Garage conversion advice

[bojo7]

Hi, this board has been very useful to me and I am looking ahead (I am mid 60s). I have seen my elderly mum struggle without a downstairs loo. She had one fitted recently but still uses a stairlift to access her bedroom and has to negotiate a couple of steps at night for nighttime bathroom visits. She manages quite well but I think any further decline in mobility would stop her living independently.

I have a downstairs loo but am considering converting half the double garage to a bedroom with wet room. This would enable me to live downstairs if my mobility declined in the future. I still have AC living with me. I discussed this plan with some friends and one pointed out that the door should be wide enough to facilitate a rollator or wheelchair. I would not have thought of this so I am looking for any other advice on the conversion.I also wondered about having access via an extra front door to avoid the step up to the existing front door. Very grateful for advice! Thank you

Do you have any reason to think your mobility will be impeded? Early 60s is very young to start thinking about this, so much could happen before you get to that point.

My mum is 80s and the only difference is she has said she actually takes her time on stairs rather than running up and down them any more.

If you want a downstairs bathroom for your life as it is now, go ahead and maybe future proof it anyway, but if you wouldn't otherwise bother I would put it off for now. It's a terrible time to be doing renovations, and it may be decades before it is of use, if ever.

I have no particular reason to think this ( although I am mid 60s, not early 60s). Seeing my mum has encouraged me to do lots of walking and running to keep my mobility. But mum was very resistant to the downstairs loo as she could not face the thought of work and disruption. I could cope with it now. Some family members have lived to 100+ and I just thought I should plan for the future. It can take a long time to get a builder too.

No harm in investigating if it is possible to do and be compliant with building regulations.

You have a downstairs cloakroom.
You could fit a stairlift.
If your mobility / health was such that you couldn't use a stairlift would you still be at home?

Interesting questions. I do think that yes, living downstairs would be much easier and could really extend my ability to live there. The stairlift is ok, but still quite exhausting for DM. Also stops working occasionally. Perhaps I am worrying too soon. I just love my home and this board has made me determined not to impose on my own kids.

I think building regs will be ok, but may inquire. Several neighbours have done this conversion and I know one was refused permission to convert the full double garage to accommodate a disabled family member.

I would do it and do it now. As you said, you can face the work at this stage plus have the luxury of being able to wait for trades of your choice. It would be easy to design a modern luxury look wet room and you could use the adjoining room as a craft room or anything else while you continue to use your bedroom upstairs. Better that than be forced into a quick decision and end up with something utilitarian and/or bodged.

I’ve seen a parent go from fit in their mid 60s, working a lot of their hours til their retirement at 68, to multiply disabled at 73. Planning ahead for a downstairs room - even if you never use it - is a great plan, if you have the space and money. This parent had a freak accident and emergency surgery that meant 8 weeks living on the ground floor (some of that time with a commode), and has had several other unrelated surgeries since that would have benefited from this. Best/worst case is that you need a knee or hip replacement from all your running and it makes that few weeks a bit easier!

a shower it is easy to manoeuvre into from crutches or a chair, with a grab rail in case, would have been good. Make it part of the planning and less like a mobility aid and you won’t need to retrofit the room.

Thanks! The grab rail and maybe a chair is a good idea. I love the idea of a luxury wet room. If I have to spend the money I might as well have lots of years of use.

Sorry about your parent Autumn. You just never know. Yes I want to plan it carefully so it does not look like a hospital but is ready whenever.

Yes exactly. We have a downstairs shower that, now I sadly know a lot more about the topic, is not fully accessible in any way but we built in a tiled bench seat and it is virtually level to walk in (would not be ok with a wheelchair) so in the case of a broken lower limb or whatever, would work now if one of has had to sleep on the ground floor for a while. Once the dust has settled from my bereavement I intend to do a lot in the way of future planning including things like this.

Definitely make sure the door is wide enough for a wheeled shower chair.

The shower ought to be completely level access - not even a small lip - it can make the plumbing a bit more challenging but is worth it.

Look at comfort height toilets.

Space in front of the sink for a perching stool can be handy.

Grab rails can be added at a later date if needed.

Sorry for your bereavement Christmas. And thanks for the shower thoughts. I will make sure it is just floor level. Also like the idea of a built-in tiled bench.

And thank you too, much. I have just googled comfort height toilets and perching stools.

