Are You Considering Home Improvement Projects to Thrive-in-Place?

 

Most adults want to continue living in their own homes for as long as possible after they retire. Recent surveys showed that this is true for 90% of adults over 65, according to the American Association of Retired Persons and the National Conference of State Legislatures. While this is commonly referred to as aging-in-place, the HomeAdvisor’s 2016 Aging in Place Report also refers to it as “thriving-in-place,” and calls for a rebranding of this concept.

Since safety and accessibility are important for people of all ages, there are a variety of projects that can make a home even more comfortable. In other words, there’s more to this than installing grab bars and wheelchair ramps, according to the HomeAdvisor’s report. These and other home improvement projects can enhance daily living for adults of all ages:

• Wide doorways
• Open floor plans
• Entrances without steps
• Motion-sensor lights

The HomeAdvisor’s report also discusses the types of renovations that homeowners hire professionals to handle. While 50% of these jobs are to improve accessibility, 43% are to provide safety features, and six percent are for “ease-of-living” improvements. While there are quite a few projects that would fall under this category, lowering countertops and low-maintenance landscaping are examples.

Home service professionals reported that installing grab bars and constructing entryway wheelchair ramps were the main aging-in-place projects that they had been hired to do, according to the HomeAdvisor’s report. Aluminum wheelchair ramps and wooden wheelchair ramps are just two types of ramps that may have been built.


Bathrooms are at the top of the list for modifications, particularly for homeowners over 55. The report showed that 48% of homeowners were considering modifications to this room:

• Installing grab bars around the bathtub or shower
• Installing a shower seat
• Raising the toilet’s height
• Installing adjustable shower heads
• Installing hand-held shower heads

Other types of projects that homeowners requested included base cabinets with roll-out trays and lazy Susan’s. These would work well in the kitchen as well as the bathroom and other areas of the house. Homeowners were also interested in having low-maintenance shrubs and plants in their outdoor areas as well as handrails on either side of their stairways.

Another aging-in-place renovation that would work well in homes with multiple floors is a stair lift installation. When homes are built on the side of a hill with stairs leading down to garden areas or patios, a stair lift installation would be beneficial. A stair lift installation would also be a convenient feature when there is a stairway that leads from the garage into the house.

There are other types of projects that homeowners may be considering in order to thrive-in-place. Whether homeowners choose to make these modifications now or at some point within the near future, safety, accessibility, convenience, and comfort are all important features to consider.

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