We are remodeling our guest bathroom, and would like to make it as senior-friendly as possible. The questions we've been considering are:
1. In our shower (no bath tub), how many grab bars should we place, and what are the best positions for them? It seems like sometimes they are placed diagonally, and others vertical or horizontal.
2. What height is optimal for a toilet? A countertop?
3. Is it worth installing a built-in shower seat, or are the freestanding ones good enough if needed?
Thanks in advance for any wisdom you can share!
Two separate shower mixers in a curbless shower. One 3' high and the other adujustable higher. Bench or chair.
Wall hung toliet - make to ADA height (this makes it very easy to clean under it, or place a commode .
GFI near toliet -Toliet seat washlet (bidet sort of)
Floating vanity cabinets. Foot, walker and wheelchair clearence underneath.
36" wide or wider entrance to area.
Sinks should have single lever misers that can be pushed with hand, instead of grabbing (for arthritis or shakes)
Space for tall closable trash bin for diaper disposal.
Open shelving storage for easy to reach needed items.
Including the shower - should be slider or curtain. NO swing out doors.
Drawers are ok on a floating cabinet. The only swing out doors I have in my master are under the sink - where I store the cleaner stuff. Everything else is made accessable without moving out of the way to open something.
To determine the position, height and type of grab rails/bars, walk it through pretending you are your various seniors. Where does your hand naturally want to be? When you're showering, and perhaps having to balance, what will you hold tight to? Will you be able to install a drop-down shower chair? For all of these items, you also need to be sure that the walls/floors they will be fixed to are of strong enough construction. The freestanding ones do come in very sturdy design; their other advantage is that they can easily be positioned to suit a person's needs - one-sided weakness after a stroke, for example, or having to keep one leg out of the water, or needing a caregiver to wield the shower head. When looking online, try to match the choice to the person's build and bottom and do not be tempted by false economies. A forgiving surface to the seat is important too: arthritic or recently repaired hips make hard plastic extremely uncomfortable to sit on.
"Comfort height" toilets are ideal UNLESS you have a preponderance of tiny frail ladies. Dangling feet do not make such a lady feel very secure, nor are they any joke if one is constipated. You can get those steps that toddlers use when they're brushing their teeth, though, which would solve that problem.
Anticipating dementia: taps should look like taps (faucets, I mean). Not dolphins, nor brutalist stainless steel bars, nor "look no hands" magic props. And it should be easy to see which is Hot and which Cold.
Handbasins should be large enough, and have ample shelf space for: soap, 2 x flannels, nail brush, razor, shaving brush, plastic mug for rinsing after dental care.
Ideally, there should be space under the basin for the person to be able to sit comfortably using a perching stool.
The floor should be non slip.
The lighting should be really good.
There must be ample towel hanging space.
What range of seniors are you catering for, if you don't mind my asking? Any significant existing mobility or health issues?
The person who will likely use the bathroom is my dad, who is 92 and living on his own right now, but starting to get around more slowly lately. He was the person who gave me the idea of doing a senior-friendly remodel, since he complains regularly about the height of our current toilet (it's too short--dad is 5'10"). I think we will install 16 1/2" (I think this is "comfort height"), but he would probably prefer an inch higher even than that. Nevertheless, my husband's sisters are also getting older, and they are much shorter than dad, so your description of the dangling feet issue is very pertinent.
Thanks also for suggesting "walking it through". Seems so obvious in retrospect, but I hadn't thought of that!
Our toilet is inside a small cubbyhole in the bathroom, which allows for grab bars on both sides of toilet. The vertical grab bars are positioned on to the front of toilet, to the side. I can use the grab bars to transfer off my chair onto the toilet, and vice versa. Horizontal bars would not work. I need to be able to pull myself forward to transfer either way. When I am in my prosthetics, I grab the bars as a aid in sitting or standing.
Horizontal bars would not work for me. Horizontal bars work for balancing, not for help sitting or standing. Perhaps diagonal bars are a compromise between vertical and horizontal. For me, they are the worst choice, as they don't work well either way.
We installed a bidet on top of the original seat. This works really well. I'm vey pleased with using a bidet.
