep clean, too! Three years later we had to relocate to a cold climate and have been remodeling an existing home. It's a lot of work; but worth it.

My advice to all; RENT A WHEELCHAIR! Seriosly! Try to manuever through your current residence in the chair and with a pen and notepad. At each obstacle you encounter, write it down! Your list will be a lot longer than you think!

Here are a few quick pointers: Smooth flooring, Chair height commodes, Higher toe-kicks on cabinets, graduated front walkways that blend with the yard and don't look like ramps, remotes on ceiling fans, lever knobs, dishwasher drawers in chair heights, same for microwaves, "zero" or "low-boy" thresholds on exterior doors, wide doorways throughout -even guestrooms so you can make the bed!- roll-in showers and my personal favorite... A WARM COLOR SCHEME! If you were limited in mobility and had to stay in for a few days, let your home feel pleasant and refreshing! Your home will feel cold and sterile like a hospital if you don't remeber to accomodate the senses as well as your mobility! Good luck!

By the way, by LAW -every builder has to provide handicapped upgrades if requested!- remember to ask!

I `ve read all the comments ...I am a mother with 2 kids at home, disabled in a small house. I can`t use the wheelchair in the house and still care for kids hubby and home. Wheechair accesible isn`t really....disabled people have differing degrees of disability and many who have disabilities cannot afford the cost of what you offer. A window placed to low, people with balance problems can fall thru ....kitchens present another problem with coordination ...strength....its a nightmare when you have to make do....the biggest issue to my disability....is affordability.

I definately think there should be shows on how to change your home and maybe a listing of folks that can accomodate older people and be reliable and not take advantage of folks.

FROM MARJIE: There is a listing of just that kind of contractor. Go to http://www.nahb.org/directory.aspx?sectionID=667&directoryID=186 and search for a CAPS in your area. CAPS remodelers have had special training for dealing with accessibility issues, and they're also true professionals.

how about no halls at all? have all bedrooms open with wider doors into the main living areas. it saves floor space that would better serve as added square footage for the rooms, but can be tricky for the designer.
in addition to the wheel in (curbless) showers in the bathrooms have generous built in seats and shower massages on a hose, and a wide space beside the toilet to accomodate a walker or wheelchair. until it is used for that it can double as space for a hamper, etagier, (or book rack....haha).
i love the look of the old fashioned decorated transomes above all interior doors. but they can also be incorporated into a contemporary or asian style. they're great for ventilation since hot air rises and they have a bonus in being able to hear someone calling for help from another room.

I would very much be interested in a program centered around the needs of the physically challenges. I am 58 and I also have a daughter who is a quad. It amazes me how unaccessible housing is when just a few adjustments would make life easier for all. Go for it.

There is an age 55 and up development located in the foothills of the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota in a town called Rapid City. Fountain Springs Townhome Community offers every feature listed in this article and more. It is situated adjacent to a nursing home and next door to a golf course. If the need should arise you can get nearly all the services the nursing home can provide without leaving your own home. Varied floor plans with or with basements are availble at suprisingly affordable prices. Check us out at our web site: fountainspringsrealestate.com or call 605484-8960

Currently I live in an apartment complex with a number of the units designated as handicapped accessable. They have cut out tub sides and some bathtubs have rollin floor levels but are really too small to help a person. No room to manuver or turn around to wash. Floors are linoleum and carpet and would be difficult to manage. My dream house would have a roll in bath with multiple level shower heads, power showers, taller toilets, and a lowlevel cabinet. Poured rubber floors are a new product for a new home and are colorful as well.Lots of floor to ceiling windows helps relieve the caged in feeling. NO OVERHEAD CABINETS! Smaller ovens mounted waist high would be great. I'm not cooking for a herd anymore! A kitchen pantry with rotating shelves would be so nice and closets with lower hanging rods would be neat. It's fairly humiliating to go from working one year and the next find yourself in a position of helplessness.

Thank you so much for opening a subject so need it! My husband is 54 and I'm 45 but we are raising 2 little ones ages 4 and 1. my parents are in their mid/late 70s and due to a very difficult situation, they are moving with us. We are trying to update our home thinking about any future possibility. We are in the process of converting a half bath into a full bath for them. We're adding a curbless shower. It is challenging, I start thinking about safety and places in our home prone to cause accidents! Hope to see some HGTV shows develop for the mature adults! Thanks!

As a clinical Exercise Specialist I work primarily with older adults in their home regaining independence through exercises that enhance mobility, balance and strength in order to maintain their independent living skills. Often the home is a major risk factor for falling and the home is what limits everyday living. In addition to the home, look at the path leading to the home and garage, garden, these are often a nursing home waiting to happen. Stay strong and vital, but live to see it in your home as well.

