As today’s seniors age and more “baby boomers” retire, the need for quality, affordable housing is paramount on the minds of many American citizens, especially those with mobility handicap issues.
If you are lucky to live long enough, and many of us are, you may eventually lose some mobility requiring the utilization of a wheelchair, not only for access to that home, but also the mobility to utilize and comfortably enjoy that home.
Centennial Homes offers modern manufactured homes and modular homes that are quality built with amenities, health and safety features equal and often superior to comparable site-built homes, with prices up to 50% less per square feet of living space.
At Centennial Homes we offer floor plans and customizable options that address particular requirements and desires and/or those with handicaps, or may have mobility handicaps in the future.
To ensure the quality of lifestyle and independence you have envisioned is maintained, you will want to work with helpful Centennial Homes staff to select from an expansive choice of floor plans to determine what adjustments are available for addressing your existing or potential future handicap needs.
FLOOR PLAN SUGGESTIONS FOR INTERIOR WHEELCHAIR MOBILITY
- An “open concept” floor plan with wheelchair access to every area of home. Bedrooms should be separated and not confined to one area of home, thus eliminating or minimizing hallways.
- Bathrooms areas should be large and open, providing wheelchair radius access to toilet, bath/shower, sink, and linen.
- Exit and passage doors should be unobstructed with a width of at least 36 inches.
- Countertop height can be conveniently adjusted according to the handicap needs of the homeowner. Kneehole access to counters may also be anticipated.
HANDICAP EXTERIOR ACCESS IS AN IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION
As we live longer, many will eventually lose the ability to climb stairs, requiring the necessity for wheelchair accessibility at entry and/or exit to the home. The appropriate time to address that is when you are contemplating the purchase of a new manufactured home and securing a reliable construction company to properly prepare your site to accommodate placement of the home with the specifications you are considering for purchase. As a “full service” retailer, Centennial Homes will coordinate and guide you through this process. Following are three of the on-site installation possibilities you may want to consider.
Conventional manufactured home installation: Typically a manufactured home is installed approximately three feet above grade, necessitating steps at each entry and exit door. When a handicap ramp is used to displace the steps on a home, a 36 foot long ramp is required because each 12 foot horizontal length drops 12 inches, taking up a lot of space. Installing a handicap ramp of this size is only possible if the plot of land being used is large enough to accommodate.
The good news is that there are other alternatives to be considered that might better your situation if limited space is a consideration
Decrease the height of manufactured home: On a placement site that is near level, it is possible to install the home using shorter piers or blocks to a height from ground to about 16 inches, probably the lowest the home can be set above grade to allow for crawl space underneath home. This will require that the tires and axles to be removed from the home chassis. At this height you will be able to use a much shorter ramp. It may also allow you to create a ramp using concrete to a porch landing.
Residential wheelchair lifts: Residential lifts may be less expensive, adapt to high entries, can be used by residents/visitors and their footprint is minimal. Manufacturer or post-production installers may be able to incorporate “lift ready” applications into the manufactured home front entry porches. The only drawback to lifts, they won’t work in an emergency during a power outage.
Whether you or a family member are handicapped or have other requirements, or visualizations of what your dream home should be, Centennial Homes offers a large selection of floor plans that may be customized and personalized to make your new home match your exacting expectations.
