Universal Bathroom Design

Universal Design Principles To Enhance Your Bathroom

Universal design principles enhance a bathroom, so it’s a safe and accessible space for as many people as possible. Regardless of age, size, or ability, everyone should be able to use a room to its full potential effectively. Functionality doesn’t always spark the most beautiful imagery in our minds.

Still, these bathroom renovations can improve the aesthetics of a decor scheme as well as increase functionality. Level floors look smooth but are easy to walk or roll on. Broad shower areas look spacious and luxurious but allow a caregiver to assist. A Layered lighting scheme can be adjusted to set the perfect mood or focus on fitting the task at hand.

Space and Clearance

The biggest challenge in designing an accessible bathroom can be finding the space itself. A genuinely universal bathroom should have a 5-foot turning circle. The turning radius refers to the clear area in the centre of the room, which would allow a wheelchair user to make a complete turn.

If you don’t have this amount of space available, make the most of the dimensions you do have. Keep each area as open as possible. Choose a wall-mounted vanity unit instead of a pedestal sink, and keep surplus furniture to a minimum. Extra space benefits people of all sizes and abilities. It’s just as convenient when there are numerous kids to bathe, and multiple users fight through the morning routine on busy mornings.

Access and Location

When bathroom remodelling, ensure that the door swings outward or slides aside in a frame that stands at least 36 inches wide. A door this wide allows free entry and more space to manoeuvre wheelchairs and walkers once inside the room. Stairs are a no-go for many people with limited mobility. A first-floor location is the ultimate goal for a universal bathroom design. Having a bathroom on the main floor is also helpful for any homeowner who experiences a temporary injury or illness. They are handy for small children who need to get to the bathroom in a rush too!

Barrier Free Shower with Schluter Lineaer Drain

Barrier-free Showers

Curbless showers remove tripping hazards for everyone and enable users to be rolled in and out of with a wheelchair or walker. A wide, walk-in shower design can include a shower screen, but a fully open shower area dissolves all boundaries. If attaching a door to your shower enclosure, ensure that the door swings outward. If someone falls in the shower, it isn’t easy to get to them if the door turns into the enclosure.

Essential elements of a barrier-free shower are:

-A Shower floor flush with the outside floor-covering at the entrance

-Handwands and Slide-bars enable the shower to be adjusted to the user's height and location.

-Anti-scald valves ensure safety for users of all ages.

-Built-in benches offer a convenient spot to sit or place toiletries.

Walk In Tub

Walk In Bath Tub

Of course, some people prefer to soak in the tub.

Walk-in bathtubs with a watertight opening provide this little luxury in life without the ordeal of climbing in and out, so there’s no need to compromise. You get the best of both worlds.

These bathtubs when installed correctly have heated seats to keep the user warm, fast draining drains (In under 90 seconds) and can have air jets and ambient lighting installed.

Safe Bathroom Flooring

Anti Slip Bathroom Floor with Mosaic tile in shower

Bathroom tiles should always factor in safety with water, whether for universal design or otherwise. While glossy finishes look stunning, they are highly dangerous when wet. Choose textured tiles or a mosaic tile installation with grout lines to create an anti-slip floor. Never include rugs, as these are a trip hazard and can get caught in wheelchairs. For barrier-free showers and beautiful aesthetics, edge-to-edge tiling makes a sleek design statement. Seal your floors before tiling to create a watertight wet room. For tile installation Calgary, get in touch with CJI Tile and Stone to explore your options.

Accessible Sinks

Lower Height Accessible Vanity

Partner your sink with a single-lever or sensor faucet. These taps are easy to use for children and anyone with mobility issues. They are stylish and conserve water too. Adjustable sink models are available, which can also be helpful for growing families. Sinks must be low and offer knee space to seated users.

A tall vanity mirror is a practical solution that means tall and mobile users don’t have to dip. Make mirrors low enough for everyone to see. Vanity cabinet hardware should be D-pulls that can be gripped easily by users with limited dexterity and won’t present a snagging hazard.

Universal Design Toilets

While universal design basins are lower, universal toilets are higher, often called Comfort Height. A comfort height toilet should be at least 17 inches tall. This extra height makes it easy to move on and off.

A wall-hung toilet design can be mounted to your exact requirements, allowing for easier cleaning and increased floor space.

Add-on seats make adjustments to existing installations. Many toilet designs and add-on seats now include spray jets under the rim, which are helpful for everyone.

Bidet attachments are making their way into mainstream bathroom design more and more. This new generation of bidets can be just a simple water spray or include many other features, such as heated seats and blow drying! But toilet paper should remain within easy reach.

Bathroom Lighting

Everyone benefits from a bright and layered bathroom lighting scheme. Low lighting creates a relaxing time in the tub, whilst bright lighting aids in the application of makeup and helps avoid accidents. Light switches must be installed at least 32 inches from the floor but no higher than 48 inches. This perfect zone places switches at a reachable height for children and wheelchair users. Alternatively, install sensor lights that switch on and off automatically when there is activity.

