Home Renovation

Creating an accessible home.

We are in the process of renovating a 1960s midcentury modern home in Lexington, MA. We bought this house because it worked as a short-to-medium term solution to our accessibility needs. Our son’s disease, Duchenne, is progressive and our needs will change over time. So we are making decisions and investing money into creating a home that can adapt with us as our needs change.

  • Duchenne is a muscle-wasting disease. Over time a person living with Duchenne will lose their abilities both big and small. Some features we are installing now, others we are creating the infrastructure to level-up later.

    • Ramps for ease of access

    • Blackout shades for light sensitivity

    • Flat surface door hardware

    • Wide corridors

    • Blocking in ceiling for chair lift

    • Blocking in bathroom for grab bars

    • Ethernet wiring for voice control

Our process began when Michelle was offered a great opportunity in Massachusetts. We have moved many times but this would be only our second since Caffrey’s diagnosis. We had had two years to consider what worked, what didn’t and how our needs would change over the years.

When we began our search for a home in Massachusetts we narrowed the location by public schools and commutability. After compiling a list of potential towns it became more difficult. There are no filters on Zillow for “space to install an elevator” or even “elevator”. A search with the keyword elevator will give you houses with elevated views, an elevated garden, a boat lift, and occasionally a house with an elevator. Our searches were a process of evaluating potential for accessibility and with a lack of filters available each house had to be evaluated individually.

Ramping

  • The quickest way is the make it yourself. I have made a handful of ramps out of wood. Make sure it isn’t too steep and the bottom and top are flush so there is no trip hazard.

  • A professional will install a ramp. Different materials are available, wood, Trex, aluminum, concrete, masonry. A professional can help you navigate through the variables of your specific location.

  • We used three techniques to create ease of entry.

    • Framed of wood

    • Concrete/Masonry

    • Grading - we brought the height of the ground outside doors to the sill height.

Stair Lift

  • A stair lift can be a quick way to give access to multiple levels in a home. They can be bought or rented and come in a few different configurations. A straight staircase will be easiest to equip but some can navigate turns.

  • These are another option for wheelchair users. The configuration of your staircase will dictate whether it can work for you.

  • There are three main brands that we looked at: Inclinator, Savaria, Garaventa.

  • We chose to install an Inclinator elevator with Above and Beyond Elevator company. We were familiar with Inclinator from our house in New Jersey.

Electrical

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