Safe and Sleek: ADA-compliant Products Are In Vogue for Bathrooms
By
Stephanie Herzfeld
Building Products May-June 2005 Hanley-Wood, Inc.
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0JVJ/is_3_16/ai_n13809136/print
Rosemarie Rossetti was an active, healthy woman until a 3 1/2-ton tree crushed her spinal cord in 1998. Before then, she never dreamed that the simple act of getting in and out of the shower would be so complex. Now the public speaker/writer is a self-appointed spokesperson for mainstreaming universal design, the concept of maximum accessibility for all people, regardless of their abilities. She and her husband are constructing a house in Ohio loaded with universal design features and products compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Times have changed since Rossetti began conceiving her super-accessible house six years ago. "There was a minimal awareness of universal design when I first started to think about this project," she comments.
These days not only are hundreds of ADA-compliant products on the market, they're fashionable, too. Although Rossetti's needs are extreme, bath product manufacturers are jumping on the bandwagon to meet an untapped client base.
"Years ago, universal design products were specifically designed to aid people who had a physical disability. But with 75 million baby boomers--almost one-third of Americans--entering retirement, we're now emphasis on easy-to-use products designed to work for a broad universe of customers," explains Diana Schrage, an interior designer at the Kohler Design Center in Kohler, Wis.
Surveys conducted by manufacturer Moen show that 58 percent of Americans older than 65 are limited by a disability, and that more than 3 million Americans of all ages survive serious auto accidents, sports injuries, strokes, and heart attacks every year.
"People are realizing they need to plan for getting around their homes in the future yet make them visitable now so that spaces are equitable for aging or disabled guests," summarizes Barbara Murphy, a design consultant at Neil Kelly Designers/Remodelers in Lake Oswego, Ore.
In the past, the ADA-compliant bath products category consisted of little more than institutional-looking grab bars, which were repugnant to many homeowners.
However, during the past decade, stylish products debuted, including sleek moveable shower towers and hand-held showers; comfortable chair-height toilets; easy-to-operate faucets including hands-free models; unobtrusive shower seats; easy-to-install, easy-to-clean modular shower/tub units; and grab bars in a variety of finishes that complement the latest decorative bath hardware.
"Antique brass and nickel grab bar finishes, for instance, are less obtrusive and blend in with the bathroom, and built-in shower seating looks more natural than adding a shower seat later" says Lucy Ward, director of marketing for Maax.
Improving product selection is good news for remodeling pros like Sandy E. Hayes, owner of Portland, Ore.-based Hayes Designs. She believes universally designed bathrooms make her clients happier and safer.
"Products really are evolving. They're not as utilitarian as they used to be," says Hayes.
According to contractors and manufacturers, ADA-compliant products don't cost much more than regular ones. For instance, comfort-height toilets, which are about as high as a chair seat, are priced 10 percent to 20 percent more than traditional models, and to outfit a bathroom with grab bars may only be a couple hundred dollars.
"Part of the challenge is to get builders to create ADA-conscious homes because the cost is negligible if you add it in from the ground up" remodeler Murphy says.