10 Tips for a Wheelchair Accessible Home

Tips for Making Your Home Wheelchair Accessible

When preparing a home for a wheelchair, it’s easy to assume that it will be a huge ordeal and that it will cost a lot of money. Fortunately, that doesn’t have to be the case. Pick up 10 great accessibility renovation tips for preparing your home for a wheelchair by reading on below.

1. Go Cordless

Invest in a cordless telephone, and buy extra handsets for it. Place them around the house so that you don’t have to scramble when the phone rings.

2. Lower Your Closet Shelves and Rods

Swap out your clothing rods for adjustable ones that can be easily reached when seated in a wheelchair, or lower yours to a maximum height of 54 inches.

3. Make Doors Easy-Access

Replace doorknobs inside the home with levers. They are much easier to use–especially when you have your hands full or are otherwise unable to easily grip a knob.

4. Make Exterior Areas Smoother

Replace gravel walkways and driveways with paving stones or concrete. Needless to say, the wheels on a wheelchair don’t respond well to being rolled over gravel. Pieces of gravel can get stuck in the wheel and may even cause accidents.

5. Make a Way for Wheels

Rearrange the furniture in your home to ensure that there is enough room to maneuver your wheelchair around. Make sure that there’s a path that is at least 32 inches wide throughout the home. Ideally, there should be a turn radius of five feet as well.

6. Ditch the Rug

Get rid of area rugs if at all possible, as they tend to snag on wheelchair wheels and can cause mishaps. If you absolutely must have them, use low-pile rugs with non-slip backings, and avoid rugs with tassels.

7. Raise Your Table to Meet You

It can be difficult or impossible to eat at a dinner table in a wheelchair. A quick, reliable fix is to securely attach wooden blocks to the ends of table legs to give them additional height.

8. Ramp Up Your Home’s Accessibility

Add ramps to the home. Do-it-yourself instructions for entryway ramps are readily available online. You should also use mini ramps of metal or wood for thresholds around the home that are too high for your wheelchair to easily roll over.

9. Make Transitions from The Wheelchair Easy

Have lifts installed on chairs and beds, if necessary, to more easily move over to them from a wheelchair.

10. Increase Safety in Accident-Prone Areas

Make a handicap accessible bathroom by first installing grab bars around the room. They should be easily reached from the toilet and around the bathtub or shower. An even better option is to invest in a walk in shower, which is otherwise known as a no-barrier shower. Zero-entry bathtubs are available as well and can make a massive difference for people who use wheelchairs.

Preparing your home for a wheelchair may seem like a lot of work, but it’s pretty manageable when you take a methodical approach to the situation. It also helps to know where to turn for supplies and assistance. In Sacramento, the Bay Area and Reno, NV, USA Bath is the name to trust. We can help you design a handicap accessible bathroom that includes a walk in shower and other features. Learn more by visiting our website at www.usabath.com.