HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2009-05-07, Page 17It has been said that building your
perfect home can take several tries to
get it right. Getting everything in
place to suit your lifestyle and
comfort often has to be experienced
before you know what works and
what doesn’t.
Sandra Thompson had some fairly
specific requirements right from the
time she set her heart on moving into
her dream home.
The former Bluevale resident, now
living in Milverton, has been a
paraplegic since contracting
meningitis at the age of four. Now
41, she says that becoming disabled
at such a young age, and in the ‘right
place’ contributed to how she
handles things. “Growing up in a
small place, with a brother who
didn’t treat you like you were any
different than anyone else, you don’t
see yourself any other way.”
That said, there are certainly
challenges in living with a
disability, so when Thompson
decided it was time to build a house,
there were features she planned to
have included. However, finding a
builder that would take on the
project proved more difficult than
she had imagined.
“I wanted things that would help
me be independent,” said Thompson,
who lives with her partner Jay
Schultz and two of his children.
“But with many of these builders’
new developments they have a plan
and if they said they would make the
changes, the markups were
unbelievable. Others wouldn’t even
touch it.”
Doing her homework, Thompson
said she investigated every possible
option, including renovations to an
existing home. “But again the cost
was more than a new house.
Thompson said one company she
approached “actually laughed” at
her request. “In a we don’t need this
headache kind of way.”
Referring to the upcoming
legislation requiring municipalities
to be prepared to meet the needs of
those with disabilities by 2010 and
private businesses by 2012,
Thompson said it surprised her that
many builders hadn’t got up to
speed. “The market’s out there,” she
said.
Her research eventually paid off
and she found a builder who
“seemed to get it.” She met with the
executive vice-president on Feb. 14,
2006 and came away with the
feeling that they were “serious about
this.”
Most of the new features in
Thompson’s house were in the
kitchen and bathroom. The counter
is lower than the standard level and
the sink has space below to allow for
a wheelchair. A mechanism on the
top cupboards will lower them and
the oven is mounted in the wall, with
a side-opening door.
Other innovative designs include
wheel-in showers, automatic door
openers, lower light switches, higherreceptacles, wider doorways and
passageways and elevators and lifts.
Thompson actually did the
product research for the company,
Quality Homes, which has now
unveiled a series of houses with
barrier-free living features that can
be incorporated into any of its floor
plans.
“It took more than a full year of
hard work and substantial
investment, including market
research on devices and products,
staff training and the actual design
and construction of a model home.”
The model home was done,
primarily, she said, to “show how to
make a home accessible, notinstitutional. There’s a belief that
accessibility is ugly. But anyone
coming into my home wouldn’t
know it was accessible.”
In looking for a company to build
a fully-accessible home, Thompson
said something to consider is the
extra charges on products.
“They shouldn’t take an extra
margin on the already exhorbitant
prices their suppliers charge for
some of these products and there
shouldn’t be a premium charged for
accessible homes. Building
accessibility features into the initial
design and plan is more cost-
effective than retrofitting.”
THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2009. PAGE 17. Finding a builder can be challenging for disabled
Room to move
The special accessibility features incorporated into this kitchen blend with the design while
improving independence for the home owner. (Courtesy photo)
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