Aging in Place
Making your Home Safe and Comfortable as you Age
Author: Becky Turgeon
As we age we think about where we are going to live and what that space will look like. We think about whether we will be able to continue to live in our home. Will moving to a condo be a better fit? So, what can you do to make your current home or a new condo home more comfortable as you age? What can you add to make your daily life activities more manageable? What safety features can you introduce? What can you do to make life just a little bit easier and more comfortable and what does your local plumbing, heating and electrical shop have to do with that?
Let’s look at some of the activities of daily life:
- Showering
- Bathing
- Using the toilet
- Enjoying Indoor time
- Enjoying outdoor time
So what can we do to make these areas of your daily life a little bit more comfortable. Let’s tackle the bathroom first.
Showering / Bathing
Have you considered converting your current tub shower to a walk in shower. Walk in showers can feature no step access, non slip flooring, and moulded, folding, or portable seats, as well as multiple spray options. We’ve got some great options from Hytec . The addition of safety grab bars can create an added sense of security. The grab bars are mounted to withstand a proper amount of force and provide much more support than simply bracing yourself against a wall or using one of those suction mounted grab bars.
Alternate configuration with fold down seat (Image 2)
Tiled Shower with fold down seat and grab bars. (Image 3)
This walk in shower install replaced a previous tub/shower combination. This particular install used a shower curtain. Glass door options are also available.
And what about faucet handles? There are lots of great options for handles in your shower or on your sink that will make turning them on/off easier. Check out some options from Riobel Pro and Moen
Lever style faucets make turning them on and off a little easier. No more twisting on a tap.
Toileting
Let’s face it, sitting down onto the toilet and getting up from the toilet absolutely gets more difficult as we age. Did you know there are toilets that are specifically designed to make them easier to use. The technical terminology is an ADA Toilet. ADA stands for Americans with Disability Act. ( I know, we’re in Canada but that’s the standard manufacturers typically use. The Accessible Canada Act or ACA, or Bill C-81 is the Canadian equivalent. As a Canadian contractor we follow B651-18 National Standard of Canada Accessible Design for the Buillt Environment.) Regardless of terminology the type of toilet we are talking about here has a minimum seat height of 17 inches (~43 cm) and a maximum of 19 inches (~48 cm). Standard height toilets are typically 14-15 inches in height. Elongated seats vs rounded seats can also be found to be more comfortable. Check out this link to an ADA toilet option from Contrac
Something that is also becoming more common in homes is a toilet with a bidet seat. We offer a number of choices. This link is for our Kohler options.
Enjoying Indoor Time
As we age we may find that we spend a little more time indoors, especially during winter. In order to make your indoor space more comfortable and safer consider some of the following options that we can assist you with.
Lighting
We’re an electrical shop. We can absolutely help you with lighting your home to not only increase comfort but also increase safety. Things to consider for safety might be night lighting, stairway lighting, or outdoor lighting. Things to consider for comfort might be the type of lighting you use. For example you might want to upgrade to LED pot lights, you might want to wire in better bedside lighting for reading, or maybe your garage needs better lighting because you have converted it to a hobby workshop.
Home Automation
Home automation can definitely add a lot of ease to your home as you age. Really we could have a whole blog on all the different types of comforts that home automation can bring to your home. Some options include:
- Ecobee Smart Thermostats, Smart Doorbells, and Security sensors
- Caseta Smart Dimmers and Switches
- RadioRA 3 by Lutron: Whole Home Lighting Control Systems
Heating / Cooling
As we age we spend more time in our homes. Let’s make your home air more comfortable. That might include looking at zoning your home. Want your bedroom cooler than or warmer than a secondary bedroom? Tired of cooling your whole home when really what you want is just a cooler kitchen for cooking in the summer and cooler bedrooms for sleeping in? You may want to consider a ductless cooling system. ( Daikin Multi Zone Ductless) Or maybe you want your energy bills to be lower. Ask us about high efficiency furnace and air conditioner options. Want better humidity, cleaner air, and an overall better heating and cooling system? We’re experts at that!
Our lineup of products to perfect your air includes:
Enjoying Outdoor Time
Lighting
Adding walkway lighting and accent lighting to your home can not only make it safer, it can make it more enjoyable. Need some new wiring for your backyard lighting or some new lighting options for walkways, entryways or alley garages, we’ve got a team of professional electricians who can get that done. Town & Country is also an authorized dealer for Gemstone Lights . This permanent, professionally installed lighting system will light up your home in ways you never thought possible. Lights are completely customizable using an app on your phone. You can change the colour and patterns in so many ways that you will always have your home lit up just right no matter the holiday or occasion. Christmas themes, sports themes, or simply elegant architectural themes, your home will be the prettiest on the block and you can change the lighting colour and theme from any where you have cell phone service or a connection to wifi.
Heating
Outdoor heating? Yeah it sounds sort of ridiculous but maybe you have a 3 season sunroom or a screened room or even a sheltered patio or deck that you would like to be able to enjoy for a little longer through the year. As we age we often have more time for things like sitting on our patios enjoying a good book or visiting with family or friends. We have natural gas as well as electrical options for heating these spaces. Check out Schwank . And of course we also have options for your garage, because getting into a cold car just isn’t that much fun in the winter no matter what your age is. We commonly use Reznor or Lennox units for garage heat. Heating your garage can also make it a lot more useful as an all season workshop or hobby area for whatever retirement project you have in mind.
