Accessibility

• Accessibility: accessories first and foremost

It doesn’t take a lot, just common sense and well-chosen accessories, to make a bathroom safe so that everyone, regardless of their age and degree of mobility, can feel at ease.

Are you planning on remodelling all or part of your bathroom? Think safety! This long-neglected aspect of comfort is paramount and allows everyone – seniors, the injured or ill, pregnant women, etc. – to use the bathroom independently. Beyond disability, which requires specific technical adjustments, it is about making the bathroom easier to use for everyone, whatever their age.

An accessible and practical bathtub

Of course, when it comes to accessibility, a walk-in shower is ideal. But only the bathtub lets you really relax the muscles and also bathe the little ones. To make sure it is safe, it is important to firstly improve access.
With a step, it is no longer necessary to step over the edge of the tub to get in or out. Similarly, a properly placed bath board facilitates access and lets you wash yourself sitting down, if you are unable to do so standing up or lying down. One or two well-positioned grab bars, especially for getting up, complete the range.
If the bathtub is also used for the shower, it is important to choose a suitable model. It must have a larger area with a flat, non-slip bottom. It must be equipped with a flush plug even when it’s open, and a swivelling bath screen for easy access.

A non-slip shower

A shower which is flush with the floor and measures at least 120 cm x 80 cm is accessible to everyone. However, a specific non-slip coating on the tray is necessary: ceramic or reinforced acrylic (Flight type) or other suitable flooring. It is also important to equip it with handrails and a seat, which may be built in or not, 50 cm or 60 cm high. Other possibilities include a shower head which can easily be height-adjusted on the shower bar and tap handles that are easy to handle, even with soapy hands. An easy-to-use, high-quality door, whose opening mode suits the layout of the bathroom, is also required.

A water point for everyone

A step allows children to brush their teeth and access the taps independently. As some seniors enjoy being able to sit at the water point, a seat on wheels can be provided (which often also serves as storage) and the bottom of the basin can be replaced with storage – columns and other cabinets – on both sides.

Sitting

It is always nice to be able to sit once out of the bath or shower. A bench or a stable stool lets you do this. It is even more pleasant to use if installed.