ACCESSIBLE HOME DESIGN

How New Home and Remodeling Contractors Save the United States Billions of Dollars

Saving Billions

For anyone interested in home accessibility, these are interesting times.

For us, a supply of accessible residential homes is just not there. But they can be in the works tomorrow. And I do mean tomorrow. If they were, the result is: This country saves billions of dollars.

How? Let’s look at a few word equations.

Homebuilders today have time to rethink home design =
Rethought home design will create accessible homes =
Accessible homes are comfortable and safe homes for any age =
Safe, comfortable homes save billions in future remodeling and health care costs.

The fact is, the lack of just one item in our Nation’s housing stock, an accessible bathroom, is the difference between living at home and living in a costly health care facility.

For home builders, now is the time to draw new plans. Now is the time to save the United States billions of dollars.

All the information you need to create an accessible home is in The Right Space and briefly explained in the Contents below. See the sample drawings on this page and on the drawings page.

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At Minimum, Do These Three Things

Creat a Visitable Home by adding these three assets to your home design.

Zero Step Entrance – easy entry for a baby stroller or a wheelchair.
Wide Enough Doors – allows wheelchair access into any room and makes moving furniture easier.
An Accessible Bathroom – you are able to use your home in an emergency, versus an expensive stay in a care facility. An accessible bathroom also makes for a friendly home when a disabled person visits.

Notice that whether you are outside or inside. The space that allows you to open and pass through a doorway is dictated by the direction of approach.

Page 49 introduces the chapter on Entrance Landings. The chapter details their various width and depth, and their various approach direction.

In this drawing, the landing space on the left is a Front Approach-Push Side Landing.

The landing space on the right is a Latch Approach-Pull Side Landing.

An Accessible Bathroom

The half page on the left shows a 2-D view of a Transfer Shower with end wall controls.

The bathroom below on page 127 has a Transfer Shower with the valve on the control wall.

Like most of the drawings in The Right Space, this complete bathroom is an easy-to-understand isometric drawing.

Note the different floor spaces that allow you to use each fixture.

Number 1, the Circular Floor Space allows you access to the sink, shower or toilet.
Number 2, the Sink Clear Floor Space allows you to use the sink.
Number 3, the Water Closet Clear Floor Space allows you access to the toilet.
Number 4, the Transfer Shower clear floor space.
Number 5, the Front Approach-Push Side Landing egress from the bathroom.

Whether you are a home builder or a home owner. Building an accessible home is good business, good planning and good for the long term health of the United States. Pass it along and buy a book.

Contents of THE RIGHT SPACE

There are many sources for ADA specifications online and in print. THE RIGHT SPACE is one of them.

What this guide has that others do not are 300+ detailed drawings that show you grab bar and fixture placement. Complete bathrooms. Everything that's in the Contents below.

And all the width, depth, and height details in THE RIGHT SPACE come from the ADA guidelines issued by the United States Access Board.