My husband had to take the door off the bathroom so I could get the chair through. We need a wider door frame.
Our shower is a long tiled rectangle with the shower head at the back. It has a step over lip at the front "entrance." The shower handle is at the side halfway between the front and back, on the wall. Love being able to reach the shower handle without being under the shower head. We put a chair in the entrance with a movable seat. I transfer to the chair, move the seat into the shower, then use the faucet which is nicely within reach. I use a hand-held shower head with a long hose. We have a small built-in shelf for soap, etc. This works, but I would prefer a no-lip shower so I could transfer to a seat inside the shower. If I had water-resistant prosthetics, I would have grab bars on both sides of the shower, minimally. I like vertical bars, as mentioned above. I am a bit mystified by grab bars behind a seat, either a shower seat or a toilet seat. Perhaps useful in certain configurations when sitting down, but useless when standing.
Our sinks are too high. They are placed inside a cabinet with doors, which is ok, though I would like to be able to get my chair under the sink. Shelves with no doors that get in the way would be much better. Also, shelves accessible from either my chair or standing in my prosthetics would be better.
I like the previous suggestion of "no doors." Doors are difficult for me, at best. I do like door frames, though. They give me a place to grab when I need a rest or when I need extra help with a turn from my chair.
Hope this helps.
I dont believe the grab bar for the shower has a requirement on the angle. Ive always done them at an angle. It feels more natural to grab. The important part is that it is screwed into the studs. Usually there is one on the back wall. Id also make sure things like toilet paper holder and towel holder are into studs. They usuallly just put them in drywall and they will rip right out.
The heights for toilet seats are pretty standardized. I think they have 2, maybe 3 sizes.. the taller is usually preffered since its easier to get up. Usually another grab bar is put in the wall next to the toilet.. another thing thats over looked alot is ADA compliant doors. Wheelchair accessable. If the doorway isnt at least 32, might as well do it now.
I dont know much about the shower seats.. if you have a little space, id have the tile guy build a permant seat in a corner.
A few other things.. when my dad was in facilities, i noticed they had something wrapped around any plumbimg from the walls, i wasnt sure if it was so they didnt hit their head on it, or if its tamper-resisitance. Take a little time to look at some light switches. They have tons now-a-days, built in night-light, motion activated, some have phone chargers in them.. and outlets by the toilet are getting really popular... Check out "slow close" hinges for cahinets and the toilet seat, so you wont hear slammig doors in the middle of the night
when we rebuilt a home, had our MB done to be as “aging in place friendly” as possible without going full on ADA compliant. The big takeaways for us was lots of etched grab bars, widening door frames, 86’ing all the doors we sensibly could and having the floor slightly “raked stage” with a drain at the low point. Have not yet needed to use the floor drain for us but excellent to have for doggie showers.
- An emergency light in case power goes out. ( happened at my mom's and bathroom with no window, became total blackout enen during day time ! Some residents who were in their bathroom got injured trying to find way out, easily desoriented ..)
- Little strap to keep shower curtain open and attached to the wall when not in use , so thay are not tempted to hold on to it as it will not and they may fall into bathtub.
- No sharp edges on vanity
- No free standing pedestal sink, may not be solid enough to hold on too in case of a fall.
- No busy motifs if wallpaper
- Contrast between appliances and wall, ( hard to see contour of all white toilet on all white wall and all white floor.
Toilet height is going to depend on how tall someone is, instead of opting for a higher toilet may people just use an extension or place a commode over the toilet with portable arms. Grab bars there can be a problem if walls are not withing easy reach, there are nifty systems available that attach on either side of the toilet and can fold up against the wall or very nice looking grab bars the can double as towel bars, don't make the mistake of placing a regular towel bar anywhere that it might be used as a grab bar since they are not sturdy enough. And of course finding studs is always a problem if you are not planning on opening the walls. One thing that was invaluable for me once I was assisting mom was something for her to grab directly in front of the toilet, I purchased a Superpole with a swing arm because there was no wall available.
Make sure your door is wide enough for a walker or wheelchair. Think of anti slip flooring. I opted for a normal pedestal sink as being multifunctional, a wall hung sink would have been better but also much more expensive.