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Senior-proof your house now so you don't have to move later
August 13th, 2009
  Bruce and Carolyn Exley of Dallas enlarged their kitchen and added pull-out shelves, no-slip flooring and brighter lighting to make it easier to use as they grow older. The couple, now in their early 60s, also installed a step-in shower in the master bathroom. Download the Dallas Morning News Article
By BOB MOOS / The Dallas Morning News
Bruce and Carolyn Exley have been fixing to stay put.
The Dallas couple, who are in their early 60s, have remodeled their 1980s-vintage master bathroom and kitchen so that they can use both more easily as they grow older. They replaced their tub with a step-in shower, and they enlarged the kitchen and installed pullout shelves.
"We're creating a home where we can enjoy retirement," Carolyn Exley said. "If either of us ever needed a wheelchair, we could continue to live here. The only problem I see is that both of us now want to use our new kitchen, and two cooks may be one too many."
Like the Exleys, nine of 10 people older than 50 plan to remain in their homes for as long as their health allows, an AARP survey has found. But most older homes weren't built to accommodate the frailties of old age.
The typical American home is still a "Peter Pan house," constructed for the young couple whom contractors think will never grow old, said Marty Bell, director of communications and marketing for the National Aging in Place Council, an advocacy organization.
With 78 million baby boomers beginning to feel the aches and pains of their years, the "aging in place" market offers a huge potential for remodelers. Half of those boomers expect to make changes to their homes to stay there, the AARP survey said.
"They've seen their parents struggle, and they don't want the same fate," Bell said. "They're interested in adapting their homes to their changing circumstances."
Rob Jackson, president of Servant Remodeling in Dallas, estimates two-thirds of his clients are boomers who have lived in their homes for 20 to 30 years and don't intend to move. When they update, they also make their homes more age-friendly, he said.
"As nice as some retirement communities are, many people don't want to have anything to do with them," Jackson said. "Their homes are treasure troves of family memories."
Even so, the remodeler has found that many older homes are inconvenient and possibly unsafe for anyone not surefooted. They have doorways too narrow for wheelchairs, carpeting too thick for walkers and staircases without continuous handrails.
Jackson, president of the Dallas chapter of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry, worked with the Exleys to turn their kitchen into a place where they can age gracefully. The pullout shelves eliminate any stretching or kneeling. The no-slip textured floor discourages falling. The brighter lighting makes recipes more legible
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