I wish this had been posted a year earlier. I read all comments. Our new home is being completed for us and my brother-in -law who is in a wheel chair. We tried to think of everything. But some of the features we did not include because he would not be doing things in the kitchen etc. However, in reading the articles, I realize that we may need them in the future.

My husband has recently retired and I am considering
doing the same in the near future. However, since we, like many parents, intend to leave our home to our children, I am going to need to improve my home, not for my husband or myself, but for our daughter's future needs. Neither of us have any illusions that we may not need these improvements but we are sure that our daughter will. She was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis this year. She has already had to deal with temporary loss of both her eyes and her legs. Since she is just 20 years young, unless there is a cure soon, she will most likely have further problems during her lifetime and we would like to be prepared for that possible eventuality.

I am a Grad student in gerontology program in Louisiana. In the last 2 months I have become fascinated with the concepts of barrier-free /universal design/ smart homes. This is now my main focus and hope to assist hundreds/thousands age in place. It's not for everyone; some will not be able to age in place.
Not sure how to get started since I am not a contractor (although handy), but figure I will find some contractors/subs that I can advise. I think that contractors will need someone to advise them on many special senior issues. Many adaptive remedies are not as intuitive at grab bars, counter heights, and tall toilets. Color contrast is important (so the sofa does not blend into the flooring causing a fall), lighting, etc. Certain designs in carpet cause a senior to take longer to walk across, can cause aggitation, and/or confuse depth perception. Alzheimer's/dementia presents more complicated issues. Not sure what is covered in the CAPS program; that did pique my interest. Matt mwestrade@yahoo.com

I know this will sound strange, but I want to thank the baby boomer population for putting the spotlight on accessible design. The ADA has definitely helped too in requiring availability of products, but b/c of the aging population accessible design isn't as foreign a concept and has made a wider variety of products available. I am 27, and suffered a spinal cord injury 2 1/2 years ago. We've been making do with just a couple of modifications in our mid-80's mobile home, but we're currently building an accessible home. Some features we've included:

1. 36" doors throughout.
2. Light switches lower and outlets higher so that they're in easier reach.
3. Thermostat also mounted lower.
4. Hardwood/ceramic tile floors - NO carpet.
5. Pocket doors where needed.
6. Front door will have 2 peep-holes (one at standard height, one at chair height).
7. ***Exterior door in master bedroom!! This is not often thought of, but as my firefighter husband can tell you, this can be a lifesaver! In case of fire during the night, I may not be able to get to the front or back doors, so this will provide emergency egress, since I can't just climb out a window like an able-bodied person!
8. Roll-under sinks in kitchen and master bath.
9. Raised toilet in master bath.
10. Roll-in shower.
11. Multiple shower heads in shower: one fixed at husband's standing height, one fixed at chair height, one hand-held on sliding bar.
12. Grab bars as needed.
13. Roll under cooktop.
14, Wall mount oven set at chair height; we found the ONE model on the market that has a side swing (microwave style) door, so that I don't have to open a hot door into my lap and lean over it. We will also have a pull out table built into the cabinetry right below to provide a place to put hot dishes when they come out.
15. Dishwasher mounted in a raised position to avoid excessive bending.
16. Lower bottom cabinets, longer top cabinets; cabinetry will have taller toe-kicks and pull-out shelves.
17. In laundry room, washer and dryer will sit facing each other to make clothing transfer easier; also have a front-load washer.

Our builder was instructed to pour a level slab instead of having one step up into the house, but somehow that didn't get passed along to the construction manager and so we got a "standard" slab. Sadly, we didn't discover this until it was too late to be corrected. But we will be using pavers to raise the level of the front & back porches and adding very shallow ramps.

Sorry for the long post, but I hope all of this will help those of you embarking on your own accessible design adventures!

we are a non-profit building an alternative to institutional care. we asked about shows in the future to help us with ideas but can probably offer more to hgtv as we get on with our projects. since we have little money we do alot of recycling and have come up with some great ideas. we hope to start sharing these in the near future as video clips. we will be offering services for seniors and disabled singles mostly and care will be for independent through hospice. my hope is that once we complete our first training village, other developers will follow suit and create small lifecare villages through out the world. good care begins at home and our village stresses home life. p.s. a good way to learn about needs is to spend time in a wheelchair (2 months) and no cheating.

I am 61, live in the Brooklyn Heights Area of NYC and plan to retire next year. I have looked all through the country and have decided to move to the Atlanta, GA area.

If someone is looking for the type of home and community for active adults, look at the www.delwebb.com site. The builder is Pulte Homes and they, in conjuction with Del Webb, are building 55+ communities with great amenities all over the country. These are also separate ranch homes with a small backyard.

