New bathroom for lady with mobility problems

sasparillo

Hi,

Suggestions please for essential bathroom items for a previously active 86 year old lady now using a walking frame.

OK. Our list at the moment is:

1. Non slip low level or flat shower tray
2. Non slip flooring
3. shower chair fixed to the wall
4. grab bars
5. fixed shower screens with a gap for her to enter the shower
6. facility to hold soap, shower gel, face cloths, shampoo and conditioner
7. tiling or moisture proof plaster boards (if plaster boarded, is it worth having insulated plaster board? Another builder has suggested mesh reinforcement and replacing the floorboards with plywood while another has suggested 6 mm cement board - is this necessary?).
8. Water proof tanking in shower?
9. Installation of RCBO electrical protection? She has a relatively new fuse box with switches so is this needed?
10. Possibly extractor fan but we're ok with opening the window
11. Either a pump with the cylinder in the airing cupboard or attached to the individual shower (we are thinking of eventually having an ordinary bathroom renovation in an ensuite bathroom so we're wondering whether to have separate pumps attached to the individual showers).
12. A handheld shower and possibly a rinsing head which will be easy to use and slides up and down.
13. Sink with vanity unit for storage (sorely needed!), one mixer tap and cupboard above with mirror
14. Shaver point.
15. Low voltage LED lighting
16. We were thinking of having a towel rail but it's not a particularly warm house and looking at another thread, it seems this will decrease the heating?
17. Removal of old bathroom suite and associated rubbish.
18. Replastering where necessary and fully grout walls.
19. Possibly raised toilet but we have equipment from the STS/Reablement Care Services.

The bathroom is in a 1970s' house and there are floorboards underneath the current lino so attention will have to be paid where necessary to the floorboards and joists.

Her recovery from a fractured femur after one-off accident, after she had already recovered well from the the operation and anaesthetic, was scuppered by post operative actions of hospital ward staff.

I mention this because after five months of worry and catching the winter bug, she does seem to have - metaphorically - turned the corner and is walking fairly confidently with a frame and, as she walked without a stick before and was on no medication, it is difficult to know how much she will improve.

She is under a GP and finally has weekly sessions with a physiotherapy assistant who is pleased with her progress and feels she has a lot of strength. However, she has never been given an out patients' appointment to monitor her progress and check the rod and plate and growth of the bone.

We've had estimates from just under £4,000 to just under £12,000. At the moment we are self-funding, so veering towards the lower end and we are waiting for input from the occupational therapist etc.

Is there anything more anyone can suggest as regards essential elements? Obviously we are looking at all the estimates and extracting what we think we may need and, at all times, safety and water proofing are a priority.

Thanks for your help!

goodwithsaving

If relying on the window to air the room, make sure she can reach it.

What about a towel rail?

I would veer towards tiling. The old lady who had my house had boards put up and as a buyer, it was really off-putting because I now can't 'easily' swap a bath back in without redoing the whole bathroom.

In my previous bathroom, I had a pump attached to the shower (isolation switch in airing cupboard). Here I have an electric shower without one which is useless in comparison.

You seem to have thought of everything. Just make sure soap trays etc are reachable and there is somewhere to put shampoo in reaching distance that maybe isn't on the floor

Doozergirl

I think you should be considering a proper wet room and not just a low level shower tray. First of all, you can have a proper non-slip floor in a wet room and, given a wide enough doorway into the bathroom for chair access and transfer it will allow for a non-mobile person to use a wheeled shower chair.

I wouldn't personally attach a shower seat to the wall. They are small and not particularly easy to use. My mum had one and she was never able to use it safely. There is a huge variety of choice for shower chairs that are portable and sturdy. Done nicely and designed properly, it doesn't need to look like an adapted room. I'd still want it to add the right amount of value to the house. It would be disappointing to do it on the cheap and then look like it needed doing again.

Comfort height toilets are easily available and don't cost any more than regular ones.

It would be difficult for a wheelchair user to use a sink that has storage under. No impossible, but something wall hung with space under is ideal. If there is room for separate storage, consider it. Just consider future manoeuvring.

Whatever you hang in the shower area, be it grab rails or caddies for products, choose solid stainless steel, not chrome plated as that is more likely to rust. It means buying slightly more expensive products.

An extractor fan is important - I wouldn't be removing things like that when it's a basic requirement of a modern room. Again, she might be taking longer than she used to and adding complications like leaning over to open windows etc may not be practical.

I would put in a full radiator, space allowing as people with less mobility take longer to do things and heat is more important than just warm towels. A grab rail can be placed over the radiator and double as a towel rail anyway. You don't want people tempted to be grabbing actual heated towel rails as support.

I think that just under £4,000 is low for any properly done bathroom, let alone one with extra elements.

Think carefully about doorways and potential wheelchair transfer.

Owain_Moneysaver

outward opening or sliding door, so if someone falls behind the door they don't block access for rescuers.

Anti-scald thermostatic mixing valve for both shower and sink.

Tabbytabitha

Seating near the shower as well as in it so that she can sit down to dry herself outside the shower.

wolfehouse

Any work done specifically relating to adaptations for disability should be vat free. Research how to ask for this. Anything general such as tiling, lighting etc does not qualify.

Clairabella

Underfloor heating?

sasparillo

wolfehouse wrote: »

Any work done specifically relating to adaptations for disability should be vat free. Research how to ask for this. Anything general such as tiling, lighting etc does not qualify.

Hi,


Ah, I did think the whole refurbishment would be VAT free but it doesn’t seem so from what you say. None of the mobility specialists have mentioned this. I believe there is a special form to fill in?