Inquiry: Becoming Handicapped/Housing Modification

Laura42012
Laura42012 Posts: 180 Member
in Chit-Chat
Have you had to make modifications to your home for a family member that became unable to walk? I'm trying to figure out the best route to go for my mother in a multiple floor home that refuses assisted living. She's also refusing the possibility of living on the first floor and having a handicapped accessible bathroom built on that floor. She wants to remain using her bedroom that she always has used.

It's overwhelming and I thought I'd throw this out there and maybe someone has had experience with the same.

Replies

  • FP4HSharon
    FP4HSharon Posts: 664 Member
    Find a good contractor and have him come in for a consultation. They usually don't charge anything for it, so you could even have more than one come in to get different ideas. Sometimes having an outside person talking to your mother may make her more open to better solutions. We're looking at the possibility of having my MIL move in w/us. I told her that we could have a contractor come in & discuss how we could turn a section of the 1st floor into something more like a "suite" for her, w/her own bathroom. I know money is always a factor, but contractors are also good about saying..."well, if you want to save money we could do this instead..."
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    We just went through this for my parents. We ended up going with a PALS modular addition. It was less expensive, infinitely faster, and is really very nice. They specialize in handicap accessible modular homes/additions, and were wonderful to work with and really did a fine job of helping turn my parents' home into a place where they can live comfortably.
  • FP4HSharon
    FP4HSharon Posts: 664 Member
    Are the PALS modular additions the ones that can be removed when you no longer need them?
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    I don't think the PALS addition can be removed (at least not easily). It's on a foundation (or crawl space or full basement). But, they may have other models that are removable. We weren't looking for that option. The company was wonderful to work with though and they had suggestions and solutions based on their rather extensive experience specializing in making homes accessible. We will leave the addition in place when it's no longer possible for my parents to live at home. The addition added a large family room, a deck and a large bathroom. PALS did some other work to the interior of the home to make the existing structure accessible as well (widened doorways, removed some walls). A bathroom that is actually functional for a wheelchair confined person (along with an aide for assistance) actually takes a rather large footprint. That space was simply not available without adding onto the home. The addition is a value add to the home-handicap accessible or otherwise. But they may have removable structures. I really don't know.

Categories