Can I Age In Place With Stairs?

[Music Lover]

+1@Rodi, stairs works until they don’t.

+1@ Music Lover, the cost of moving may be greater than the cost of a chair. Outdoor upkeep and maintenance can be contracted.

+1@ pacergal, look at remodel cost for bathroom downstairs. With limited mobility the downstairs can always be rearranged temporarily to acomódate a bed but not a bathroom.

Regarding a main floor bathroom, quite often there is enough space under the stairs for a small half bath, of course that being dependent on layout and access to plumbing, etc. But you really only need 3' x 5' for a sink and toilet.

A hide-a-bed or Murphy bed can easily be added to a living room and not take up space, and not only is useful for overnight guests but in the event of an injury that puts you on crutches for a while you won't be inconvenienced.

 

[RetMD21]

I like 2 stories but twice within the last 2 years we have had situations where 85+ parents could have benefitted from a short stay for medical issues if we had one bedroom and a full bath on the main floor. Something could happen to one of us to make the stairs a problem at least temporarily. I don't know what OP should do. If I had perfect foresight a couple of decades ago I might have opted for a different configuration.

 

[Delaney]

I agree that a bathroom on the main floor would be ideal. The only location on my main floor would be to put it where my dining room is currently located. That is a possibility because I rarely use my dining room. Doing more than a half bathroom would be difficult, but perhaps a wet room would fit. I need to think if this is a possibility.

Perhaps a small room like this one with a sliding barn door:

 

[harley]

We looked into the chair lift thing for my Mom. But her stairs were pretty narrow, and getting past the chair when you weren't using it would be difficult. Also, another frined of hers had gotten one, but said it was so slow that all she used it for was to carry up the groceries. She would rather struggle up the stairs on foot than wait that long. I guess if you were truly unable to go up it would be a solution.

It might be possible to add an elevator to your home. We were looking into that for my Mom before it became obvious she wasn't going back. It's not cheap, and it takes up space, but it was a better option for her than the chair. We were going to bring it up into one of the spare bedrooms.

Keep looking, as far as moving goes. You have time now, so maybe find a real estate agent out that way, give them your requirements, and wait for the perfect fit. If they bombard you with obviously unacceptable properties, dump them and try someone else. There are agents that are willing to just keep an ear out for the right place for a potential customer.

I agree that a bathroom on the main floor would be ideal. The only location on my main floor would be to put it where my dining room is currently located. That is a possibility because I rarely use my dining room. Doing more than a half bathroom would be difficult, but perhaps a wet room would fit. I need to think if this is a possibility.

Perhaps a small room like this one:

That would be a great option too. I think dining rooms are a waste of space, personally. But even a half bath would be OK in an emergency. Sponge baths work, better than nothing.

 

[ERD50]

We are doing some house shopping, and will be buying a ranch, or consider a 2 story/split if it is set up for one floor living.

I need a basement for hobbies, so there will be stairs. I'm thinking about having a chair lift put in, not so much for me, I can still handle stairs just fine, but for heavy things I might need to carry up/down those stairs. Some heavy things are also awkward, and holding something in one hand and grabbing a railing with the other throws me off balance and could trigger a back episode. I can see using the chair lift to do the object lifting, while I guide it.

-ERD50

 

[harley]

We are doing some house shopping, and will be buying a ranch, or consider a 2 story/split if it is set up for one floor living.

I need a basement for hobbies, so there will be stairs. I'm thinking about having a chair lift put in, not so much for me, I can still handle stairs just fine, but for heavy things I might need to carry up/down those stairs. Some heavy things are also awkward, and holding something in one hand and grabbing a railing with the other throws me off balance and could trigger a back episode. I can see using the chair lift to do the object lifting, while I guide it.

Basements have to have doors. If you get a walk out it would usually be easier to bring heavy stuff in the back way. If it's a walk up, forget it. Making that tight turn through the door with a 12' 2x4 would be pretty ridiculous.

 

[meierlde]

A stair chair does work well with a straight staircase. (My mother used one for several years )Note that the chair may fold up, and it is possible to park it at the bottom when not in use to give more space to walk around it. Now in addition you do need to consider the door widths to bathrooms and bedrooms so that if you are confined to a wheel chair you can get in. (36 inch wide doors and if remodeling make the doors pocket or barn door style doors so the full width of the opening is available.