I'm pretty sure my youngest DS would want this room for its en-suite in the mean time. He has always had the smallest room, but he would be fine with all the suggestions so far. Although if I go all out with the luxury wet room, I might want it for myself.

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It can very much be a luxury wet room @bojo7 while meeting your future proofing needs.

It’s a great idea.
DP’s mum fell and broke her hip last year, went from very active to incapacitated overnight. She had to crawl up the stairs - hideous.

Oh and get good underfloor heating if you can - these things can take a lot longer when we’re older I guess and I imagine it would be nice to be warm and snug.

I think it is a great idea. We have a downstairs shower room already and we are also thinking we should convert the garage to a bedroom. It would be ideal for my soon to be student child who shares a room with their sibling. And then we would have it if we could not use the stairs at any point.

I would do it now while you have the energy to organise and cope with the work. A downstairs bathroom is a great thing if you break an angle or have dizzy spells.

I would do it now. I'm seriously considering buying a bungalow for exactly the same reasons as you. I'm not inflicting my elderly self on my children.

Wheelchair accessibility is common feature with most conversions . I had this with an elderly relative. Already had a room that could be a bedroom so just had to extend to walk in shower and toilet as no room for wet room . Was still big enough for chair and carer able to wash . As already on ground floor access to kitchen, living room , and patio door meant he could really be part of the family unit rather than stuck in an upstairs bedroom with en suite . And now it is a guest room that visitors have their own bathroom. No sharing is great .

As a society, we should consider this more. It's not unusual for people far younger to end up with problems doing things too many take for granted, and it would be a good idea to have options. It could be an injury, an auto-immune condition or something else, but the bath you just took could be the last. Keeping fit and focusing on health might prevent some problems, but some of the fittest people have mobility issues through no fault of their own.

No to the tiled bench. Sharp edges in showers are a bad idea. You also can't reach your back or undercarriage to wash them when seated. It makes it impossible for someone to help you wash. A movable shower chair gives you flexibility and they have arms to use for lowering and rising.

If you don't want to put grab rails in straight away, put patressing in the studs so you can retrofit. Don't tile, use Multipanel or similar, it's much easier to clean.

Have your thermostat and control away from the shower heads so you don't get hit by cold water when you turn on.

Remove all sharp edges and wall hang everything, it makes cleaning easier.

If you have a heated towel rail, don't put it near the shower. You don't want to be grabbing it if you feel unsteady exiting the shower.

Maximise free space, you'll need more than you think if you need mobility aids or a carer.

Have a non slip floor surface. Altro Aquarius is good, but not painful underfoot. Underfloor heating is worth considering.

Think about lighting carefully.

You need space around the loo for rails and/or someone to assist. Comfort height as pp suggested, but if you are short, it needs to be tailored to you as they can be too high.

These are just top of my head suggestions based on the remodel we did for my elderly parent. I cared for them including personal care. Showering is a whole other thing when you are less mobile and require help, as is toileting.

I bought my semi at 60 because the conversion had been done, like you I wanted to be prepared ahead of need as saw my parents struggle in an unsuitable property. It has worked well, I use the spare lounge now in summer when it is much cooler than the rear south facing main one.Only problem when I moved in it was freezing and had to have a leaky bay removed and walls and roof insulated. Personally I would go for more insulation than the regs demand to be snug. Lotsj of toys in there now for dgc, so has proved to be a very good choice. A family member had a bad leg break and we installed a bed for two months as she could not do stairs, so allready been useful.

Dont agree with telling you to wait, prices will always go up and it will add value to your home to offset the capital spend. I feel happy knowing it is sorted

I think it’s an excellent idea.

We converted half our double garage into a home office over a decade ago. It is much much colder in winter than the rest of the house. I recommend you will need to get good advice on insulation if you plan to sleep there.

Also - do some reading around the recent “use it or lose” studies which show that aging people who move into bungalows lose their ambulatory abilities faster than similar old people in houses with stairs. You need to keep up your stair climbing skills as long as you can … don’t move into the conversion room too soon.

Thank you so much all! Some great ideas and encouraging to hear the positive stories. I will pay special attention to insulation and will consider underfloor heating. And unsync, some really good points to consider. I had never heard of multipanel but it looks very nice, as does altro aquarius. Exactly the sort of thing I would like. Really looking forward to it now!

I have heard of “bungalow legs” and will be using stairs as long as I can. I am fit and still work full time and hope the need for this is well in the future, but might as well get it sorted now.