Renos, and addressing special needs
Small things can make a big difference in keeping homeowners safe
I’ve always said your house should work for you. It should be built to make your life easier, not harder. But when you have special needs a standard home doesn’t cut it. You might not be able to reach the kitchen cabinets, or get in and out of the bathtub easily, reach light switches, or even leave the house without help. These things can make you feel like a prisoner in your home.
Sometimes it’s not even about convenience — it’s a matter of life or death. What if you couldn’t hear the doorbell or smoke or carbon monoxide alarms? But that’s the reality for more than a million people in Canada living with hearing issues — and that scares me. Can’t imagine how it feels for them.
Unfortunately, not everyone can afford a custom home. So instead of changing their house to fit them, most people just live with it as is. I’ve seen people try to deal with these kinds of issues on their own. On one job I recently worked on, the homeowner was deaf. So she would get her friends to text her when they got to her house since she can’t hear anyone knocking on the door. But that doesn’t work if the person at her door doesn’t know her or have her number.
And what if there’s an emergency like a fire? If she’s awake she can probably see and smell the smoke. But what if she’s sleeping? When it comes to residential fires, it’s usually the smoke that kills you, not the fire; and if you can’t hear a smoke detector, the chances of that happening is practically 100 per cent.
Today, homeowners have the advantage of small things that can make a big difference. For example, on the job I mentioned earlier, my guys installed an electrical system that is interconnected with the doorbell, smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector. So when the doorbell rings a strobe light flashes. Same thing with the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors; if there’s smoke or a carbon monoxide leak, the strobe light goes on.
There are also bed shakers, devices you put under the mattresses or your pillow. Depending on the system it’s connected to, the device will shake the bed. So let’s say the bed shaker is connected to the smoke or carbon monoxide detector. If the detector goes off, the bed shaker will vibrate the bed to wake the person up.
If you have the budget, there are bigger projects you can do, too. A few years ago I worked on an ASL (American Sign Language) interpreter’s house and she talked about how a house can be “deaf-friendly.” This means having clear lines of sight between rooms so people can communicate using sign language even when they’re not in the same room. Makes sense.
Clear lines of sight are created by getting rid of any non-load-bearing walls.
Not everyone can afford to knock down the walls in their home. But there are smaller modifications that go a long way. To learn about them, speak to the pros. A good electrician or plumber will know about the latest gadgets and fixtures for people with special needs. A professional contractor will tell you how to make your home work for you.