The Aging-Friendly Bathroom

As I work more and more with Baby Boomers, I find that a lot of people are interested in features which will make it easier to stay in their own homes as they age.  Whether currently suffering from decreased mobility or wanting to be prepared in case they find themselves wheelchair-bound in the future, my retired or about-to-retire clients are often asking for handicap accessible bathrooms, particularly showers that can be used by someone with limited mobility. 

The photograph above shows a shower that I designed for a couple who were experiencing health problems, which they expected to worsen over time.  The picture shows that an easy-to-use shower can be beautiful as well as functional.  This type of shower, with no threshold and a tiled floor surface that runs continuously from the bathroom into the shower, is the gold standard when it comes to wheelchair-accessibility.  The shower floors are sloped to  the linear drain running down the center of the shower.  In this case, the shower is long enough to contain most of the water inside without the use of a shower curtain.  Smaller showers will generally use a curtain to keep water from splashing onto the floor outside the shower.

In this case, the shower was designed to be used by someone sitting on the built-in bench (visible in the middle of the photo).  The hand-held showerhead is on a bar so that it can be adjusted up or down to suit the needs of the user, and shower controls are located within easy reach of the bench.  This shower also contains a rain head showerhead on the ceiling for the benefit of standing users.  

A light within the shower is a good idea, particularly for seniors, who need more light to see than younger people.

Although relatively easy to build into a new bathroom, this type of shower is trickier to build when remodeling an existing bathroom, since the existing floor joists need to be cut or replaced in order to create a recess for the shower.  In remodeled bathrooms, a prefabricated fiberglass handicap accessible shower is an alternative which can be added without changing the existing floor structure, although these generally have a small (approximately 1") lip to keep water in the shower, which makes it a little more difficult to get into and out of the shower.  

If a homeowner wants to be prepared for the possibility of future grab bars but does not want to install them now, blocking can be added behind the shower wall, making it easier to install bars later without damaging the walls.

The floor plan above shows a bedroom addition that I designed recently which considers every aspect of the the spaces to make them more wheelchair-friendly.  The shower can be used either from a wheelchair or a stool.  The large interior dimensions of the shower stall make it big enough to roll a wheelchair into, but the user could also transfer from their wheelchair onto a stool placed inside of the shower, keeping the wheelchair dry.  The shower controls are located so that they can be accessed outside of the shower, making it possible for  the user to turn the shower on without getting wet while waiting for the water to heat up.

Other accessibility features shown in the plan include grab bars at the side and back of the toilet, a 5' diameter clear space within the bathroom and the closet for ease of turning in a wheelchair, a sink and counter with space underneath for a sitting person to pull up under them and the location of switches and outlets so that they can be reached by someone in a wheelchair.  In addition there is an exterior door and ramp directly from the bedroom to the front yard.

The interior elevation above shows the following wheelchair-friendly features:  leg room under the sink, a "comfort height" toilet with grab bars, a mirror and electrical outlet located just above the backsplash and a linen closet with lower-level drawers.