Future proof your home? Or is it too depressing?

My parents-in-law moved into a bungalow that they had owned for many years, but had it completely re-vamped to provide disability friendly extra bathrooms and extended the main bedroom so that in the future it could be a bed/sitting room with external access.
Our house already has an en-suite downstairs bedroom, but there are a few steps up or down the paths that may need to be negotiated.

I tried and failed to find the perfect retirement bungalow over a couple of years. We learned from caring for elderly parents that the move should be made sooner than at the time when it’s needed. We extended and put a n a downstairs shower and toilet. Of course we hope always to be fit enough to go upstairs but we are at least a bit better prepared.

We are having an an extension built in the summer which will have an accessible toilet and shower and a small utility room to save me having to go in and out of the garage to tumble drier and freezer any more. I fell and fractured my back in two places eight years ago, falling down the outside steps, going to the tumble drier in the dark.
Also having new entrance to garden built from extension to make it safer and more accessible.
Unfortunately it will use up a good part of our savings, but there are no pockets in a shroud.

I wish my 93 year old mother had made some provision for infirmity. She lives in a house with no downstairs toilet, shower or bathroom, and fell out of her stair lift in the night, since when she has been unable to walk, or care for herself. She is now at home and has a bed in the lounge, which is cramped and far from ideal, with carers four times a day. My dad was in exactly the same situation before he died 16 years ago, but she would not consider moving or making any changes after his death. It has certainly made me and DH more aware of not leaving things too late.

Over the years I have slowly been future proofing my home. The bath was removed and a shower fitted out of necessity because I could no longer get out of the bath.
After I had my ankle pinned and plated, in 2009 I bought a seat for the shower and had a stair lift fitted.

After my knee replacement in 2012, I had mega problems getting in and out of my house as the path had dropped. It is now on a level so all is fine.

My dining area and kitchen is now one large room and the garden has been paved.

A few years ago I needed a new downstairs loo so I decided to buy a taller one downstairs and up so that I now have no problems getting on and off the loo. All carpets have been removed so in theory there are no trip hazards around.

There is insufficient space in my downstairs loo to install a shower but I cannot fit everything. I have just finished having everything done "for the last time" so in theory no more painting, wiring etc.

Thanks oopsadaisy that will make house-hunting easier.

Just a thought, when we moved nearly 10 years ago a friend suggested it was time for a bungalow but we resisted with the result that we have lots of stairs. Stairs are very good for you, especially for the knees, so maybe it is a good thing to put off the changes for a while and keep fitter?

We have more or less future proofed by converting an existing building to an annexe for us so DD could move into our cottage style bungalow. We did our sums and worked out a conversion was actually cheaper than the alterations that would be needed to the bungalow which was originally a farm worker's cottage.

We have an open plan kitchen/diner/sitting room, a double bedroom and fairly large shower room. The toilet is on a 1" plinth which makes a difference when my knees are sore!

The back door is wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair and although there is currently a step down to the patio there is plenty of space to build a ramp should it ever be necessary.

Our garden is huge and as DD is showing very little interest in it we're going to begin future proofing that as well. I'm a plantaholic and look upon gardening as my way of keeping fit but we will be putting in more paths amongst the borders and a few more raised beds at the back. Despite my dodgy knees I'm still 'bendy' so I'm hoping I still have a few more gardening years left in me.

As we have dogs we've done away with carpets and have laminate flooring. We're also about to have a stable door fitted so we can handle deliveries through the top half rather than playing, 'Kick the dog shuffle' when they try to barge through our legs!

When we moved here, which is smaller than our last house, the downstairs loo was cavernous until I had the idea of putting shower cubicle in. In retrospect it would have been better to have made it a wet room (we'd had one in the old house) but it was 24 years ago and we were never going to get old!!

The back garden is small but sloped dreadfully so we hat it all patioed with 2 different levels.

Our house and garden has steps galore so not ideal!!

I'm in the process of downsizing to hoping to cover all these issues that way though the house I wanted has just fallen through and there's very little else suitable around.
When my husband was very ill and after I had surgery, I made my bedroom into a bedsit with fridge, microwave and kettle as stairs to bathroom would be too much. This worked fine whilst moving a bed downstairs would be useless as no bathroom there although I do have space. As a widow it seems foolish to me to stay in a big family house which I can't afford to maintain.

I started to do the ‘ Swedish Death Clean’ a few weeks ago, and found it very depressing, as it brought home to me things I’ll never do again, like loads of scores and sheet music of pieces I loved singing, and my child behaviour ‘ stuff’ I’ll never use again, so I don’t feel up to looking at house alterations just yet!
Anyway, I think a stair lift will be enough for us, and mibbe a wee wooden ramp for the one step at the front and back doors if we need wheelchair access.

