Super Handyman: Tips to help you adapt your home as you age

More and more, we are seeing people opt to stay in their homes as they age, rather than move to retirement homes and the like. You can do a lot of things to your home to make it more accessible and, in most cases, spend a lot less money than you would if you moved. Here are some guidelines you can use to adapt your home for easier accessibility.

Doorways are the first thing to take a look at. You need a minimum width of 32 inches to get a wheelchair through a doorway. Most entry doors will accommodate this, but many interior doors will not. It is possible you may be able to remove the door and jambs to increase the opening.

Door handles should be lowered to 36 inches off the floor. You should use lever handles rather than knobs.

Rugs and floor mats are not a good idea, and should be removed. They just get in the way.

Switches and plugs should be moved to the 40-inch level, if possible. Timers and motion detectors can be used to operate lights where this is not possible to do. Remember The Clapper? It is still around and works pretty well.

Thresholds for doorways and showers need to be minimized or eliminated.

Adding a hand-held showerhead, attached to the shower wall at about 36 inches, is very helpful, as is a shower seat or portable chair. Grab bars also are important for stability and transfers. Don’t forget to add a holder for shampoo, soap and other accessories.

Bathroom sinks need to be at about 34 inches high or lower. If you can manage this, also remove the vanity so you can slide in under the countertop. A tilted or adjustable mirror is important as well.

Front-loading washing machines and dryers are helpful.

In the kitchen, open shelving, side-by-side refrigerator, front controls on a range and lower countertops are helpful.

For other guidelines and helpful information, go to www.ada.gov.