 

[NoiseBoy]

I have a lot of experience with the OP's situation with the main exception being that my parents were together in the home. Same deal; all bedrooms and only bathroom on the second floor and no place to install a main floor bathroom. The house was built in ~1890 and still had the gas light fixtures and the knob and tube wiring that replaced it (disconnected.)

My parents stayed in our family home until they were 89. Mom finally made the decision to move to a 3 BDRM apartment in a building with an elevator, onsite laundry, and underground parking. She was familiar with the building from visiting friends. The move was really hard on Dad, but other than their new apartment not being handicap accessible, which became an issue when Dad's arthritis put him into a wheelchair, it was a very good move for them.

When they finally moved, there were many comments about how having to climb those stairs everyday may have helped keep them mobile. There's no way to know the answer to that of course, but for the OP I think that there is no need to hurry this decision. The key lesson learned from my parent's situation is that we should move to a place that is, or can be made, handicap accessible. Things like wider doorways, no-step showers etc. I do subscribe to the notion that having to move around daily to take care of the house and go to the market does contribute to a higher quality, and possibly longer life.

Fun fact: Due to 24 years of the senior freeze, their property tax bill in 2011 was only $250! The current bill for their home is $1,400.

 

[Music Lover]

Basements have to have doors. If you get a walk out it would usually be easier to bring heavy stuff in the back way. If it's a walk up, forget it. Making that tight turn through the door with a 12' 2x4 would be pretty ridiculous.

Most basements around here are below grade, no doors or walkouts.

When I renovated my basement several years ago I added two 54" wide windows. One of them was next to the driveway so it was very easy to get 12' drywall sheets into the basement.

 

[ERD50]

Most basements around here are below grade, no doors or walkouts.

When I renovated my basement several years ago I added two 54" wide windows. One of them was next to the driveway so it was very easy to get 12' drywall sheets into the basement.

Yes, but a few homes are built on enough of a slope to allow an "English Basement", which in Chicago-land means a part of the basement has windows about half-way down, but no walk out. If you have an outside door, that's a walk-out basement.

Big windows would help.

-ERD50

 

[LRDave]

Our washer/dryer are the only critical things downstairs, so we could go maybe 3-4 weeks wearing all the clothes we still have, flipping underwear in/out, etc.,

Then one of our sons could come and do laundry all day for a day every few months....

 

[harley]

Most basements around here are below grade, no doors or walkouts.

When I renovated my basement several years ago I added two 54" wide windows. One of them was next to the driveway so it was very easy to get 12' drywall sheets into the basement.

Yes, but a few homes are built on enough of a slope to allow an "English Basement", which in Chicago-land means a part of the basement has windows about half-way down, but no walk out. If you have an outside door, that's a walk-out basement.

Big windows would help.

Wow! I guess things are different in other places. Or maybe it's dependent on the age of the home. Anywhere I ever lived fire code has required basements to have exits.

 

[Jerry1]

Wow! I guess things are different in other places. Or maybe it's dependent on the age of the home. Anywhere I ever lived fire code has required basements to have exits.

Not sure about anywhere else but in Michigan, unless the basement has living space, it doesn’t need and typically doesn’t have an exit unless you call climbing out of a very small window, egress. This typically comes up when someone wants to put a bedroom in the basement. In that case, code requires egress. Not sure about something like a sitting area (tv watching).

 

[marko]

FWIW:
Mom is now 91 and lives in a three story home. Bed rooms and bath on the third floor, bath on the first. She climbs the stairs up and down about 5 or 6 times a day with an arthritic knee.

I told her we could 1) get her a stair lift or 2) modify her first floor for her to spend more time there.

Her response: "It's the only exercise I get! (leave me alone!!")

 

[Music Lover]

Not sure about anywhere else but in Michigan, unless the basement has living space, it doesn’t need and typically doesn’t have an exit unless you call climbing out of a very small window, egress. This typically comes up when someone wants to put a bedroom in the basement. In that case, code requires egress. Not sure about something like a sitting area (tv watching).

Almost every house around here has a basement, they're already digging 6' for the foundation to get below the frost line so it's fairly inexpensive to go another 2-3' to double the living space. Also, the land is mostly flat and although walk-out basements exist, they are rare.

The same egress rules apply, a bedroom must have a legal egress window but a rec room or TV room doesn't need one. A legal egress window here must be at least 3.77 sq ft with no side less than 15". So 15" x 36.xx" is okay but not 15" x 15".

 

[ERD50]

Almost every house around here has a basement, they're already digging 6' for the foundation to get below the frost line so it's fairly inexpensive to go another 2-3' to double the living space. Also, the land is mostly flat and although walk-out basements exist, they are rare.