Grab Bars

Shower with Anti Slip Floor and Grab bars

Grab bars need to be thought of in universal bathroom design.

Let's say that again. GRAB BARS CAN NOT BE AN AFTERTHOUGHT.

Install grab bars next to the toilet, bathtub, and shower to boost safety. Once upon a time, grab bars were generic and ugly. Today, they are stylish fittings made to match your towel bar and taps. For grab bars to function correctly, it is best to have reinforced blocking behind the tile to accept the fixtures securely.

Custom Bathroom Storage

Custom Vanity with Accessible portion and standard portion

Custom storage offers the most effective solution to keeping bathroom essentials tidy and within everyone's reach. Recessed storage nooks sit back neatly in the wall, so do not trip or jab into anyone. Small niches in a shower plumbing concealment wall hold soap and shampoo. Larger nooks accommodate fresh towels and laundry hampers. Just remember to make storage areas low enough for everyone to reach.

Universal bathroom design equips your space for all eventualities while maintaining style. It’s a great way to future-proof an exciting bathroom remodel to give you peace of mind.

Call us today at (403) 888-3182 for a Bathroom contractor Calgary, Alberta. With our commitment to quality, timeliness, and precise quoting, your universal bathroom will be exactly as you imagined it, from a dependable service that stays on budget

Accessible design that isn’t institutional

When people think of accessible or universal design, usually the first thing that comes to mind is a commercial space that is cold and uninviting.  Today we are able to package stylish products with accessible design. This allows people to design these features into their new home or renovation long before they may even need these elements. When this is done correctly your home will look great and also be comfortable and safe for family members of any age or ability to use.

Comfort height toilets

Toilets are at the top of our list because they are the easiest part of the bathroom to tackle and provides the quickest return for just about any one. As the name suggests, these toilets are just more comfortable than lower height models.  Anyone that has ever had sore legs or a bum knee will also agree that the higher seat of these products allows the user to exert less effort to use. A bonus feature is that new comfort height toilets also use less water than older toilets, providing another benefit by saving money.

BARRIER-FREE CURBLESS SHOWERS

 Today’s bathrooms are ballooning in size. The average bathroom in a Calgary 1960’s house was 40 square feet (this is your typical tub, toilet, vanity set-up). The average master bathroom today according to Hunker.com is 160 square feet and average. This extra room allows more possibilities to integrate universal design into your renovation or new build. One item that definitely ups the wow factor for your bathroom is a barrier-free or curbless shower. They look great, are highly functional and if done correctly will provide future aging-in-place possibilities.

DUAL PURPOSE BATHROOM ACCESSORIES

Bathroom accessories used to be flimsy things that barely could hold a wet towel without falling off the wall. Now, with proper planning these products can improve the function and safety of your bathroom without sacrificing style. This includes towel bars, corner shelves and curtain rods that are able to function in the traditional sense, but also be used to support up to 300lbs of weight when required to. These products are available from most supply companies and some box stores. They do need to be planned with proper backing installed for them to function properly.

These are only a few options for someone looking to integrate universal or accessible design into their bathroom renovation.  If you have other questions regarding these features in your project feel free to contact us for more information.

Barrier-free showers

New products allow us to build a barrier-free shower easier than ever before. Wedi has introduced the Wedi Fundo Ligno shower base. Schluter has introduced their KERDI-LINE linear drain systems which ties into their existing product line.

The Fundo Ligno shower base has been designed for wood frame construction. This shower base allows for barrier-free showers to be constructed in most bathrooms easily and without time consuming levelling or major alteration of the structure. Its thin profile of 20 mm (just over 3/4″) easily matches up with existing subfloor in most homes. As well, in concrete structures, the thin 3/4″ profile requires less build up than the usual go-to foam shower base or a traditional dry pack shower base. This allows us to create shorter ramps, allowing for more flexibility in design.

Completing an install with Wedi’s shower kits is also extremely fast. Typically the prep work takes only a few hours and the tiling can begin almost immediately after.

Schluter’s KERDI-LINE system, while not being as simple to create barrier-free showers as the Wedi shower base, does allow for more design flexibility. These elegant, low-profile drains are available in sizes from 20″-72″ in 4″ increments with either a centre or offset drain outlet location. This drain’s low profile and the flexibility in sizing and drain location allows for these drains to be placed in locations that allow for minimum transition from other areas outside the shower - keeping barriers at a minimum.

Tile is perfectly suited to creating these spaces, whether it be a residential or commercial wet room or bathroom.  Tile’s durability and endless design capabilities combined with Schluter and Wedi’s waterproofing reliability and ease of install make these installs come together perfectly and look amazing. This final product also has the benefit of not needing to look “accessible”.  Which if resale is important is something to keep in mind.

Require a barrier-free shower? We would be happy to help you on your next project. As well, if you have limited mobility and are low-income we work with RAD Renovations/RAMP to complete these type of projects. For more information regarding these programs follow the links below:

Accessible Housing RAD Renovations

Residential Access Modification Program Alberta