Make new home accessible for wheelchair-using residents, visitors

Q: We are in the design stage of a house for my family and my mother. She uses a walker or a wheelchair. What special design features should we consider for her mobility? — Kyle F.

A: It is wise for you think of access to the house entrances at the initial design phase of your new home. Providing proper access can have quite an impact on the design of the entire home and the construction materials used. With today’s baby boomers, making your home wheelchair accessible can increase its resale value years from now.

The two primary factors when considering easy wheelchair access are the slopes to enter and leave the home and

the open area near doors in which to maneuver the wheelchair. Since your mother is a senior, she most likely does not have a lot of upper body strength to negotiate a steep slope.

Ideally, you should design the house to have the first floor entrance doors at nearly the same elevation as the driveway and walkways. This is not always possible because the ground usually is sloped away from the house to provide for drainage.

You may be able to route the walkway leading from the driveway so it is level with the door opening without blocking the drainage.

A concrete slab-ongrade floor is the easiest to work with because drainage is not a significant problem. A wood-framed house with a basement is at the other extreme with drainage being a major concern. With this construction, even without a basement, the entrance is usually above the ground level to maintain a gap between the ground and the lumber framing.

You have several options for making the door accessible. A gently sloped walkway is probably the easiest and least expensive method if you have the space for it. The maximum steepness someone can comfortably and safely handle is about a 5 percent grade.

Make the curves a large radius and make it extra wide.

A straight ramp is another option. It is typically raised up from the ground for drainage, but it also can be filled in beneath with drainage tiles. Since the ramp will be much shorter than a long walk, a slightly steeper slope is sometimes acceptable depending on the person’s strength.

A third option is a longer, gently sloped raised bridge along the front of the house. This also can double as a porch if you make a level section midway along the sloped bridge.

This will maintain the proper distance from the ground level to the wood framing. If you use this method, design the house with the door near one end to allow length for the gradual slope.

Once your mother gets to the door, there will have to be an area for her to stop to unlock and open the door. A 5-foot-square access area usually provides adequate clearance for someone in a wheelchair.

Building codes often require a step up from the garage floor into the house. This is to prevent gasoline leaking from a car from flowing into the house.

Talk to the inspectors and you may be able to get a variance to make the garage floor level with the house floor.

If not, you will have to add several feet to the garage width and pour a ramp up to the door.