Monterey, CA : Home Design Guidelines For Adults With Disabilities

by Richard Kuehn on 05/23/12

View From A Non-Profit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California

At Hands To Help Seniors we are dedicated to helping seniors and adults with disabilities remain at home and independent.  Family members and others helping those in need often don't realize how important it can be to make changes in the person's living quarters as they become weaker and are no longer able to do many of the day-to-day tasks that they once could.  I was happy to see the Housing Alliance for People With Disabilities (HAPD)  promoting their final Universal Design (UD) Best Practices document.  It encourages the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.   For example, if a no-step entry is used, a building becomes accessible to all.

HAPD is a coalition of service providers for people with disabilities formed in order to develop a better understanding of the housing needs of persons with disabilities and age-related impairments and to develop housing opportunities specifically targeted for extremely-low to moderate-income people with disabilities.  It's members include personnel from Alliance on Aging, Central Coast Center for Independent Living (CCCIL), Community Housing Improvement Systems and Planning Association (CHISPA), and the Housing Authority of the County of Monterey.

Please see the below UD concepts and contact Shelly Smith, Project Coordinator at [email protected] if you have any questions.  We applaud HAPD for putting out this easy reference guide for various areas in the house.

General:

.  Accessible path of travel to dwelling

.  Maximum 1/2 inch vertical change in level at thresholds

.  32 inch wide interior doors

.  Strike edge clearance at doors: 18 inch interior and  24 inch exterior doors

.  Lever door hardware

.  Entry door sidelight or high/low peep hole viewer

.  Doorbell at 48 inches maximum height in accessible location at 36 inches

.  Visual fire alarms and visual doorbells

. Switches, outlets and thermostats at 15 inches to 48 inches above the floor

.  Rocker light switches

.  Closet rods and shelves adjustable from 3 feet to 5 feet 6 inches high

.  Residential elevator or lift

 

Bathrooms:

.  Grab bar backing in walls

.  Grab bars

.  5 foot diameter turning circle

.  36 inch by 36 inch or 30 inch by 48 inch clear space

.  Lavatory with lever faucet controls

.  Open-front lavatory with knee space and protection panel

.  Contrasting color edge border at countertops

.  Anti-scald devices on all plumbing fixtures

.  17 inch to 19 inch high water closet seat

.  Roll-in shower in lieu of standard tub or shower

.  Shower stall with 4 inch lip in lieu of standard tub

.  Hand-held adjustable shower head

 

Kitchen:

.  30 inch by 40 inch clear space at appliances or 60 inches diameter clear space for U-shaped kitchen

.  Removable base cabinets at sink

.  Countertop height repositioning to 28 inch high

.  Lever controls at kitchen sink faucet

.  Base cabinets with pull-out shelves

.  Base cabinets with Lazy Susans

.  Contrasting color edge border at countertops

.  Microwave oven at countertop height

.  Under cabinet task lighting

 

Source: City of Irvine and HAPD