Making Your Shower Area Safe With Handicap Shower Accessories
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Written by: michaellevy42
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Word Count: 567 |
Date: Fri, 30 Apr 2010 |
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Bathrooms are an accident prone area because of wet surfaces, inadequate drainage or absence of support bars. People with physical challenges or the aged find it harder to use a bathroom as they have ailments that prevent them from moving around comfortably. But you can make things easier for them by making your bathroom ADA compliant. You can make the shower area of your bathroom much safer by including some specially designed accessories for handicap showers.
Shower threshold
For a person using a wheelchair or a walker, the bathroom floor has to be dry and non-slippery. If you don't have a shower threshold, water will seep out and wet the entire floor. Install a collapsible rubber water retainer, which can be easily fitted onto the shower floor. When you go in the shower area, your wheelchair will easily roll over the flexible rubber stopper, which jumps back in to original shape immediately after, to keep the water from flowing out.
Shower seats
Choose folding shower benches that can be mounted against the wall when you're not using them. They occupy less space and are convenient bathing solutions. You can alternatively buy a shower chair with rounded edges to facilitate side transfers from a wheelchair. The shower seats, chairs or benches come with waterproof non slip surfaces. Most of these benches are made of heavy duty material, are durable and can easily support a weight of around 350 pounds.
Shower heads
Handicap friendly showers should have a detachable shower head with a glide bar. You can remove this kind of shower head and hold it in your hand or slide it along the glide bar and position it according to your height. Most handicap showers have this kind of installation.
Shower valves & controls
Use a thermostatically controlled valve to give you the correct water temperature. This will prevent the person from accidentally getting scalded by hot water. Place the controls at the entry of the shower area and as close as possible to the shower bench for easier accessibility.
Grab bars
If you want to feel comfortable getting around on your own, you will definitely need help for pulling yourself up or moving onto and off your shower or toilet seat. Install L-shaped grab bars or safety rails in the shower, bathtub and toilet areas of the bathroom to get the required support to move your body.
Non-slippery flooring
The place where a person takes a shower must have a non-slippery floor. Go for anti-skid flooring for the shower space to reduce the risk of falls. Falls among the elderly can often prove fatal, so make sure that you do not overlook this aspect.
People assume that accessories for handicap showers, special toilet fittings, and barrier free bathtubs are unattractive additions and will spoil the look of their bathroom interiors. But you need not worry about this, as you will find a wide variety of modern and attractive designs in the market to match your bathroom's decor.
About the Author
For more information on handicap shower accessories or roll-in showers contact an accessibility expert at BarrierFree.org
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