Making Our Half Bath Accessible

Submitted by Diane

When the time came to move our bedroom down to the family room we had to figure out a way to make the only downstairs bathroom, a typical tiny half bath powder room, accessible. Getting even a manual wheelchair into it was impossible. Although a roll in shower would have been nice, it wasn't critical. Even though I could shower in our upstairs bathroom by using a transfer bench, I had long since switched to daily washups and very infrequent showers. The whole process wasn't worth the effort and shivering discomfort when I could stay clean without it.

With the goal of making the toilet and sink usable, we came up with what has turned out to be a very good solution that didn't require major remodeling or changes to the layout of surrounding rooms.






Here is the "Before" floorplan:









Simply widening the doorway wouldn't do the job. So we W-I-D-E-N-E-D it to 72" to accomodate double doors. Regular doors would be in the way of driving the wheelchair in. The key to success was using 2 two bifold doors. Instead of hanging them from a track, we put them on hinges like a standard door. They fold and swing! When open, they close off both ends of the hallway, turning hall space into bathroom space, nearly doubling the size of the bathroom.

               

Since we have a basement under the bathroom it was quite easy to move the toilet about a foot away from it's orginal position. Removing the vanity and putting the sink in a corner mounted countertop made it possible for me to roll under the sink for shampooing, etc. Even though I am now on a vent, I can still lean forward over the sink.

We added a tall cabinet in the corner and a cabinet over the toilet for storage. Because the hall closet becomes part of the bathroom, we use half of it for my clothes. A plastic hanging shelf unit holds shoes, socks, underwear, etc.

Here is how my powerchair (about 46" x 25" with footrests up a bit) fits in the space.