Make Your Home More Livable With These Accessible Senior Home Renovations

There are many senior accessible home improvements that can be incorporated into your home when you remodel. There are five key senior home modifications that should be included that can help make your home more livable. Accessible home remodeling should include all areas in the home. The five main areas that should be considered for accessible home remodeling include the entryways, yard, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom.

Barrier-free living becomes essential as you get older, and one way to accommodate the elderly is to provide no-step thresholds in your home. When a threshold divides rooms, it poses a tripping hazard. No-step threshold eliminate hazards and make your home safer. You can also further incorporate this safety element by having no-step entries at the front and backdoor of your home.

There are a few ways to modify your backyard to make it more elderly accessible. You can make sure that there is a clear path that is free of tripping hazards, which is accessible to a person in a wheelchair. If you have a garden in your yard, you may consider raising the beds so a person does not hurt himself or herself by bending down so low. Raised beds reduce the stress that is placed on your back and makes it so you do not tire as easily.

There are numerous kitchen modifications that provide home mobility solutions. You can adjust the height of the countertops, increase the floor space, enhance the lighting, adjust the height of appliances, install single level facets and design rollout and sliding shelves. All of these options will dramatically improve your kitchen's functionality and maintain an efficient workspace.

In your bedroom, there are several accessible home improvements that can be incorporated to make it more senior friendly. You can add an in-law suite to your home, or make a first floor master bedroom. You may want to increase the floor space for wheelchair accessibility and ensure that the light switches can be reached from a wheelchair. Rocker light switches are easier to turn on than standard switches, so you may consider installing them.

Accessible bathroom modifications can include barrier-free showers and bathtubs. You can install a roll-in shower or a walk-in bathtub. There are numerous style and models that can be customized for your unique style. You may also want to add grab bars in both the shower area and near the facilities. You can also adjust the height of the toilet and adjust the height of the bathroom sink. Bathrooms generally can pose the most safety hazards, since there is a lot of moisture in it. Therefore, you should consider adding in slip-resistant flooring to eliminate the risk of falling.

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Advice For Choosing The Proper Glass For Your Windows

When working on your home, it is great to get the opportunity to customize things to be just the way that you want them. After all, this is your home, and it should be constructed to maximize your quality of life. Believe it or not, things as simple as windows can have a positive or negative effect on your daily life depending on how they are constructed. Some may allow excess heat into the home while others may be more energy efficient. It all depends on the type of glass that is used. Depending on your preferences and needs, you may want to use a variety of types throughout your house.

Are you looking for safety and durability? If so, one of the stronger types of glass out there is tempered. The unique characteristic of this glass is that it is designed to crumble if it is broken. This is a safety feature that prevents glass fragments from scattering throughout your home or your front yard. Tempered glass is heat treated to achieve its outstanding strength and safety. You will usually find it used in storm windows and doors, and it is generally an excellent product to use for energy efficiency.

Sheet glass is a very common material for home use. Windows and doors in older homes were routinely filled with this type of glass. While common, this material does have issues with strength and efficiency. It can easily be broken by a rock, and it will not help you reduce your heating and cooling bills. The great thing about it, however, is that it is very easy to cut and shape. If you are a beginner do-it-yourselfer, then, it might be a good product to work with.

Another popular glass for home use is low emissivity, or low-e glass. The thing that differentiates this material is a special coating on one side of the glass that allows light to pass through while reflecting heat. This glass is used very often by energy conscious individuals, as it can decrease heating and cooling bills by 15-20%.

Far and away, the best glass type to use for safety is wired glass. Windows with this material will maintain their shape even if the glass in them is broken due to steel wire meshes that are incorporated into the glass during production. Not only does the steel wire help keep the pane intact, but it also is a fire-rated material. If your home happened to catch on fire this specialty glass will prevent the spread of fire and smoke, possibly saving your home from destruction. The downsides to this product are cost and aesthetics. Because of the meticulous work needed to install the wire, this type of glass tends to be very pricey. It also looks rather odd with the steel strewn throughout the material.

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Common Garage Door Problems

Garage doors play a vital role of increasing the appeal of a home; however, they tend to have several problems. Here are some of the common garage door problems:

Faulty door opener

This problem is common in automatic doors with electric openers. Here the door may develop issues resulting to failure of opening or closing. The main cause of the problem is the failure of the drive motor or the electrical circuit to control the remote control or the safety sensors.

When this problem develops, you only need to hire the services of a specialist with plenty of experience in rectifying the problem.

Bent doors

It's common to have garage doors bent. The cause for this is cars rolling into the doors. The doors also tend to bend when you try closing them with something in the way. Steel and aluminum doors are the most vulnerable in bending.

To correct the problem you only need to straighten it. If you can't do it on your own, you should seek the services of a professional. In some cases you may find that your door is excessively bent. In such a case, you may be required to replace the panels and slats and the door will look as good as new.

Sticking on tracks

Many garage doors have rollers that run on tracks thus guiding the door as it opens and closes. Due to one reason or another, the roller may get jammed thus preventing the door from moving easily.
The solution to this problem is lubrication of the rollers. In some cases the rollers may have worn off. Here you need to replace the rollers and you will have a perfectly working door.

Failed mechanism

Garage doors are usually balanced by springs or weights. As time moves on, springs tend to break thus resulting to lose of tension. Here you need to hire the services of a professional to replace the springs and restore the lost tension.

In some cases, you may find that your door is counterbalanced by a system of cables and weights. Here you need to hire a professional with ample experience in repairing the cables.

Jammed locks

Locks are vital parts of garage doors and they tend to jam from time to time. The good side is that there are many spares available for almost all types of locks; therefore, all you need to do when your lock gets jammed is to replace the lock. You can also take the lock to a professional who will repair the faulty part.

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