Age in Place by Remodeling Your Home

According to AARP, seniors overwhelmingly want to stay in their homes as long as possible.  With innovations in home design, it’s possible for more and more seniors to achieve this dream.

Remodelers trained as Certified Aging-in-Place Specialists (CAPS) can help homeowners adapt their homes for easier accessibility and improved functionality. CAPS remodelers learn about aging-in-place home design and how to help customers create a more comfortable home.

Don’t have the money to hire a CAPS remodeler? There are accessibility and functionality improvements your handy-person or loved one can inexpensively do for you, such as:

-Installing grab bars to minimize falling
-Adding comfort-height toilets
-Constructing raised-bed planters for easier gardening
-Improving lighting in order to see better
-Removing loose carpeting or electrical cords stretched across the floor to prevent falls
-Replacing traditional faucet handles and doorknobs with levers that can be opened or turned with a wrist or elbow. Seniors with mobility limitations or arthritis can use these more easily.
-Moving your washer and dryer to the main floor. The cost for this depends on the need for plumbing changes.
-There are other universal design features for which you’ll have to save because they can get quite expensive. These include:
-Upgrading to a no-step shower that a wheelchair can roll into
-Widening doorways to allow for scooters or wheelchairs
-Creating no-step access from a patio to a home’s interior
-Installing a chair lift to allow access to multiple levels of your home

If you’d like to purchase a home that is equipped for you or your loved ones to age in place, I can help. Give me a call today.

Links:
Certified Aging-in-Place Specialists
http://www.nahb.org/reference_list.aspx?sectionID=1391

Aging-in-place home design
http://www.nahb.org/generic.aspx?sectionID=717&genericContentID=46799

Universal design
http://www.universaldesign.org/faqs_universaldesign.htm