The same egress rules apply, a bedroom must have a legal egress window but a rec room or TV room doesn't need one. A legal egress window here must be at least 3.77 sq ft with no side less than 15". So 15" x 36.xx" is okay but not 15" x 15".

Around here, I'm pretty sure that at least one egress window is required, whether there is any living space or not (we have one). A separate room may require an egress as well, pretty sure that is a requirement for a bedroom.

-ERD50

 

[RunningBum]

The StairSteady thing looks ok, unless you have to carry something up or down. What then? Maybe you could figure out some kind of a pulley system for laundry, unless that's on the upper level.

As you age, I think it becomes more likely that you'll have at least temporary conditions that will make stairs hard. I've had a knee surgery, back issues, and groin pulls that really made stairs hard. I'd either move into my main floor bedroom or try to limit the stairs to once or twice per day until better. There's probably also a better chance of falling as you age. Other than that, climbing stairs is probably good exercise.

All that said, I wouldn't live in a house where I needed to climb stairs every time I needed to use the bathroom. Figure out what's best (stairsteady, stair chair, elevator, etc), put in a bathroom downstairs, or start making plans to move elsewhere. That's my opinion.

 

[MarieIG]

As a number of posters have said, it works until it doesn't.

If we choose a "forever" home, if it is two stories, it will need to have complete living on the first floor including a first floor master and first floor handicap accessible bathroom.

The bathroom needs to be wide enough so that someone using a walker can get in there comfortably. There will need to be a seat in the shower, and wheelchair access also would need to be considered.
-
In addition, you need to be able to roll into the house.

One grandmother was able to walk up and down the stairs until the day she died - she preferred to use the first floor bathroom; but my father gradually became paralyzed.

We were able to set up "home living" for him on the first floor. We had to have him taken to the hospital from time to time, and he needed to be taken out and brought home by stretcher which they were able to roll into the house. (He was transported by ambulance - not ambulette - because at that point he was unable to sit.)

I am not a great fan of home elevators (unless you are living in a mansion, have round the clock staff, the elevator is maintained with by a service company on a monthly basis, you have an emergency response system in place, and of course it is not so small that it's claustrophobic if you get stuck in it). I do not have the same concerns for a nice condo or apartment building, CCRC, where the elevators are (presumably), larger, monitored, maintained under a service contract w/ emergency response and inspections built in. (There is more involved, but I'll stop there.)

So, you are young and fit, and have plenty of time to decide exactly what you want in a "forever" home. You can take your time to pick out the perfect place. Perhaps you will be able to live in this home and navigate those stairs without issue into your late 90s - but one doesn't necessarily know.

As an aside, I became sick in early March (some type of mysterious virus which was not the flu - long story). My side effects included dizziness, and I temporarily lived on one floor and needed support going up and down the stairs (when I went for medical visits and subsequently to the hospital) so that I wouldn't fall . . .

 

[Letj]

We looked into the chair lift thing for my Mom. But her stairs were pretty narrow, and getting past the chair when you weren't using it would be difficult. Also, another frined of hers had gotten one, but said it was so slow that all she used it for was to carry up the groceries. She would rather struggle up the stairs on foot than wait that long. I guess if you were truly unable to go up it would be a solution.



It might be possible to add an elevator to your home. We were looking into that for my Mom before it became obvious she wasn't going back. It's not cheap, and it takes up space, but it was a better option for her than the chair. We were going to bring it up into one of the spare bedrooms.



Keep looking, as far as moving goes. You have time now, so maybe find a real estate agent out that way, give them your requirements, and wait for the perfect fit. If they bombard you with obviously unacceptable properties, dump them and try someone else. There are agents that are willing to just keep an ear out for the right place for a potential customer.







That would be a great option too. I think dining rooms are a waste of space, personally. But even a half bath would be OK in an emergency. Sponge baths work, better than nothing.

And a bidet can always be installed very easily on the toilet.

 

[Boho]

I'm against an all-or-nothing approach. I think a temporary last minute solution (staying with a relative or using a portable toilet) is reasonable while waiting for a stair lift to be installed, and waiting would allow you to have the latest technology (the latest battery technology for backup power, for example). At a few thousand dollars, it may be worth getting the stair lift even if you intend to move shortly thereafter.