Good luck!!

I would love to see programs geared for the 55+ for a change. I think it is time that the program executives realize that we are a large force to be reconged with.

I AM 73 YRS AND MY KITCHEN CABINETS ARE WAY TO HIGH. DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH CABINETS. I DO NOT COOK ANYMORE BECAUSE ITS TO HARD FOR ME TO REACH THINGS. MY HUSBAND IS 75 YEARS AND GETS TRIED OF EATING OUT. I THINK I JUST NEED TO GET NEW CABINETS. CAN YOU HELP ME ON WHAT AND HOW TO DO THIS. THANK YOU I DO NEED HELP.

ADA compliant, CAPS, Universal Design, Green, LEED - all these approaches benefit persons with permanent situations (handicapped, seniors, larger persons, allergy prone) as well as temporary situations (injured [think immobile, in casts, bed restricted], ill, pregnant and women with infants/toddlers). Each of us will probably move in and out of the need for this type of construction...why not adopt as standard and build it in from day 1!!! I can't believe the great response to this article...is this a movement yet?

When Sis became disabled, a friend knocked out her regular bathtub, and tiled the entire area (walls included) with a slightly sloping floor to the floor drain (where the bathtub drained), and voila!, she had a roll-in shower, complete with luxurious "rain" showerhead, and also a hand-held fixture. A good shower curtain catches all the splash. With an extra bench, this is an extremely comfortable and easy shower for all to use.

950470

My husband and I will be building our retirement home in 5 years, and we've been very interested in making sure we have a design that will enable us to stay in our home as long as possible. Thanks for the CAPS referral. We will definitely make sure we look into finding an architect and builder who will help us design a home to meet our future needs.

Thanks so much! I have been looking for this info for a long time. Please keep it going.

Dear Marjie,
WOW! a Whole week!
I'm very happy to see you approach this issue since so many my age think "oh no/never" me (or mine). I've read all the posts and got even more helpful ideas making any home more user-friendly. I still think these and more questions need to be addressed on the issue, and in many more places.

I am 56 with M.S. and though we purchased our
"flat" home 15 years ago with an eye to my decreasing abilities, the low threshold is unsafe in the power chair I now find myself in and my ability to roll down that same height keeps me from access to the garage from inside
the house ie. the laundry-room. The tilting power chair since taller and wider than a regular chair isn't able to give me bedroom access because of halls with turns that my chair cannot make. Even a countertop microwave is too high to safely get more than a cup in and out of. Forget both upper and lower cabinets without pull-to-reach access.

Having bought two different timeshares 20+ years ago when I was ambulatory, we were delighted when we heard of handicap accessable rooms! Unfortunately, while one now has the roll in shower, the front door did not have straight-in access and threw the chair side-ways, the drawers have knobs not pulls, the table is too low for me to eat at other than 2' away because of the chair's power control, (I can eat side-saddle though), and the bathroom sink is too short from the front to the wall for me to roll under to brush my teeth. The other place only widened the doors and put pulls on some of the drawers and lowered the light switches. The tub was about 8" taller than all the shower chairs available! Good news about the second location, as more of the "handi-capabile" speak out, kitchen/great room counters are low enough for us to reach from our chairs, have an even lower counter "outer counter" wheelchairs can slide under, dining tables without the "skirt" found under the outside rim of the table, and vertical corner table legs ithout "stylishly rounded corner-pieces", open low cupboards for sink and range access (range with top/front controls), and low e-z access microwave and ovens with pull-out shelves to set items on close to the lower+higher combo prep area, open-outward doors to patio area.

So much more thought really is needed since we do not always retain upper-body strength to use a "regular" wheelchair, and most of us cannot have round-the-clock help let alone respite care.

Please don't let the dialogue stop because the number of "I can do it all" types are not always going to be "able".
Thanks for the opportunity to hopefully reach even more already enlightened folks.

Judy

Why do you only promote CAPS? There are lots of us out here who have spent a lot of money getting a professional designation to go along with our years of experience. At least be fair and recognize all of the schools who prepare builders for this un-met need. University of So. California, University of NC @ Raliegh, University of NY @ Buffalo, University of Kansas. They all teach Social Workers, Builders, Real Estate Brokers how to met the needs and do it with the highest professional standards.
Wolf

Dear Marjie,

Thank you so much for touching on this timely subject. I covered this issue a little while back for American Public Media-financed Gather.com, and wanted to leave you and your readers a link to it, if you're interested:

The Bottom Line on Real Estate Trends: What do baby boomers want?

I've thoroughly enjoyed the comments here. Great insights!