Bull Creek
A wheelchair accessible bathroom with its own toilet in Bull Creek
The challenge
What the home needed
For privacy reasons, we will call this the Bull Creek job and not include the client's names. The home is owned by a husband and wife from the southwest of WA. Their Bull Creek home was a secondary home. In the past it had been a rental, but it was to become their primary home as they had gotten older and wanted to be closer to family and medical specialists. They wanted the home modified for ease of use by the husband, who had suffered a stroke and would need to be in Perth regularly for medical appointments. He was in a rehab facility in the southwest while we undertook the work. He was going to be wheelchair bound initially, with the hope of eventually being able to move around without a wheelchair, but would still need good access to a bathroom and toilet regardless.
The ensuite bathroom was too small for potential wheelchair access, and the secondary bathroom had a difficult door to get through with a wheelchair. The solution was to remodel the secondary bathroom and create a new, wider doorway directly opposite the doorway into the passage, creating an easy path from the main living area into a much more spacious bathroom.
What we built
The work, in detail
As well as creating a new entryway into the bathroom, we bricked up the old doorway, stripped out the bathroom, and in place of the bath that was never used, we installed an extra toilet. In many situations, having a third toilet inside the bathroom is a great idea for people who need, or are likely to need, significant help with bathing and toileting in the future. Regardless of the size of the home, most powder rooms are very small and are inadequate for a carer to help with toileting, let alone getting someone in there with a walker or wheelchair.
If the bathroom is big enough, and many are once the bath is removed, a toilet inside the bathroom can make life so much easier for the older person or person with a disability, and for the carer.
Firstly we cut the new door opening, framed it out and installed a sliding door. We then stripped out the tiles, bath and vanity, and bricked up the old door and the bottom section of the window to give us space for the toilet.
Significant plumbing work was required to run a new pan line and cold water line for the toilet, and to move the shower water feeds and shower head.
Next was concreting under the old bath, rendering the old doorway and window section, and white setting the passage side of the old door.
The tiler then screeded the floor, waterproofed the shower, tiled the floor with non-slip tiles and tiled the walls to ceiling height.
We then installed a custom-made vanity, as it needed to fit between two walls. It was then plumbed in along with the toilet and shower system.
Finally, we fitted grab rails and a toilet roll holder, and painted the ceiling, door, door frame and passage.
The outcome
What changed
The original bathroom had a small shower with a hob, a bath that was never used, a narrow doorway that was difficult to get through, and a powder room that was very small.
The home now has a wheelchair accessible bathroom with its own toilet, and a wide doorway with a sliding door directly opposite the passage door, creating great access and ease of use for everyone.
Services used
What we built for this project
Accessible bathrooms
Full accessible bathroom design and build, in-house, by a team that has done this for over ten years across Perth.
About this service
Next step
Want to see what we can do in your home?
Ask us for a quote. Tell us about your home and what is getting difficult - we will tell you what we would change first and what it costs. AccessAble designs and builds everything in-house.
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