Photos of accessible bathrooms?

[D L and K's Mom]

We built our home 11 years ago and we were able to design our house around DS and his adaptive needs. Well in our downstairs bathroom we put a tab and shower with grab bars, a fold out seat and a handheld shower. This worked great for DS for a few years. He is now 18 and he is 6 feet tall. The shower head reaches his mid back . He splashes water out of the tub and pulls the curtain when he showers so water goes everywhere. The flooring (laminate and under flooring) in the bathroom is all rotted and the ceiling in the office downstairs has water damage. We are going to re-model this bathroom and have a $10,000-$15,000 budget. We do not need to worry about the toliet etc as he has diapers. All we need to remodel is the shower/tub and floor. Anyone have any photos of their bathroom. I really want the bathroom to look nice and not hospital like because this is the bathroom everyone uses (it is on the main floor). I would like to tile the shower and maybe put a drain in the floor so the water just goes down. http://www.easterseals.com/site/Pho...tail&PhotoID=529676&position=19&AlbumID=69234



DH wants to keep the tub.
Everyone is telling us to make sure we are not making a big change in case we sell the house (not for years and years) I am not sure about shower doors as DS likes to bang. I have a man coming out to look at the bathroom but I was wondering if anyone has photos? I would love to see what everyone has done. Help!!!!! Ds is able to walk short distances and he can stand in the shower not problem. He has pretty much grown out of the bathtub as he is soooo tall.

 

[Forevryoung]

How big is the bathroom?

While not specifically designed to be "accessible" my parents have a bathroom configuration that might suit your requirements- we have a tiled stall shower (with a small approximately 2.5 inch "step" to keep the water in) there is a built in bench seat in the stall and a hand held shower head on the opposite wall. The shower head arm is completely adjustable in height (on a pole) and is made by Grohe.

If you have another bathroom with a tub, I suggest putting in this type of stall shower, it's all I've used for years! As long as the house has a tub, I don't see it as a negative selling factor.

I would do a half wall to the ceiling instead of a door to keep as much water in as possible and tile the rest of the room.

I can take a picture of my bathroom if it would help.

 

[D L and K's Mom]

The bathroom on the first floor is pretty big about 8 foor by 12 foot. We made it big in case we ever needed room to push in a wheelchair. We have a bathroom in the basement...just a toliet and sink. The first floor is the bath we are talking about renovating. DH and I have a bathroom off our bedroom with a shower and shower doors. The two girls have a big bathroom upstairs also with a tub and shower. DS has a bedroom on the first floor and one upstairs. Our house has a strange layout....we designed it for DS in case he needs a wheelchair. The "office" is set up like a bedroom with a closet and big door etc. Right now we use it for an office/t.v. room but if DS eventually needs it for a bedroom he will have a bedroom and bathroom on the same floor.
I would love a photo!!! I have seen a beautiful one with a half wall made out with tile and one with clear glass block...I bet that would kill the budget!!! I would love a photo. I really want to do this nice as it is the main bathroom and I dont want it to look bad. I know we are doing it for DS but I would like it to be functional as well as look nice. I think we can do it for the $$ we have alloted......

 

[D L and K's Mom]

Just bumping this up.

 

[swimlib]

If I get a chance tonight, I will find the pictures of my parent's house. The bathroom they have for my sister has a roll in shower that just looks like a regular shower. I can tell you it is the favorite shower in the house for it's great size though!

 

[shovan]

I wish I had seen your post sooner. We finished a whole bathroom remodel a few months ago.

" I really want the bathroom to look nice and not hospital like " I don't know how many times I repeated those words to contractors!

Here's some pics of our bathroom. Unfortunately I have to tell you this remodel was super expensive! ( Our house is on a concrete slab, the slab had to be torn up & redone, very costlly). But hopefully this will give you some ideas!

We did a "wet room" with the toilet & shower in a totally tiled room. The bench is for me. I move DH onto a shower/toilet chair & then into the bathroom. We didn't install grab bars, as he doesn't have the arm strength to use them. But the were built, so they could be installed at a later date.

We had a custom shower door installed that swings in both directions which allows DH to push it open when he's in his power chair.

We also installed an accessible vanity. The vanity area is open to the bedroom, so I really wanted it to NOT look like an accessible vanity.

The counter is higher & the doors open and slide in. DH can now pull right up to the sink.

If you have any questions or want to see more pics, just let me know! Good luck on your remodel.

 

[D L and K's Mom]

I love, love , love it!!!! That is it!! That is how I want it to look. I want it to be "pretty". I love the swinging door idea. My DS likes to bang on the shower doors upstairs but I am thinking that may work!!! I love it. We do not need a new sink or vanity area as he does not use the sink alone and can stand and lean on the one we have. I just love it.

 

[shovan]

I love, love , love it!!!! That is it!! That is how I want it to look. I want it to be "pretty". I love the swinging door idea. My DS likes to bang on the shower doors upstairs but I am thinking that may work!!! I love it. We do not need a new sink or vanity area as he does not use the sink alone and can stand and lean on the one we have. I just love it.

Thanks! It took a lot of planning & haggling with contractors to get what we wanted. But it is so nice now. The biggest problem was finding someone to do large tiles on the floor. All the contractors wanted to put in the 1x1's or 2x2 tiles on a mesh. They insisted that the floor couldn't be sloped for drainage with the large tiles. We were lucky to finally find a contractor who was a tile guy & did his own tile installation.

 

[newtowdw1]

Good luck, and keep after the contractors. Getting a good bathroom is important. I finally have the bathroom of my disabled dreams. It is beautiful!

The shower stall is huge (4 feet wide and deep), fully tiled with 12" tiles, with a 2" lip to keep the water in. There are two overhead shower heads, and a hand-held. The overhead showers are separately controlled.

