Making a bathroom safe and handicap wheelchair accessible is an important first step when beginning an accessible home modification. Recently, Accessible Design & Construction redesigned a very small bathroom to make it a completely handicap wheelchair accessible bathroom. The client for this project was a 73-year old male stroke victim and above-the-knee amputee who uses a wheelchair. This project posed numerous challenges. The doorway was too narrow to allow a wheelchair through, it had a very small stand-up style shower making it unusable, the sink vanity would not accommodate a wheelchair, the toilet was too low and there was not enough room to turn the wheelchair around to exit the bathroom. If a bathroom is small to begin with, a little creative redesign can make it not only more accessible, but safer and more practical for everybody. For this job we used some of the existing plumbing instead of starting from scratch. This saved some time and money which allowed us to add other elements.
Our starting point was the doorway. Because the toilet was so close to the doorway, it didn’t offer the space needed to widen it enough for the wheelchair to pass through. We removed the sink and reversed the plumbing for use with the toilet. By moving the toilet to this new position, it provided the space to create a bigger doorway opening. We then replaced the doorway and adjacent wall with a pocket door making one large doorway opening. In fact, the entire wall became a sliding door which made the bathroom larger, almost like an extension of the bedroom. After – with a raised toilet and stand-up shower to accommodate a wheelchair user We added a “toilevator” below the toilet which raised it 3.5 inches and made it level with the wheelchair for easy sideways transfers. It also made it easier for people not in a wheelchair to get on and off the toilet. Although moving the toilet created much more room to move in and out of the bathroom, it eliminated a sidewall to attach a grab bar.
For this situation, we used a fold-down grab bar which was attached to the wall behind the toilet. It’s important to note that all grab bars require reinforced backing for support. Because we had already removed the shower, the wall was exposed down to the bare studs making the process easier and more cost efficient. When in the horizontal position, the fold-down grab bar offered support for use with the toilet AND for use with the shower serving a dual purpose. It could also be moved to the “up” position allowing more space to roll in and out of the shower. The next challenge was to replace the unusable shower. Because of the small space, we opted for a roll-in two-wall shower. The new shower is made of fiberglass and the entire unit has reinforced backing behind both walls. This is a great feature because it allows grab bars to be added at a later time to any position on either wall because the necessary reinforcement is already in place. Fiberglass showers do not have any grout which inhibits mold and makes them much easier to clean.
Blue trim was used in the tile to match the color of the bathroom. The two-wall shower uses weighted shower curtains and a collapsible water retainer along the threshold of the floor to keep water in the shower and the bathroom floors dry. When the wheelchair rolls over the water retainer, it collapses down and then pops back up into place. Collapsible water retainers and weighted shower curtains are being used today because of their functionality and ease of installation. Pocket door makes a large opening and creates a wall when closed To complete the shower installation, grab bars were added, along with a hand-held shower hose and an anti-scald device. The hand-held shower hose is easy to reach from the roll-in wheelchair and offers a 5-position shower spray. Next, we replaced the previous vanity sink with a wall hung sink for better use with a wheelchair and moved it next to the shower. Wall hung sinks are a great replacement for vanities or even pedestal sinks because they allow the user to roll up and under the sink and get closer to the basin.
The new sink also replaced the older knobs with a Gooseneck Faucet and Winged Handles. This is a great alternative to the knobs because the handles could be pushed or pulled instead of turning, making them easier to use. The handles can be operated with the palm of the hand and the goose neck spout added a higher clearance than the previous spout for cleaning urine bottles. An adjustable tilting mirror rounded out the sink area. This allows the person to use the mirror from a seated position and tilts back upright when needed by a person standing. The bathroom floor was replaced with new tile and push switches for the lights replaced the old flip switches for added convenience. Links to Products Discussed in This Article Contact us for more information about this bathroom modification and how to make your own bathroom handicap and wheelchair accessible. Call our office Toll-Free at (866) 902-9800BYU engineers create inexpensive 'do-it-yourself wheelchair'
PROVO — As the parents of two toddlers diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, Justin and Esther Jensen have spent their fair share of time discussing wheelchairs. “I mean, there are chairs out there,” Esther Jensen said doubtfully. “They’re just really big and heavy.” “And expensive,” her husband added. Tanner, 3, and Skyler, 20 months, suffer from a degenerative condition that makes it nearly impossible to walk or even crawl, necessitating near-total wheelchair reliance. Though operating a manual wheelchair is incredibly demanding physically for the Jensen children, neither their car nor their split-level home can accommodate a 300-pound motorized chair. This incompatibility voids their insurance coverage, leaving the Jensen family with a potential bill of up to $10,000 per chair. “Power chairs haven’t even been a possibility,” Esther Jensen said. But after Brigham Young University’s annual engineering Capstone project presentations on Thursday, that may have changed.
A team of five fifth-year engineering students presented the Jensen family with what they believe is both the world’s lightest and least-expensive motorized wheelchair. The result of a year’s worth of research and development, the chair represents the culmination of a five-year engineering degree for the students who worked on it, all of whom will graduate this spring. As stated by faculty coach Mark Colton, Team 33’s vision was “a lightweight, super-affordable, do-it-yourself wheelchair that anyone can put together.” The final product, designed to hold children up to 50 pounds, is built from PVC pipe and controlled by joystick. Using parts available online and in hardware stores, the engineering students produced a chair that can be replicated for less than $500. Students have struggled with the project since September, Colton said, overcoming many technical hurdles before Thursday's unveiling. "This is one of those great projects because it’s a combination of fun, interesting technical challenges, but one that also has a clear benefit to society," Colton said.