How to Age-Proof Your Home
Holding flooring totally free of journey hazards and acquiring fantastic lighting and durable objects to keep on to at important factors in your house are the primary approaches to shield oneself from taking a tumble. So do the job to rid residing places of clutter, and tuck electrical cords out of the way. Ditch toss rugs, and location rugs and carpets with curled-up edges or additional than a half-inch of pile. Keep remaining rugs in position with nonslip rug pad grippers, typically significantly less than $20 for a 4×6-foot size.
Changing floors is a huge occupation, but if you have extremely polished wood or marble, which can be slippery, it may perhaps be worthwhile to search into ceramic or vinyl tile, or carpet that is no increased than a half-inch. For stairs, carpeting could possibly be finest for traction, and nonslip treads (about $40 for a pack of 15) or tape (about $16 for a 2-inch-huge 30-foot-extensive roll) can cut down slide pitfalls on wood. (For additional security, staircases ought to also have handrails, if possible on both of those sides.)
During your household, examine the peak of the thresholds—strips of wooden, stone, or metallic exactly where two rooms hook up. These should really be no additional than a 50 {ec3984a59f336e74413ebe8cd0979a3fa414de3884cb1e2a06779d998b58dc95}-inch large at an exterior doorway and a quarter-inch substantial in between inside rooms.
In bogs, no-threshold showers or shower pans (also identified as roll-in or curbless showers) are regarded as the safest choice, and they can glance modern and fashionable. Most houses can accommodate them components fluctuate in selling price, with labor ordinarily about $1,000, Clason claims. Another solution is a walk-in tub, which averages $5,500 installed. Position nonslip stickers on tub and shower floors.
Staying in a position to sit even though showering may also make a tumble considerably less most likely, so consider a shower bench or chair with nonslip ft ($30 to $40). House-preserving wall-mounted benches arrive in a wide range of components, like teak (about $150 and up). Seize or grip bars ($7 and up, demonstrated underneath), which you can grasp if you really feel unsteady, are toilet necessities. Bolted-on bars rather than people that attach by suction are improved. “I’m a lover of possessing them at the entrance, by the rest room, and at the tub/shower,” Catiggay says. A reward: These now come in appealing finishes these kinds of as brass, bronze, and copper.
Superior dwelling lighting is vital for protecting against falls, too, so illuminate paths to bathrooms for nighttime visits and spot light switches at the major and bottom of each individual staircase. It’s frequently intelligent to amp up lights all over the residence, with LED bulbs of at minimum 800 lumens. For ease, contemplate rocker switches—broad panels you press to turn on and off—and movement-activated lights (about $20 for 4 evening-lights) or “smart” switches (about $47 for 4) that can switch lights on with a voice command. (See “Tech Equipment That Make Daily life Simpler as You Get OIder.”)
