Installing a wet room

By himself. Our issue is the only bath is upstairs....he battles with feeling ill and very dizzy and has had a stair tumble already. We just need a shower downstairs.

Yes after the photo was taken we added waist level grab rails along the back and end so MIL could manoeuvre herself onto the shower chair.

Will they be showering by themselves or with a carer?

I had a shower room installed for my late father, when he was still relatively fit and able. However, as he became more frail I reailised with increasing horror that I'd made some poor design choices.

I did install a floor mounted sink with drawers, so that was very stable, but he use everything the balance and support himself, including the shower screen, the shower head riser, and left the door opening inwards. Outward would have been easier to open when he fell infront of it!

We did find some NRS towel rails that were hidden hand rails, which also looked good, s swapped those for the standard ones we'd originally bought. And an NRS loo roll holder that was also a disguised handrail, also a shower shelf that incorporated a handrail. We changed out the shower riser to one from B&Q that was also a hidden handrail. And just had to keep reminding him not to hold onto the shower screen.

That's similar to what my parents did

We converted PILs bath to a big walk in shower if anyone's interested. We did it over a weekend as the "specialists" wanted £10k!
But to install one of these big low profile shower trays and grab rails is probably cheaper than a wet room.

No it doesn't. But the OT is fixated on rehousing to a home with one level. Also we cannot have a stair lift at all, it's too narrow and curved. I will save to put it in myself but I just want to know has anyone done this before.

If you can I would strongly recommend getting an OT to advise on the layout / style of the bathroom.

FIL had their bathroom redesigned with the intention of making the shower and toilet more accessible to my MIL. Unf he didn’t get advice from an OT, just used a local bathroom fitting company which claimed to have worked for lots of older people.

As a pp says, the space needed to allow for drainage under the shower tray meant it was too high for MIL to step into, and she had to use an extra step, which was beyond her abilities and there was nowhere to fit an external rail 🙄. He chose a mixer bar with no sticky-out handles - she couldn’t grip them, so she couldn’t turn it on or off by herself. And the way the sliding doors were positioned, no one could reach in and turn the shower on without getting soaked themselves. 🙄. What a waste. He really would have benefited from a trained professionals helping to design something that would work for MILs conditions.

Does it have to be a wet room? There are there walk in shower options that may be quicker and cheaper.

For stairlifts, Acorn have been very helpful for us and an awkward staircase.

So we have a downstairs wc across from my parents bedroom our only bath/ shower is upstairs. I have plans and images of wet room done in that size room in a similar house to ours. Occupational health came and had a look. Their answers were...".we can't get a wheel chair in that size wet room if and when your dad will need it." She looked and said "oh u can't have a stair lift either. Maybe on days when dad feels unwell he shouldn't shower and then we can provide a wet chair that he can put in the downstairs WC and strip wash when he feels too ill to go upstairs and to prevent him falling or feeling unwell and maybe from now on limit full showers to twice a week" then she said "since your parents are elderly you should have a bungalow so we can see at getting them rehoused" it took us 3 years and 3 weeks shy of homelessness to get this place and my parents live with us the council knew all of this before they got us this house. Dad's had cancer for 5 years. So I said to her but even though the WC is small is possible. She said "apply to the council and go private our criteria is we need a bigger room". I am really upset and not sure what to do....we plan on being here forever and our tenancy is secure. What I am asking is do councils routinely refuse things like this? All the alteration would require is moving the handbasin to the corner of the room. The loo etc all stays where it is. It's also not a cement floor and the vinyl flooring in that room is already in disrepair exposing the floor. Someone recommended I just do the work and apologise later since no one ever comes here???? Help any advice will be appreciated

Not as far as I can see, these guys do seem to be a family business based in South Wales, its probably worth checking on online reviews, but I can't see any links that are obvious

If you are looking for a shower seat that doesn't look "public service toilet", I'd highly recommend Keuco products. We got this one and it's fantastic. I think it does need to be attached to a solid wall though. It was recommended by our bathroom fitter

https://catalog.keuco.com/engb/details/14980010037

Keuco also have a lot of products that don't look like they are disabled aids. They have shower rail "systems" that look like they are part of the shower itself see here:
https://catalog.keuco.com/engb?query=rail&limit=1-20

Everything we had that was Keuco is beautifully designed and looks great.