Time does not stand still and inevitably we will all need additional help and it is always best to do it yourself when you can take your time to work it all out and before it becomes an emergency. It must be horrendous to be faced with a long wait in hospital to get home or even not be able to go home again.
My DH did not want to move but our last home was no longer suitable for me and I spent ages hunting until I found the place I was certain he would not be able to resist. Thank goodness I got it right but it was still a wrench.
We recently moved from a house with multiple staircases and searched for a home on level (ish) ground with minimal steps to get in and out. We wanted a home with space for manoeuvring a wheelchair and all on one level. We have been busy future proofing our bungalow and are so glad that we did as DH was in a wheelchair last year. We had the new kitchen fitted with mostly drawers and a lower level peninsula working area which we also use as a breakfast table. Walk in shower in the ensuite and 'comfort height' toilets. We bought a higher bed which proved to be a blessing.
There is always something though and we have now realised that the 2 steps to get into and out of our home are impossible in a manual wheelchair and I am not able to help. The last owner of this house had an electric chair so I suppose that is the answer. He had also used ramps for his wheelchair which were left here and so we had an additional over door lip ramp to put in place that meant someone able bodied could make it all work to get DH out to hospital appointments and such.
It is impossible to forsee everything and you can only do your best but if we had not gone all out to future proof our home the past year would have been so very much worse. OT & SS were very helpful with advice and even supplied a couple of equipment items. Too depressing to contemplate not being prepared!

www.theramppeople.co.uk/wheelchair-ramps
This may be helpful, or something similar.

We moved into a bungalow for practical reasons in summer 2016, and it has been visited by OTs and we have everything in place. I cannot see any reason not to do so.

I was a hospital SW or many years and know all about how an unsuitable home can cause bed blocking and accidents.

I cannot understand why anyone would dig their heels in over this - it is just common sense.

I agree Lucky but it's going to happen to me! I know that is wrong and that something will happen to pull us up short.

One tip I'm happy to pass on for what it's worth. If we could do it all again we wouldn't install a quadrant shower cubicle. Cleaning it is not easy because the bottom row of wheels, seals and runners etc., are at floor level and if you can't get down on your knees you are bent double in a confined space.

I've just bought a steamer which is doing a good job but I wish we'd thought ahead and fitted a square shaped cubicle with straight sides instead.

I can see us changing it to a wet room in the not too distant future.

We future proofed our little bungalow as much as possible when we bought it, there are some things we got wrong, like access to the kitchen and some very right like a higher toilet and easy access shower. The garden is flat and suitable for wheelchairs should they ever be needed, there is somewhere to park and charge a buggy should that ever be needed. Now we are forgetting all about older age and just thinking about living. I do think future proofing is worth considering when younger and able and it is a choice, its horrid when changes in the home are enforced.

Merlotgran, we are going to have a walk in shower with no doors just a fixed sheet of glass that you walk behind, I hate going into showers where the gunk has built up in the grooves. Yuk.
My Dad always said prepare for the worst, but expect the best! That’s what we’ve tried to do with our home.

There is absolutely no question of being able to future proof this house. We have both an ensuite shower and a walk in shower room, but both upstairs, so once we can’t cope with stairs it’s game over in spite of that. We have a downstairs cloakroom but there is no possibility of extending that to be a shower room. It will have to be a move to a bungalow or some purpose built accommodation at some stage. It’s just a question of when.

Oopsadaisy12, maybe you could tell your MiL that, although FiL didn't want alterations while they were both in good health, he would want them done now to help her to cope.
Or was he so stubborn that that would not be believable?

I can understand putting off, not wanting to think about being old, etc.
I don't understand people who desperately need changes to their home but refuse to have them.

After I posted this morning, the Sister of the ward my H is on, rang to say he had had a fall, no damage but they have recommended I have a commode delivered, oh joy.
Some things cannot be catered for, I had assumed that with help he would make the downstairs loo, obviously not if I am not at his side 24 hours.
I have told my GD to shoot me but she told me she already has plans to take me to Switzerland.

annsixty you can only go to Switzerland if you come home and tell us just how lovely your holiday was!!!

So sorry to hear the latest developments with your DH. Hopefully the commode will just be an insurance plan - I actually put backup plan and thought that might seem a bit odd. My own DH said to me this morning "you do have to keep making sure that your sense of humour is still attached don't you" and that just made me want to weep.
for all who are going through the mill!

Thank you for the link MissAdventure

I mentioned this to DH this evening but he stuck his head back in the sand.

It always astounds me when I see people of my age, or older, on Escape to the Country, looking for a cottage in the middle of nowhere, with acres of garden.
Me too!

You're welcome synonymous