Visit-ability: Basic Access

in Every New Home

Eleanor Smith

Concrete ChangeConcrete Change www.concretechange.org

Copyright 2006, 2008Copyright 2006, 2008

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A Visitable homeis one that is built

for the open market

not specifically for people with disabilities

with a few specific access features.

Definition

The essential access features

--One zero-step entrance on anon anaccessible route—at the front, back, side, or through the garage.

--All main floor interior passage doors with 32 inches clear passage space.

--A main floor bathroom (preferably with designated maneuvering space.)

Why build basic access in virtually every new home?

Why not just incorporate access “as needed”?

1. Because retrofitting an existing house isusually expensiveand often awkward-looking, like this add-on ramp.

….While creatingaccess in a newhome is inexpensiveand attractive.

2. And, because visiting friends and relatives is important to people who can’t use steps,just like it is toother people.

3. And, because accessible homes decrease

institutionalization.

In the stress-filled days after a medical crisis, peopleoften lack the time or resourcesto hire contractors andrenovate their house.

Thus, many who could manage in their own home with some assistance mustmove instead into institutions.

60 % of nursing home residents enter directly from hospitals.Source: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Minimum Data Sets, 2005

Marian enjoying her own home.

Basic access adds convenience for everyone. A step-free entrance and ample interior door widths make it easier to bring in the baby, the bicycle, the heavy bookcase….and move throughout the house.

……cause some people to assume universal basic access in new homes is unneeded, unattractive, difficult or expensive.

Several MYTHS…

Myth: Only a small portion of houses need access because only a small portion of the population have difficulty walking.

Facts:

• Most households have more than one resident. If onemember of the household develops a short-term or long-term mobility problem, the house needs access features.

• During the many decades a house serves as a dwelling,a series of different households live in the house.

• The number and percent of people over 65 in the population is rising very rapidly.

The Journal of the American Planning Associationreports that 25% to 60% of ALL houses will have—over the lifetime of the house— at least one resident with a “severe, long-lasting mobility impairment.” (Summer Issue, 2008)

In fact, well-planned access in new homes is integrated into the design and landscape, and is an

attractive asset.

Myth:

A zero-step entrance looks unattractive.

MYTH: A zero-step entrance requires a ramp.

Fact: In the great majority of new homes, a sidewalk can be graded to meet a porch.

Fact: A steep lot is often even easier than a flat lot. For example, the lot above slopes steeply front to back. The sidewalk easily meets the front porch,while the back porch requires several steps.

Front Back of same house

MYTH : A zero-step entrance works only on a flat lot.

Fact: The best location depends on the lay of the land. 

Myth : Zero-step entrances must always be located at the front of the home.

At the side…

Steps at front …and short ramp at side

The zero step entrance can be located…

From the driveway…

At the back…

Or from the garage.

Fact: Building with a basement or crawl space does not deter a cost-effective zero-step entrance.

Myth : A zero-step entrance is feasible only when building on a concrete slab.

Nor does a cold, snowy climate..

This is one of several thousand Visitable homes in Bolingbrook, IL near Chicago – all with basements.

Not always.

Not if the site is steepAND has no driveway AND has no back approach. Visitability-type ordinancescan and do provide for exemptions in unusualcircumstances.

Is a zero-step entrance ALWAYS practical?

Exceptions make up less than 5% of new homes.

Why not focus on the 95% plus that ARE practical?

95%95%

Door widths,Bathrooms

andWater Protection

All main floor entry doors and interior passage doors—including bathrooms---should offer at least 32 inches ofclear passage space. This can be achieved by a 2’10” or a 3’0” door, or a pocket door.

Although 2’10” doors are not commonly available at retail stores like Home Depot, they are readily available fromwholesale suppliers where professional builders buy doors. 2’10” doors from wholesalers cost at most about two dollarsmore than 2’8” or 2’6”.

Narrow bathroom doors are thenorm for houses, out of habit rather than necessity.

Wide enough doors fit even in small bathrooms.

Most stock house plans showing narrow doors already have ample wall space for the builder simply to write in a wider door specification, without re-drawing plans.

In a minority of cases, a few inches of space need to be shaved from an adjacent room…or a more open plan chosen. Adding square footage to the home is not necessary— even in very small houses.

Square Footage

If bathroom size does not permit a 5-foot turning circle, a 48” x 30” rectangle of open floor space adjacent to each fixture can provide maneuvering space. (The rectangles can overlap.)

In a small half-bath, the door can be hinged to swing out, if desired, to facilitate a wheelchair- or walker-user closing the door when inside the room. Or, a pocket door can be used.

Moisture protection for zero-step entrancesIn homes can be accomplished by applying normal waterproofing procedures.

.

Just as for commercial buildings, the combination of a good-quality door seal, a sloping porch floor and an overhang above the door has proven to provide long-term, reliable moisture protection at residential zero-step entrances. Thousands of Visitable homes throughout all climates have confirmed this in practice.

Fact: Planned-in-advance basic access costs little. $100 for new homes on a concrete slab and

$300 to $600 for homes with basements are typical costs.

Myth : Basic access is expensive and compromises housing affordability.

• Increased residence in nursing homes at average cost of $64,000 per person per year.1

60% of this is paid with public funds.2

• Widespread expensive retrofitting, depleting family and public dollars.

• Social isolation of people who develop disabilities, and often their spouses and families too.

1. MetLife, 20052. US Dept. of Health and Human Services, 2007

Discussions on the costs of home access need to include the high costs of continuing to build without access :

House by house, builder by builder, policy by policy, ….positive change is occurring… rural and urban,high-end and affordable, in all terrains and climates.

Change does not occur because time passes.Change occurs because people take action.