Bathroom Renovations to Make the Space Safer For Senior Residents
Posted on: 16 January 2018
You may not think much about your bathroom, but the reality is you will spend a considerable amount of your life in this room. And although you may not consider your bathroom a risk to your life, the proclivity for slippery floors, sharp edges and slick walls can prove to be a death trap to someone whose mobility is somewhat compromised. Thus, if you happen to live with a senior loved one, you may want to consider making this space more secure for them to minimise the risk of injury. Here is a list of some bathroom renovations you can embark on to make the area safer for senior citizens.
Increase the illumination
One of the common causes of injury in the bathroom is if there is decreased visibility. Nonetheless, people will still walk into the bathroom in the darkness at night as they try to retain their sleep. A simple solution for this would be installing motion sensor lighting on the edges of the floor. This approach may sound expensive but the truth is there are affordable LED strips you could invest in that will only light up when someone is using the bathroom, which means you also get to save on electricity costs. Another addition you could contemplate is the installation of skylights, which would make your bathroom better lit during the day, and minimise your reliance on artificial lighting.
Increase the floor's traction
Ceramic tiles are the staple building supply for bathrooms. However, wetness and smooth tiles are not a good combination. If your loved one is unsteady on their feet, it would be very easy for them to slip and seriously injure themselves. One way of increasing the traction of your bathroom floors would be to veer away from large tiles and have smaller, mosaic tiles installed. These will provide the space with a rougher floor that would be harder to slip and slide on. Additionally, the strategic placement of anti-slip mats in your bathroom would also go a long way in reducing the incidence of accidents.
Increase the stability of the room
Stability may not be at the forefront of your mind when you think of your bathroom, as you probably do not need any help getting off the toilet, into the bathtub and so on. Nevertheless, this is a critical concern for seniors, especially since grabbing onto a tiled wall after a steamy shower translates into lack of any balance. To boost the stability in the room, install grab bars in key locations of the bathroom such as inside the shower, adjacent to the toilet and anywhere else that you can think of.
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