Please please please do not use Premier Care / Mobility plus or any companies linked to the same business address without reading some of the online reviews. They have some really worrying business practices, some of which impacted my parents and I would hate someone more vulnerable to be caught by it

When we converted DMs bathroom we ripped out the bath and put a low level shower tray in with a side panel and a short panel hinged to 180° to give access to carers (and keep the spray in the shower). The cubicle was fitted with a fold down shower seat and a grab handle. DM had carers in to help with showering and this worked for them. We did get Social Care to do an assessment but as she was self funding and there was a long wait for the work through them, we got a plumber to do the job.
I don't personally like wet rooms as the water gets everywhere!

We had work done on one of our bathrooms for another disabled family member. This was arranged by Social Care and they used a plumber who specialises in bathrooms for the disabled. The only bit he got someone else in to do was the non slip hospital type flooring.
When DH recommended him to someone else who was having work done privately the guy was too busy with SC work to take on the private contract.

You will find a lot of tradesmen will be unfamiliar with the vat exemption system for disabilities - a lot of it is not black and white. We actually had a builder refuse to quote for our extension because he feared any comeback if he got the VAT exempt element wrong. Should be slightly more clear cut with an additional bathroom specifically for a disabled person though - but study the guidance notes carefully.

I will also get stairlift company round to assess, but social services said the staircase wasn't suitable - it has 2 turns in it and the 2 bathrooms are on landings off each turn. You may be pleasantly surprised. My Dad’s had one turn and a change of slope. I’ve seen stairlifts with a lift up section of rail to go past a doorway.

Consider getting a quote on a reconditioned stairlift. They’re generally used for only a year or two. Even with a bespoke rail, a reconditioned seat will save money.

You can request another SS visit if his health/mobility has deteriorated since the last one. I

A wet room probably wouldn't as it's not disability specific Does it have to be disability specific or simply specific to his disability needs? You don’t have to pay VAT on wider fitting shoes if they’re required because of an illness/disability (oedema) rather then just having wide feet.

There’s various ways of being VAT exempt. The OP I think was asking about VAT exemption for medical reasons (eg the wide shoes above, and why a stairlift could be exempt). The link is about the now-discontinued VAT exemption for work on a listed building.

I hope that works for him

DA is in the process of having one fitted now. An OT referred them.

Is it really a good idea for the bed to be downstairs? This seems to be the default option, even when the only toilet is upstairs. My mum was put in a bed downstairs which she could not get in or out of, she may as well have been in her bedroom. Access to the toilet/bathroom is far more helpful to the disabled person than access to the kitchen imo. I wouldn't worry about it being aesthetically pleasing for future sale, I think the most noticeably "disabled" features are handles, rails and shower seat, all of which can be removed easily enough but the biggie would be the floor. it seems to be very common for purchasers to replace bathrooms anyway and I'd be surprised if only one bathroom in a whole house of a disabled person is all that would need renewing. My BIL had one of those arse washing toilets in his!

Unfortunately when he was ill recently he refused to let the carers give him a bed bath.

I think there are a number of things here - one is establishing a relationship of trust with a carer. This usually requires the same person attending over a period of time to get to know them.

Another, sad to say, is decline over time. He may be resistent now but if he becomes bed bound and using pads rather than being able to get up to go to the loo, he won't have any option. At this point it can require two people and it is usually possible to clean someone even if they are resistent if there are two people.

Hopefully he won't get to that stage but you never know I suppose. Aging is tough. Caring is tough. My user name was chosen for a reason.