I have a 6' x 4' x 2 deep' whirlpool tub for muscle spasms with a 12" deck to make it easy to get in and out. The deck is at hip height so I can just rest and swing.

I have the taller toilet, and put the grab bars right into the floor to make it easy to get up and down.

Only on my worst days do I now need help in the bathroom. It is so liberating!

 

[D L and K's Mom]

We are on hold as the contracter needs to come out and look at the space.....pain in the.......Thank you all for the photos..NEW2WDW1 do you have any photos?? I love to look at them so that I can show exactly what we want and what we need!! Thanks.

 

[newtowdw1]

I haven't taken any, but will try tomorrow. I have to find my camera! I will do my best

 

[D L and K's Mom]

Thank you I apprecaite that!!! I understand trying to find the camera....ours is never where you put it.

 

[SueM in MN]

great pictures. We are thinking we need to do something with DD's bathroom, but we don't have the luxury of space.
our other house was so in-accessible and DD's wheelchair was so small that the space here looked huge. now that she's older and has a larger wheelchair, we wish we had more space. I'd love a room just for storing equipment!

 

[shovan]

great pictures. We are thinking we need to do something with DD's bathroom, but we don't have the luxury of space.
our other house was so in-accessible and DD's wheelchair was so small that the space here looked huge. now that she's older and has a larger wheelchair, we wish we had more space. I'd love a room just for storing equipment!

Sue, I hear you on that! We have a lift, a stander, a shower chair along with DH's power chair. Even though our bedroom is a pretty good size, & so's the bathroom (as you could see in the pics) I am constantly moving equipment around. I have another spare bedroom, but can't get any of the equipment through that doorway.

newtowdw1, Your bathroom sounds wonderful!!! How I wish we could have fit a whirlpool tub!

 

[MightyMom]

I wish I would have seen this post sooner. We are in the middle of remodeling our home to make it more accessible.

The main hall bathroom is being completely overhauled. We removed the tub and put in a HUGE shower. It is 5 ft X 5 ft. I wanted white tiles because I like a "clean" look..... but the bathroom will look anything but clinical.

I wanted a nice apple green color on the wall..... but the color I picked was all wrong and it looks Buzz Lightyear Green right now. Not pretty.

All the doors in our home are now 32inches. DS's room is huge! We've added a 12 X 8 "closet" to hold his equipment.

Our walkway up to our home was also redone. It was barely wide enough for his wheelchair. We expanded the width.... and there is a gradual incline up to the front our our house. There is no longer a step to get in as there was before.

I would love to share some photos with you after our work is done. Right now our home is upside down.

 

[pugdog]

Thanks! It took a lot of planning & haggling with contractors to get what we wanted. But it is so nice now. The biggest problem was finding someone to do large tiles on the floor. All the contractors wanted to put in the 1x1's or 2x2 tiles on a mesh. They insisted that the floor couldn't be sloped for drainage with the large tiles. We were lucky to finally find a contractor who was a tile guy & did his own tile installation.

Part of the prblem with the big tiles is that in most states it is against code. Most building codes say you can not use tiles bigger then 2x2 on the floor.

 

[shovan]

I wish I would have seen this post sooner. We are in the middle of remodeling our home to make it more accessible.

The main hall bathroom is being completely overhauled. We removed the tub and put in a HUGE shower. It is 5 ft X 5 ft. I wanted white tiles because I like a "clean" look..... but the bathroom will look anything but clinical.

I wanted a nice apple green color on the wall..... but the color I picked was all wrong and it looks Buzz Lightyear Green right now. Not pretty.

All the doors in our home are now 32inches. DS's room is huge! We've added a 12 X 8 "closet" to hold his equipment.

Our walkway up to our home was also redone. It was barely wide enough for his wheelchair. We expanded the width.... and there is a gradual incline up to the front our our house. There is no longer a step to get in as there was before.

I would love to share some photos with you after our work is done. Right now our home is upside down.

Sounds good! I love to see the pics! We also had concrete ramps put in on two entry doors & an Open Sesame door opener installed on one. 2 years ago we added a driveway in the front of the house that slopes to the front door. So now all entryways into our home are accessible for DH!

Part of the prblem with the big tiles is that in most states it is against code. Most building codes say you can not use tiles bigger then 2x2 on the floor.

It wasn't against code here, it was just more labor intensive & they didn't want to do it. In fact, the State Rehab. Engineer came out & took pics, she was thrilled with it. She just called DH a few weeks ago, to ask for permission to use the pictures at a major Conference on home rehab. she was attending.

 

[SueM in MN]

It wasn't against code here, it was just more labor intensive & they didn't want to do it.

It's not against code in Minnesota either as far as I know. Our master bath has 13 inch ceramic tile on the floor. (it's not a roll in shower room) I've also seen some parade of homes houses with that large of tiles on the floor.
I can see that it could take more work to make sure a floor in a roll in shower has the correct slope with that large of tiles.

 

[pugdog]

It's not against code in Minnesota either as far as I know. Our master bath has 13 inch ceramic tile on the floor. (it's not a roll in shower room) I've also seen some parade of homes houses with that large of tiles on the floor.
I can see that it could take more work to make sure a floor in a roll in shower has the correct slope with that large of tiles.

On the bathroom floor it's not but MN code says you have to use the 2x2 tiles. we have 12 inch on the main floor but we were told that code mandated that we had to use 2x2 in the shower itself. We also wanted 12 inch tiles in the shower but they would not do it. So either the code says that here in MN or they out right lied to us about it.

 

[pugdog]

It wasn't against code here, it was just more labor intensive & they didn't want to do it.

I wonder why they would say it was more labor, there are less tiles and grout for them to do. and having to cut the tiles so they don't rock is not that hard to do.