Universal Design, Barrier-Free, Accessible Design

[ Universal Design Project Gallery ]
[ Universal Design Major Addition Project ]

Albright Remodeling helps individuals and families adapt their homes to meet changes in lifestyle, health, or mobility caused by aging, accidents, or health issues.

Whether installing wheelchair, mobility scooter, or walker ramps to renovating bathrooms and kitchens for universal access or fully remodeling or building an addition, Albright Remodeling’s results allow the affected individual to live at home with as much self-sufficiency and safety as possible.

Shared Housing Option

For some families, remodeling the home of an adult child or other family member to accommodate an elder is a good alternative to look into. For more information, please read our article, "Shared Housing: An alternative to nursing homes or assisted living."

Staying At Home

We help people:

• Make it easier to accomplish activities of daily living (dressing, eating, bathing).
• Live in a safer environment and help prevent accidents for the elderly or less mobile resident.
• Increase their independence and live more comfortably.

A Comfortable, Appealing, Supportive Living Environment

The options available are almost limitless and often are described by terms like universal design, barrier-free design, or special needs. Regardess of how the need is described, Albright Remodeling has the resources (architects, financing, and years of building expertise) to assess your situation and create the environment that meets your needs.

Below we show several examples of our work with chair lifts, wheelchair ramps, and ADA-compliant bathrooms below.

Albright Remodeling has also added bedrooms, family rooms, home offices, three season and sunrooms, hot tub rooms, garages, over-the-top additions,and whole-house extreme makeovers. Check out our remodeling projects, too.
 

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Motorized Chair Lift; Wheelchair, Mobility Scooter, and Walker Ramps; ADA-Compliant Bathrooms

Some of the projects below are also featured in our in-law suites section.

We repeat them here to highlight the handicapped accessible amenities and structural changes installed by Albright Remodeling. These include ADA-rated showers with seats, handicapped accessible toilets, grab bars, and wheelchair ramps.
 

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Architect: David Burrows This 856-square-foot in-law space features consists of approximately half new construction and half remodeling of exising space. Included in the floor plan is a kitchen, bedroom, sitting room, universal-design-compliant bathroom with both tub and shower, and a wheelchair lift from garage floor level to living space floor level. Please view the entire aging-in-place remodeling project to view all the rooms affected by the remodeling.   [ In-law Suite Floor Plan 4 ]
Universal design roll-in shower has a very low threshold, fold-down seat, waist-high controls, anti-scald valve, integral assist bars, movable hand-held shower head, and an integral dome light for extra illumination when the shower curtain is closed.	A tub with assist bars and anti-scald valve.
The sink provides ample clearance for a wheelchair and features an anti-scald shield to protect the user from hot pipes.	A lever-style faucet control allows easy operation and meets Universal Design guidelines requiring less than five pounds of pressure to operate.
Comfort-height toilet with assist bar.	A wheelchair power lift allows easy access from the garage level to the main floor level.
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This project was the addition of a completely new second story over an existing home. Work began the day after Labor Day 2007, and the second story structure was installed, weather-tight, in four working days. Total construction time was forty-three working days. Below we show the motorized chair lift in the stairwell leading to the new second floor as well as the universal design shower installed as part of the project. The full photo gallery for this second-story addition project is on our "Over the Top" page.
A powerlift chair provides access to the new second floor addition for anyone needing help climbing stairs.	A Universal Design shower includes a seat and waist-level controls.
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This addition includes a living room, master bedroom, accessible bathroom, its own entrance with a sidewalk leading from the driveway, and a new first floor laundry shared with the existing household.   [ In-law Suite Floor Plan 3 ]
A separate entrance to the addition, with its own sidewalk leading from the driveway.	A set of French doors leads to the addition, replacing an old sliding glass door.
The living room, with an additional large closet for storage.	A spacious master bedroom with a large closet.
Accessible shower controls.	A Universal Design shower with a fold-down seat and readily accessible shower control.
A flat sill allows easy access to the shower with a wheelchair or walker.	The new first floor laundry facility is shared by the new addition and the existing household.
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This Universal Design Addition Project shows a complete large house addition for a client who had been paralyzed in a car accident. The client lives virtually independently in the addition yet has support nearby in the original house. The handicapped accessible renovations included installation of an elevator, a new garage with a ramp for access to the vehicle, a large exercise room to help with rehabilitation, and a customized bath with space for a Hoyer lift to assist the owner in moving between the tub and the dressing table. A set of "before" and "after" exterior photos is shown below. For more photos of this successful project, please view the Universal Design Addition Project.
BEFORE	AFTER
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This 650-square-foot addition features a full basement (with exit window) for added useful space, plus a separate one-car garage. There is a laundry area, sitting room, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom.   [ In-law Suite Floor Plan 1 ]
The entire basement was finished to provide a space for hobby enjoyment.	A motorized chair lift provides access from the living quarters above.
A full kitchen allows the owners to prepare their own meals.	A set of sliding glass doors off the living area leads to a deck shared with the main house.
The door at the end of this laundry hallway leads to the main house. The door on the left leads to a separate single car garage adjoining the two car garage of the main house.
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Architect: Art Renauto This in-law addition includes 620 square feet of living area. It comprises a living room, kitchen, bedroom and handicap-accessible full bathroom. There is a handicap-accessible ramp for entrance to the addition and the main house.
The exterior of the addition, showing the door access to the deck, shared with the main house.	A handicap-accessible ramp provides wheelchair and walker access to the house. The ramp is made of maintenance-free Trex decking and also features a maintenance-free vinyl rail system.
A close-up of the porch, with access to both the addition and the main house.	The bedroom occupies a 12’ x 12’ area with a 5-foot closet.
The bathroom features an ADA-rated handicap-accessible shower with seat and grab-rails and a handicap-accessible toilet with grab-bar. It still provides plenty of room for a 48-inch vanity and sink top.	The kitchen area adjoins the sitting room.
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Architect: Art Renauto This project has 525 square feet of living area with a full bath, sitting room, bedroom and shared dining area. It also has a handicap-accessible ramp for entrance to the addition, and separate heating and air-conditioning.   [ In-law Suite Floor Plan 2 ]
The existing dining area was expanded to form a space large enough for a shared dining space. The entrance to the addition is through the doorway on the right.	This bath, while not fully ADA-rated like that above, still allows space for a shower chair.
A comfortable bedroom with its own closet.	The sitting room. A door to the left of the picture leads to a shared deck and the ramp access.

 

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5205 Johnson Hill Drive, Canandaigua, NY 14424
Cell (585) 230-4280 :: Fax (585) 396-5879
www.AlbrightBuild.com