Elderly parents may need to abandon the stairs. We have a good sized downstairs utility and boiler room so removing some storage and installing a sink and shower shouldn't be too hard. I am wary of getting specialists in who will mark everything up x2 at least and thinking of specifying the requirements and hardware (enclosure, taps etc) and supervising trades myself.
Where would i look to see what is available for any kind of special sanitary equipment for the elderly, and where I could get it at a decent trade price?
We have a local supplier of aids for the elderly and infirm, and if you fill in the correct form you also save on VAT (or did about 5 years ago).
We went for a wet room with a moulded shower tray which was part of the floor - basically a dished piece of flooring with a drain at the lowest point. The whole room was then "tanked" with a waterproof flooring which also went up the walls.
What we didn't do (and should have) was put a fall on the rest of the floor so any water falling outside the shower tray would run into it.
It very much depends on your local area, but with luck you will find a specialist shop which sells all manner of things including special toilets and grab rails as well as shower fittings.
Remember to make the door wide enough for a wheelchair.
We aren't infirm (well not much so far) but when we revamped the back of the house with included a disabled friendly wet room so we could live on the ground floor only if we wanted.
There is room for a stair lift but at the moment we have a standard bathroom upstairs and a wet room downstairs.
Stair lifts are O.K. but I wouldn't want to have to wait for one if I was desperate for a wee!
Also, if you are wheelchair bound you would presumably have to transfer on and off the stair lift at the bottom and top plus a transfer on and off the toilet which could be more of a toil than just transferring on and off the toilet downstairs.
You would probably have to convert the upstairs to a wet room as well at some point.
IMHO it is more flexible to have a wet room downstairs and a stair lift as well if you want access to the upper floor.
Are there any religious objections to a wetroom ? If not, that's probably the easiest (and most future-proof) solution. Especially as thanks to modern shoebox housing, they are a non-aids-and-adaptations area of DIY/ Building.
Starting to look into fitting one for SWMBO ...
AFAICS the key element will be the tray/floor. I know there are cut'n'seal options (if you've ever seen a hospital shower room). But given my luck with anything liquid, I'd prefer a complete moulding.
That was my other motivation for thinking of getting a pre-made tray. It can handle the fall internally, as long as it's installed level (if that makes sense).
Yes I did as well. By far the best solution. better for washing the dogs as well.
Yes I took advice from a so-called expert and didn't do that. I really regret it now.
Get onto the council and see what they will give for free. Even if you have more than £10 in the bank they will give you handrails, a fold-up seat, etc.
Yes.
The electrical regs say that everything in the wetroom has to be on the same circuit, even the lights.
Sounds about right for the Land Fit For Heroes. If you had a black face things could be different. There are far too many white British people in this country. But slowly and surely this is being changed.
a wetroom : - as recommended by many. I just baulk at the idea of removing the boiler (which stands on the floor in the corner), excavating the floor, digging through to sewerage outside, relaying CH pipes (don't they have to be accessible?), rewiring someone said, retiling the whole room... Blimey, I thought I would just stick in a low profile shower tray. TW
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