As we get older life provides us with daily challenges. These challenges make everyday living just a little more difficult with each passing year. As we age and find ourselves spending more of our retired lives in our home, shouldn’t we have homes that compliment these needs?

A Home to Retire in

When custom homes, the place we will retire and enjoy, why are we not thinking more about planning ahead? This isn’t meant to be a time to dwell on getting older, but more of a thought towards making your future life more comfortable. The simplest things in planning and drafting will completely alter your freedom in later times. Future comfort as well as the feeling of openness can be easily provided in your home with wilder hallways. We hear about the term “Barrier Free” all
the time in retirement communities and we are going to talk about what that means. Considering the possibility of mobility issues, 36 inch wide doorways are a necessity for smooth wheelchair access. This again is related to wider hallways to both accommodate movement and allow for proper finish surrounds around all of your doors. With the use of a stair lift or in home elevator, two story homes are still an option, but are not ideal. A well planned out bungalow would be the best home plan to provide easy access throughout your home. Let’s be honest, wheelchairs and stairs are definitely not the perfect match.

Planning for the Future

Maybe we are thinking too far ahead and a lift or elevator will not be needed for quite a while. The most efficient renovations are always premeditated. Lets allow the space and room for your elevator, lets make sure the foundation is set to accommodate this, and let us always consider efficient layout in our plans. Backing can be put in walls for future grab bars, which will be much easier now than later. Eliminating all stairways or steps and creating a true zero barrier home is easily achievable. A different approach to your foundation is needed and potentially a little further engineering, but it is worth it. Use an installation method known as a top hung foundation in which joist hangers are used to hang off of a higher concrete wall, rather than resting upon the wall. This will help you avoid having the typical two step minimum into your home or garage entry. It’s always the small consistent obstacles that will cause
the biggest problems in our lives.

Make sure to plan ahead in order to feel comfortable in the home that you’ve worked so hard to enjoy.