Salt Lake City Homes for the Disabled
If you are disabled and are looking for a new home then you will obviously need different housing requirements than someone who is not disabled. I have first hand experience of these requirements due to the fact that my mum is disable and confined to a wheelchair.
Housing for People with Disabilities
Due to the lack of disabled compliant housing along the Wasatch Front, finding a home that meets your needs can be a long, difficult and often frustrating process. There are two options, you can either try to find a home that fully meets your needs, or if this is not possible you may have to find a home that can be easily modified to your needs.
Depending upon the type and degree of disability there are various special requirements that a home may need to have:
- Door Widths - If you use a wheelchair then entrance doors and doors to common access areas have to be wide enough to get through.
- Door Thresholds - Ideally the door threshold should be flat.
- Internal Space - If you are in a wheelchair then the interior of the home should allow for you to easily maneuver throughout the house, this is particularly important for bathrooms.
- Access to Cupboards and Storage - Cupboards (particularly in the kitchen) should be accessible with handles within easy reach from a wheelchair.
- Door Hardware - Exterior and interior doors should have handles that are easily reached from both a wheelchair and by ambulant people. Lever handles maybe preferred to knobs due to the fact that they are easier to turn.
- Handrails - These are required for both the frail and the disabled to negotiate stairs, baths, showers, and changes in level or slopes.
- Ramps - Required by wheelchair users to negotiate slopes where stairs are normally used.