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Making a home handicapped Friendly
               
Very few homes are handicapped friendly, even those homes
advertised as ADA compliant. In many cases, small
modifications can make a tremendous difference. Corpier Consulting
Services has been involved in the modifications of several homes to better
service their tenants. In many cases significant improvements can be made
for very little money. In some cases, just reversing a door or lowering
cabinets can let a person live independently by removing numerous small
obstacles. We can provide assistance from making recommendation any
handyman can do to complete plans for a custom designed home to meet any
physical disability.
An example of an adapted home
Through a series of unfortunate events, the first client to use
R.A.L.P.H. (and the gentleman it was designed for) Don Holbert, has been forced
to move from his home of nearly 30 years and find a new home to live in.
He could not afford, nor wait to have a new custom built home created, so he
purchased an existing home and a group of volunteers, including Corpier
Consulting Services and the Sedalia Missouri Police Department set to work
adapting it for his needs. This was a complete makeover of the home,
including adding a new bathroom, moving several doors and reversing the swing of
several more, putting in a patio door directly to his bedroom, modifying
cabinets in kitchen plus rearranging the layout of appliances and cabinets,
building a custom counter in dining room, creating a voice controlled shower and
other fixtures, and moving R.A.L.P.H. to his new home. We are including a
photo album to allow you to see for yourself what can be done to any home to
make it more tenant friendly for people with orthopedic or geriatric
disabilities.
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Martin Mahnken of Corpier Consulting installing Ralph in his new home |
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The doorbell intercom has been installed in place of original doorbell |
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With this system in place, Don answers his door by answering his phone! He can then let the person at the door in by simply pressing a button on his phone to unlock the door. |
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looking through living room into rear bedrooms that will used by guests and Don's children and grandchildren |
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This utility closet will become Ralph's new home, yes he still lives in a closet |
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This is the Ralph system laid out on the floor just before he is installed in the new house |
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Another view of Ralph's components |
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Several volunteers are beginning the removal of walls to expand the bedroom and prepare for new entrance for Don |
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More work on new bedroom area, made from an existing carport |
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The wall is about ready to remove to make for larger bedroom for Don. |
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Some of the volunteers taking a well deserved break. |
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After the wall is removed, plumbers are using a jackhammer to make way for new plumbing |
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The new walls are up and the door is installed |
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insulating and sheeting the new addition |
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Don was taking pictures, not sure what he was aiming at! |
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beginning to set up for lunch, several local stores and restaurants donated food for the volunteers. |
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obviously the food was appreciated |
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filling in the ditch where new sewer pipe was recently added |
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Getting ready to install a mail slot to replace mailbox, mail slots are great for people that can't reach up into a mailbox |
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cutting a hole for a porch light, good lighting is important at entrances |
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Sliding patio doors work great for wheelchair and scooter access, they don't take up swinging space into room, operators are also less expensive |
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a custom designed bathroom is being installed, including roll in shower, voice controlled fixtures, specially raised toilet & easy scooter access |
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here the rough plumbing for the voice operated shower is being installed, Don just tells Ralph to start shower and the water start running! |
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All cabinets in kitchen were modified to make them lower for Don |
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Work is progressing on bathroom area |
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although still a mess, here is picture of lowered upper cabinets in kitchen, Don can now access most kitchen cabinet shelves without help |
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Wahser and dryer are repositioned in utility room so Don can roll up in front of them and load and unload them easily |
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Don in his almost completed kitchen, he can't wait to get to use it! |
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another view of lowered cabinets, both upper and lower cabinets were modified for Don |
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instead of purchasing an expensive "handicapped" toilet, a conventional one was mounted on a platform at just the right height for Don-no booster seat |
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A custom built counter lowered to 28" is built in original dining room, counter is better than table, no legs to get around and better traffic flow |
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counter was built cantilevered from wall so no legs and full floor space available |
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bedroom closet is finally built, designed with lowered clothes rods and lots of low shelves for Don |
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another view of closet, notice how low rod is located, and door swings back out of Don's way |
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Upper part of closet is basically useless to Don, so seasonal items will be stored there and someone will come and help him change seasons |
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looking from bedroom through dining room into living room, notice unobstructed wide path through house, a needed with wheelchairs and such |
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The counter finally gets tile for easy maintenance and cleanup. |
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To find out more about our adaptive services, please fill out the form below
and click submit. If you are in immediate need of assistance, please call us at
(866) 315-6967. One of our consultants will be happy to work with you and provide
information on removing small obstacles (or larger ones) to independent living.
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