Wire cuttersYou might not realize it, but wire can be used to cut materials that you use in many of your projects. By holding the wire so that it#146;s stretched tightly between your hands, you can saw it back and forth over things like PVC pipe, some adhesives and even some woods. You can use some ropes the same way. Cut plastic pipe in the ground without having to dig up the whole pipe. Cut mirrored tiles off the wall by sawing through the adhesive backing. Wear gloves to protect your hands. Remember, you saw it here first!Carpentry cleanup If you have a table saw, then you have a super toy, or #147;shop aid,#148; for all kinds of projects. It also makes a lot of sawdust. Most have a dust collector. If you don#146;t have one for your table saw, or for many other dust-producing tools, you can make one from a trash bag. Just clamp it into place over the dust exhaust port or the bottom of the table to collect the fallout as you work. Cleanup will go a lot faster this way!Super hintsŸ Cooking oil is a pretty good hand cleaner for oily, greasy messes. Just follow up with soap and water. Your skin won#146;t get burned, but it will get clean!Ÿ I love to shop at flea markets, garage sales and thrift stores. Consequently, all of my patio furniture comes from different places and doesn#146;t match at all. I bought some patio-furniture spray paint and painted it all the same green color. Now it does match and, surprisingly, looks like a full #147;set#148; of furniture. The spray paint cost more than some of the chairs, too!Ÿ A few leftover charcoal briquettes can make great fresheners for refrigerators, freezers and other dank places. The charcoal absorbs moisture and odors. Don#146;t use the kind with lighter fluid in it, though.Q. When we moved into our new home, it came with a refrigerator, so we put our other one in the garage and used it for soft drinks and such. Now the #147;new#148; one is broken and we want to move the old one into the house and use it as our primary fridge. It#146;s beige, but our kitchen has black appliances. Can we paint it to match?A. Of course! Go to your hardware store or home center and check out the paints for appliances. There are several brands and even some spray paints you can use. They work well, and with a refrigerator, you shouldn#146;t have any problems with heat or too much wear. Good luck, and nice recycling job!Q. We put a ceiling fan on our patio to help cool things down on hot days. It#146;s worked well, but the blades are starting to droop. I guess the humidity has done that. What should we do?A. If the fan still works, keep it. You can buy replacement blades at your home center. They make blades for outdoor use, and these are more impervious to the weather. You can change the whole look of the room with new blades. While you are at it, clean and lubricate the fan motor, just to keep it in good working order. Vacuum out all the dust and use some WD-40 on the motor shaft to protect it.Q. I have a planting of decorative trees along my front driveway. They look great, but drop red pods all over the concrete. When they sit there for a while or when a car runs over them, they make horrible stains that are almost impossible to remove. I#146;ve tried various cleaners and scrubbing with detergent, and nothing will work. What would you recommend?A. Have you tried a power washer yet? You can rent or borrow one, or just have someone come and do it. If this is such an ongoing problem, you may want to invest in a small unit. They work quite well. Most come with a variety of cleaners. Use a concrete cleaner, and you should be able to get the stains up. Once the drive is clean, use a penetrating sealer to block out future stains. You probably will have to do this once a year, but it will protect the surface.Reader tipsŸ You#146;ll love this idea. I have a fertilizer spreader that I use on my yard a couple of times a year. If you don#146;t get the lawn food on just right, it can make stripes on your yard. (Trust me, I know.) I added a bag of flour to the fertilizer and mixed it in well. Then I used the spreader. The flour mixes with the food, and you can see exactly where you#146;ve been and where you haven#146;t. The flour goes away when you water, and my yard has no stripes!Ÿ I inherited some very nice furniture from my grandparents. I invested in some glass tops for these pieces to protect the surfaces from water rings, scratches and other abuse. The glass tops were put in place with some rubber feet between the wood and the glass so they won#146;t slide. Everything looks really nice, and with the glass in place, I think it will stay that way! My wife likes the ease of cleaning these surfaces now, too.Ÿ We had a bad storm blow through our area last week, and we ended up with a broken window. I called the guy to come fix it, but we had to wait for two days. I bought a roll of plain contact paper and covered the whole window with that. It kept the window from cracking further, and kept the wind and rain out of the house until the repairman could get here to replace the window. I plan to keep a roll of this stuff handy for other things that might come up. It sticks to anything and is large enough to cover a good-size area.Ÿ I built a fire pit this past fall. We used it a lot last year, and we got a lot of compliments from our neighbors. We used large concrete blocks as the base. I had some left over, so I stacked them in the corner of the garage. The holes were all lined up, and I started sticking my yard tools into the holes. With six stacked up, I can put several of my tools into each hole, and they stay there without tipping over. It#146;s portable too!Ÿ I love my new automatic winding hose reel. It#146;s so neat. I mounted an old soap dish on the wall next to the reel. I keep a hand sprayer and some extra washers in it for when I need to install them on the hose. It#146;s very handy having them right there, and they can drain in the dish when I#146;m finished using them.ShoptalkŸ You#146;ve probably seen the fake rocks that hold a door key so you can get into your home when you are locked out. They work quite well, but some are pretty obvious and can let just about anyone into your home. A better way to go is the RocLok Hide a Key. This faux rock comes in a variety of styles and sizes, from four pounds up to 12. And it fits right into your landscape without detection. The biggest advantage is that it also keeps your key safe with a combination lock built into the rock. The combination can be set by you and will keep your key safe, even if someone accidentally finds it. Check it out at www.roclok.com and locate a local dealer while you are there.Ÿ The new Dremel Saw-Max is a small, hand-held power saw that allows for very precise, clean cuts on a wide variety of materials, including tile, sheet metal, plastic and laminates. With cuts up to three-quarters of an inch deep, you can replace flooring, remodel a bathroom or kitchen and lots more. Look for it early next month in your hardware store or home center. To see it online, go to www.dremel.com.Ÿ Write to Al and Kelly Carrell in care of the Daily Herald, P.O. Box 280, Arlington Heights, IL 60006 or visit the Carrells#146; website at thesuperhandyman.com.$PHOTOCREDIT_ON$© 2011, Cowles Syndicate Inc.$PHOTOCREDIT_OFF$