My first-of-the-year project
Today I learned that my store is purchasing a house, converting it into a handicapped residence, and donating it to the Army for them to use to train severely wounded soldiers--amputees, brain damage, and other life-changing injuries (we have paratroopers here; guys are coming down (pun not intended) with life-changing injuries all the time)--to live normally. I also learned that I'm lead carpenter on this project. Anyone got any suggestions? -- --jmowreader
Jim, Give your store a Gold Star for this one and if there is a link or an article you can post regarding the project, please do so--I'd love to see the stores in this area do something similar. A friend who used to work with the disabled for Uncle Sam is trying to track down a list of websites with information regarding construction and adaptability devices; when she does I'll forward it on. One thing to keep in mind, is that adaptations for wheelchairs are often made with manual ones in mind, not motarized ones or the scooter kind. Someone from church got a house through Habitat for Humanity that was supposedly handicapped accessible & the doorways had to be re-modified to fit her scooter. Thanks, Marci P.S. I'd love to hear more about what you learn, I'm already having to make minor modifications and am afraid major ones may be just around the corner.
trinity says a lot of what i've been thinking about since i emailed last... i became more aware of how limited access is to handicapped people when i suddenly found myself in a wheelchair for 9 weeks after breaking my leg several years ago... borrow one, if you can, and just see what you can or cannot access in your own home... i helped a wheelchair bound lady in the airport last summer who, because she had no legs, could barely reach the water faucet... it was one of those automatic deals and she couldn't get her hand under the faucet to turn it on... once i got it turned on for her, i went to the OTHER side of the restroom (why do they ALWAYS do this!!) to get her some paper towels so she wouldn't drip all over herself after washing her hands... but start trying to view your world as if you had only one arm or no legs, etc, and just see what you can and can't do... pretty amazing how much we all-limbed creatures take for granted... not to mention what we can see, hear, smell, etc... i'd be interested to see some of the ideas you come up with... Flame <flamnembr@... first off, i would contact someone from the Vets Admin who is knowledgeable about Accessible Housing... the pull on doors, width of doorways, ramp rise, level of sinks, door 'knobs' (levers are more accessible), flooring, angled mirrors over the sinks in the bathrooms, accessible showers, special adaptations to the kitchen... let's see... i know i left out 300 things... at least... ADA regs are not time-efficient reading... in the neighboring state here of SC, we have a Disabilities and Special Needs Board (don't know what you have there...); also, Easter Seals might be able to give some pointers... i have two 'handicapped' children (hearing impaired) so have served on handicapped committees in the county when ADA first went into effect... hence, a lot of minimal knowledge... we have a wonderful list member who is in the motorized wheel chair-- write me off list and i'll look up her email address if you want that kind of info... better from someone who lives the life than a book-knowledge sort of person like myself... Feisty by Nature Trinity
The places we're looking at are ranches with minimum 4 bedrooms and 2 baths. My intent is to build two houses in one. The kitchen will have two refrigerators (the house is intended to serve more than one family at once, I know that already) and two ranges. We're almost guaranteed to get a drop-in range that I can build in very close to the floor on a wheelchair-height subkitchen and a regular freestanding range for use by people who can still walk. We're going to make one bath totally wheelchair-accessible and one bath accessible to the more-ambulatory. Closets will be easy--two rods, one high and one low. I have the advantage of knowing enough people at the hospital that I can plug into their occupational therapy department. The hospital's OT department has one of these kind of houses already, and I called over there this morning. They said I can come look at their house, take lots of measurements and photos, get their therapists to come look at what we're doing. -- --jmowreader
We know from the start that we're dealing with powerchair issues. This probably also means we're dealing with 42-inch doors. (Which means I get to make a batch of six-panel oak doors--oak because it's so strong it will survive a good sound hit from a powerchair being driven by someone who doesn't know how to drive one yet and who's upset about having to be in it.) We're doing protective oak wainscoting, heavy corners, all the strongest construction techniques I can think of--and we may have to widen the hallways. -- --jmowreader
You mean like the home itself? I couldn't get in my house at all if I was in a wheelchair; I live in a trilevel. But yeah, I see what you mean. -- --jmowreader