A Feb. 18 Real Estate article on making bathrooms accessible misquoted Takoma Park architect John P.S. Salmen on the subject of the minimum width of a doorway. The quotation should have read: "The width of the door also depends on how you go in. If you can go straight through the door, without having to make a turn, then I personally think you can get through a 30-inch clear-width door."
| Page 3 of 4 < > |
Adapting Your Home To Maximize Mobility
John Canning, whose multiple sclerosis was diagnosed in 1990, modified his master bathroom to accommodate his wheelchair.
(By Lois Raimondo -- The Washington Post)
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
The typical master bath in the United States, from the beginnings of suburbia in the late 1940s until the last decade or so of mansionization, has been about 5 feet by 7 or 8 feet.
The traditional powder room, which has only a sink and a toilet, is even smaller.
Still, "you can do it," said Takoma Park architect John P. S. Salmen, who wrote "The Do-Able Renewable Home" for AARP in 1991. "We have a whole bunch of ideas that can be done for low to no cost on how to stay in your house as you age, including modifying bathrooms." The book was updated in 2000.
Among the simplest ideas, Salmen said, is having the bathroom door open outward, instead of inward.
"The width of the door also depends on how you go in," Salmen said. "If you can go straight through the door, without having to make a turn, then I personally think you can get through a 30-inch door."
In some situations, a wheelchair user who can't make the full turn inside the bathroom to use the facilities but who can still maneuver out of the chair may also be willing to live with going in straight ahead and then backing out of the space, he said.
Even a small bathroom can have a roll-in shower, with no threshold or curb to block passage, if the floor is rebuilt to slant toward a drain, if the whole space is tiled and if the owner doesn't mind that a fold-up shower seat and the toilet might get wet, said Arlington architect Kim A. Beasley.
Beasley, head of Beasley Architectural Group and former national architecture director for the Paralyzed Veterans of America in Washington, co-wrote a guide to accessible design for the PVA in 1999. An updated version, expected in March, shows a very small bathroom that Beasley modified. The book also looks at a wider array of designs, including accessible outdoor rooms and second homes.
While the federal government's codes are meant to address the needs of all disabled Americans, "there aren't codes for private homes," said architect Thomas D. Davies Jr. of Annapolis, who co-authored the PVA's design guidebook.
"It's really hard to generalize what will work," Davies said. "If someone has an attendant, then the bathroom has to accommodate two people. If you have arthritis, you may need a certain type of arrangement. . . . If a shower has a window in it, you can't put a grab bar in some places."
"In terms of the size, it depends on who's going to use it," he added.
The differences affect not only the type of construction but also the price.
