Banks Accessible Bath Project
This family contacted us to help remodel a complex bathroom for their adult son. The son was badly injured in an auto accident and suffered significant paralysis. He could not come home to his parent’s 3-story townhome without major modifications. An elevator was installed (by others) to make 3rd floor living possible. He would occupy the master suite since that bathroom was large and had sufficient floor space for maneuvering around the bath. a ceiling track system was installed to easily transport him from the bedroom to the bathroom.
A shower room with a properly sloped floor was required for caregivers to do his bathing. Unfortunately, a prior contractor had installed the large tile floor and plumbing underneath the shower improperly. When the showers were turned on, water ran out of the bathroom at both ends onto wood flooring at both the bedroom and closet door openings. The floor had already been redone once or twice by this contractor whose most recent solution was to create a built-up hump in the floor tile. This caused all sorts of problems for the caregivers and their use of the shower gurney.
Our crew removed all the floor and wall tile (which was also improperly installed) and started from scratch. We helped the owners make their new tile selections. The floor tile was only available in a large format so our tile crew custom-cut and beveled the edges of two thousand 4” x 4” tiles. Using these tiles and skillfully sloping of the mud-bed, we retiled the floor system with proper sloping toward the center drain from all corners.
A floating bench was installed in the left corner, along with a set of valves and diverter supporting regular and handheld showerheads. An electric towel warmer was relocated from the shower wall and installed in the closet just outside the bath for comfort and convenience. At the opposite end, a 2nd valve and shower head were installed to provide a 2nd, flexible bathing location. The track system was modified to deliver the sling to the new spot desired by the family and caregivers.
A large, recessed and LED-lit shampoo niche was constructed to give the caregivers storage for bathing items within easy reach. The LED lighting is specially made for wet locations and gives excellent lighting for stored items in the bathing area.
The owners are thrilled about the finished product and will soon be able to bring their son home to comfortably occupy this new space in his home.
Mission accomplished!
