The Senior Living Renovation Revolution
The Senior Living Renovation Revolution
People in all walks of life encounter the need for a senior renovation of their living environment eventually, but this is not a remodel that anyone should fear. It has never been more affordable to help seniors improve their quality of life through simple additions to their current homes. There is no longer a need for parents and loved ones to be housed in a senior living home when age begins to limit their abilities.
Many homes before 1999 were constructed without much thought given to how the elderly or infirm would navigate and live in their spaces. Buildings were constructed with many of the same clearances and conventions that have been used since the 1940’s, with the only caveat being more modern insulating techniques and materials. This all began to change in the early 2000’s as people began to realize the potential for investment in housing. The housing bubble of the 2000’s may have caused the “Great Recession”, but it also caused a revolution of thought in how people were “flipping” homes by including the renovations necessary to allow seniors to live more productively in a home for longer.
Ever since the once-profitable niche of elderly home renovation caught fire, builders have become cognizant of the needs specific to seniors, and how this market will continue to grow substantially as the “Baby Boomer” generation grows older and are staying in their homes longer. Many builders and renovation experts have become experienced and knowledgeable in this particular niche and offer much online advice and guidance, as well as offline visitation and consultation, so that any prospective customer need not worry about high costs or undue burdens.
How to Perform a Senior Living Remodel
A senior living remodel can range from the inexpensive additions, such as the installation of low cost grab bars around showers and toilets, to the more expensive and expansive renovations such as complete bathroom, kitchen and bedroom construction tailored to allowing wheelchair accessibility. The only limiting factor to senior living remodels are budget constraints and imagination.
For the budget constrained, a good idea would be to start planning simple additions to their homes before elderly constraints set upon them. Adding strong railings and wider entryways during a renovation in your younger years is a terrific way to plan ahead and spread out the costs so that elderly care design doesn’t have to happen all at once. Consideration of outside entrances are another important home area that can be upgraded to allow for wheelchair access, or even just producing a wider path for people with mobility issues, while also making front and rear door paths more aesthetically pleasing at the same time. All of the work can be done by the homeowner with simple and inexpensive purchases from the large home centers that dot the country.
For more extensive renovation for those who are not budget constrained, it has never been a better time to invest in an older home that needs updating, using the services of a skilled home renovation contractor like Heilman Renovations. Homes are still relatively cheap to acquire since the housing bust and are terrific investments in the future. Consider remodeling an older home to have more open floor plans, bigger bathrooms with walk in showers and more toilet access clearance. Remodel kitchens to open out onto living spaces without walls obstructing views and with center islands that have wide clearance, but lower accessibility to counter and cupboard spaces. These open floor plans are very modern and comfortable, not to mention safer and easier for seniors in their golden years.
The possibilities for seniors living in their homes longer and more comfortably may well just be the best idea to come out of the terrible housing bubble burst. Seniors will definitely be thankful in the future for at least this one silver lining out of such a terrible financial hiccup. It has never been a better time for senior living design renovation, to be sure.