Bathroom shower design help - please!

[beauty4everyone]

Cannot afford construction costs to slope bathroom shower floor for roll-in accessibility . What have you done to be able to roll-in without dropping floor?
Can just afford to do this once, so must get it right the first time. Thank you ever so much!! B. May you find something beautiful today to lift your spirit (and make you smile). May blessings abound.

 

[affected]

maybe post photos of how the bathroom is now to help with ideas?

also, search here and you will find lots of threads where others have posted photos with a wide range of designs and inventiveness used which may help give you ideas.

you are sure right - get it right the first time!

 

[lgelb]

Depending on your budget/bathroom (as per Tillie, please post pics), a threshold ramp or a ShowerBuddy are two possibilities that come to mind.

 

[beauty4everyone]

**You two are real sweeties to respond so quickly and point me in a new direction.
** Knowledge of the existence of ”"Shower Buddies" and thresholds, in addition to searching the site, will give us much to consider.
** "Sherlock" is on the hunt! Thanks again.
** May you discover something beautiful today to lift your spirit. May blessings abound. B.

 

[Larrytbm]

I don't know how much room you have for the Shower Buddy but it takes a fair amount of room. Also don't know what cost estimate you have for a roll-in shower conversion. But my cost to convert the shower for roll-in was about the same as the Shower Buddy costs. However, it did take a few weeks and was quite messy using a concrete saw and jack hammer to break up the slab. Since I had a broken foot at the time, I paid someone to do the hard concrete and new tile work. Also used a plumber to install a new shower fixture.

But my real point is don't just look at cost. As you said, it needs to be done right. It is difficult to anticipate future issues with this disease. We didn't consider needing to use the Trilogy during the shower, but with the roll-in my PALS can take the PWC right beside a shower chair for transfer. Then someone can move the PWC with Trilogy back a few feet and pull the shower curtain with the air hose running under it.

 

[KimT]

B,

Have you applied to ALS Guardian Angels? They offer $1,500 grants and local ALSA chapters offer $500 quarterly grants. Please don't rule out the generosity of friends and family. My prior church family donated for one of our members to get someone in once a week for bathing.

Sometimes local companies will donate labor or materials, too. I don't know where you live but I'd also Google builders who do accessible bathrooms because they might have connections or even suggestions. I had three people come over and look at my place before deciding what to do. My niece, a physical therapist, visited before the remodel and she pointed out a few things I should consider.

 

[lgelb]

You should always plan for the ability to use the BiPAP during a shower at some point. But it does not have to be mounted on a wheelchair, and if space is short, you can use a sip 'n' puff mode or a hose/mask with a much cheaper/smaller machine.

 

[beauty4everyone]

Hi, Helpful People. I'm learning more about this disorder day-by-day.
Info. about future needs, space required, and options gives me much to investigate and think about. Thanks much!
"Sherlock is on the trail"
May you find something beautiful to bring hope to you heart. May blessings abound B.

 

[bkite]

We found a company online that makes roll in shower kits. No need for tearing down to a below floor installation. The fiberglass panels assemble with the base having a 1" curb that slopes allowing my Shower Buddy easy in and out. But you need a shower length of 60", so depending upon the space available in your bathroom, this may or may not be an option. My Shower Buddy is a loan from my local ALS Association locker.

 

[lgelb]

Bruce, we definitely did not have a 60" shower length for the ShowerBuddy. We took off the door of a standard stall, and the slider jutted out into most of the remaining bathroom floor for the transfer of the chair from bathroom floor into the threshold shower. We did not bring the lift into the bathroom, nor a wheelchair, just the SB.

Do you have the SB with tilt? That would take more room.

The diagrams are all available with dimensions on line, too, so you can see the requirements for each product, B4E.

 

[bkite]

SB I got doesn't have rails. It tilts and I get tired rapidly without any tilt. I guess the master bathroom we have has a lot of square feet that we never had until moving into this totally accessible condo in an over 55 complex we were blessed to find after my diagnosis. Had to sell the previous home, a 70s era three level split with stairs every where and narrow door ways. Fortunately the old home sold for more than the current home.