Accessibility in the house

Last year we bought a new house to live in.  After decades of renting we had saved enough to put a rather substantial down payment on a condo.  When we looked at the place I went through the place and while not perfect, it was good enough and is very close to work.  With the way prices of houses are increasing in Ottawa we are glad we were able to buy before being priced out of the market.

Projects

After moving in we identified a number of projects that will aid my wife getting around as she has limited mobility due to a stroke.

• Bathroom
• The tub is about 56 cm (22 inches) with the railing for the glass doors adding another 5 cm (2 inches).  My wife cannot get in or out without help and the various options are just a band-aid solution.
• Tiles are not non-slip.
• Under sized fan.
• Dim lighting.
• Front entry
• No railing and when entering and exiting she needs someone to assist.
• Back entry
• This is an old concrete stair with two steps and barely in code.
• Kitchen
• Redo the kitchen faucet to one more friendly for a person who has problems using one arm.
• Later a complete paint with a much lighter colour.
• Ground floor half-bath
• Redo the half-bath.  It is functional, but, the tiling and vanity does need replacement and a small cabinet above the toilet so we can store extra towels, toilet paper and soap.
• Other
• Installation of railings for the stairs to the basement family room.
• New entry tile.  Right now it does get a bit slippery when wet and being white it shows all dirt quickly.
• New paint for all rooms.  The paint is OK, but, very dark and we prefer having lighter colours.

Bathroom Renovation - Project 1

We started with the bathroom renovation, but, it is on hold at this time due to the latest COVID lock-down.

• Replace all of the floor with a new tile. The tile is specifically for wet areas and is non-slip.  That is a good thing as I have fallen once and slipped several times when the current tiles get wet.
• Completely remove the bath, glass doors and false drop on the ceiling.  We are using the same tiles on the floor here and doing a walk in shower and a custom glass door.  The walls are being replaced with a new lighter coloured ceramic tile.  Ceiling will have an LED light as there is nothing there right now and the shower does get dark.  The walls will have blocking put in for two grab bars and a shower seat that can be raised and lowered.
• New LED lights to replace the inexpensive lights there.  The lights are functional, but, is a major pain to replace the bulbs.
• New fan. The current one is old and a 50 CFM model and the contractor indicated that it should be a minimum of 100 CFM.
• Lighter paint.  Current paint is a dark, rather ugly yellowish.  New paint is a light sandy colour with an eggshell finish.  I asked the contractor about the finish and he indicated that eggshell will hide any flaws in the current drywall.
• Redo the ceiling.  The bathroom has a popcorn finish and I am certain that it isn't a paint suited to a damp environment.
• New vanity and faucet.  We are going with faucets where the hot & cold water taps are paddles so that someone with limited arm use can easily use.  Also the current vanity you have to take out all of the drawers if you have to work on the water or drain lines.  The new vanity all plumbing is easily accessible.
• Replace the light switch with three switches.  One for vanity light, one for shower light and the third for the fan.
• New toilets.  The current ones are functional, but, for my wife they are not comfortable and it takes an effort getting up and down.  The half-bath toilet is also being replaced at the same time.

We are looking forward to the lock-down being lifted and getting a start date for the project.

Update on tiles 2021-04-23:

Found out from the contractor we need mosaic as there will be a slope and the 6x24 tiles won't work there as they have to be a max of 2x2.  Not a problem and I ordered some nice tiles after chatting with Home Depot.  They recommended one that the colours will complement the floor tiles and are also non-slip.  

Front entry Rails - Project 2

Once that is completed I will be doing the paper work for the condo board for railing installation on the front entry area.  

Back yard entrance - Project 3

The back yard entry will be a major project.  I was checking online for a ramp system, but, with a 1/12 slope most of the yard we have would be occupied by the ramp system.  If we go with where the top of the steps are (35 cm high) we are looking at 4.2 meters for a straight run and that won't fit in the yard.  If we put in one 90 it will be about 3 meters out and 3 meters after the 90 degree turn which will take up a huge portion of the back yard.  If we raise that up to just under the door threshold it will add at least 1.5 meters to the run.  It looks like some sort of custom mini-deck out the door with steps and railings.

Finish

The timing on this depends on how the first three projects goes and how much they cost in total.  The cost for the first is firm and includes the contractor, trades, materials I purchased and taxes.  The last two are rough estimates at this time.

• The bathroom renovation has a budget of $20k.
• Front railing at most is $1k.
• Back entry should be in the $5-6k range.