Even if you sacrifice your dining room and build a bathroom in the near future, that doesn't mean you're done preparing. I have a pee bottle (that I forgot about when my back went out so I used a bucket in the morning), a battery operated fan, a plastic barrel for emergency water, and I dream of a vehicle with enough interior height for a portable toilet. My building doesn't have an emergency generator and I'd love to have one for myself but a gas generator on my terrace probably wouldn't be acceptable to the neighbors. A home owner probably should have one though.

 

[O2Bfree]

My mom had a lift chair in both homes she and dad lived in since their middle age. Dad put one in the big custom house they had built in their late 50s because mom already had arthritis, so he was future-proofing. But, yeah, the thing was slow so she used it only for groceries. It wasn't too much in the way because the stairway was pretty wide, but their next house had a narrower stairway. Dad again had a chair installed, and it was kind of in the way. He ended up breaking a hip on the steps outside, and used the chair more than mom, who, in spite of arthritis, again used it mainly for groceries.

Watching dad get into the chair in the second house with the narrower, steeper stairs gave me the chills. Looked like it'd be just a easy to fall down the stairs trying to turn and sit down in the thing as walking down.

 

[6miths]

Almost every house around here has a basement, they're already digging 6' for the foundation to get below the frost line so it's fairly inexpensive to go another 2-3' to double the living space. Also, the land is mostly flat and although walk-out basements exist, they are rare.

The same egress rules apply, a bedroom must have a legal egress window but a rec room or TV room doesn't need one. A legal egress window here must be at least 3.77 sq ft with no side less than 15". So 15" x 36.xx" is okay but not 15" x 15".

The building code is similar in Ontario and in my experience in most of the rest of Canada. Almost all homes have basements (I can't recall ever being in one that didn't) and virtually none have exit doors unless built on a slope and have a walkout. Many older homes don't meet the current code that says there must be an egress window of an appropriate size.

 

[Katsmeow]

Thank you so much for the feedback.

I completely agree a home without stairs would be MUCH better. I WISH I would have bought a single story house, but I wasn't even thinking about the issues of aging when I bought years ago. Also, now that I am looking for single story homes, I am finding very few of them in Western PA.

Eventually, mowing the lawn and shoveling snow will become an issue too. I've concluded that my next home will probably be a maintenance-free apartment or condo, but I HATE the idea of moving until I have no choice and my dog will really miss my backyard, so I'd like to do what I can to stay where I am even for say 10 years.

If you are healthy with no mobility problems then 10 years may be possible. As far as moving to an apartment or other condo there may be other options:

1. Move to an area with more single story homes. That may not be possible due to wanting to be close to family or friends but it is an option.

2. Look for patio or garden homes or zero lot homes. In some areas there are single story houses that basically have little yard. There is often a small back yard for pets or a small garden or sitting area, etc. Often the front yard maintenance is handled by the HOA if there is one. Personally I would go for that before doing a condo.

3. If there are truly no single story houses look for 2 store houses that have all needed stuff on the first floor. It is fairly common where I like that the master bedroom, bath, kitchen, living room, den are on the first floor and the second floor is only secondary bedrooms. That might be an option. The second floor rooms could be used as guest rooms or for other lesser used rooms. Also some places have 1 1/2 story houses where basically everything is on the first flood except maybe one gameroom or one bedroom/bath upstairs. That would also work.

Oh -- if you have osteoporosis or are likely to develop it I recommend against stairs. In that situation you really want to avoid broken bones.

Given the description of your house -- to me it would be so long term unacceptable that I would not go to the expense and aggravation of remodeling if possible. We did a major remodel of our house that finished about a year ago. That 6 months was such a major disruption. It was worth it to us as we had bought a house that met our criteria for a long term home. But in many instances if a house is just not majorly perfect it truly is easier and less expensive in the long run.

Oh -- for people who hate to move -- moving when you are younger is likely to be easier. I don't hate to move and am fine with it. DH hates to move and as he gets older he hates it more and finds it harder to deal with. You will likely dislike moving less sooner rather than later.....

 

[Music Lover]

Since you have stairs now, use them to your advantage and come up with a workout program that involves climbing the stairs. Some people buy stepping machines...you don't need to. The stronger your legs are the easier it is to climb stairs (among other things).

 

[ncbill]

Can you modify your existing home to live on one level?

My two-story townhouse has the laundry room downstairs, but these models also have a large master bathroom with a "garden tub" plus free-standing shower.

So some of my older neighbors have removed the tub for a walk-in, curb-less shower & removed the freestanding shower to use that space for a washer & dryer...presto, no need to go downstairs.