3 Plumbing Upgrades to Give the Gift of Bathroom Safety

Stop racking your brains trying to figure out what to give a relative who has everything. If your loved one is advancing in age or has mobility issues, give them a new bathroom complete with accessible, fresh fixtures. Here are three bathroom upgrades you can give to bring cheer and thoughts of good health.

A deluxe shower head is a game changer in the bathroom. The fixture is also a simple upgrade your plumber can complete in short order. Unless you're adding additional shower heads or changing the shower head location, the bathroom isn't disrupted by the installation of a handheld shower.

Handheld showers are available in a huge array of styles and designs. Some of the accessories and options available include:

• On/off controls at shower head
  
• Safety hand straps
  
• Flat, square, and ring-shaped wands
  
• Brass, porcelain, bronze, and copper styles

If people of varying heights will use the shower head, order a vertical slide bar or riser to be installed with the shower head. The fixture moves up and down the slide bar to accommodate seated and standing bathers.

A boxy, old-school bathroom vanity is nothing but a huge impediment to a person in a wheelchair. If you know someone who's recently been confined to a wheelchair, give them an ADA-compliant bathroom sink for the holidays.

Your plumber helps you measure the bathroom to design the sink space and choose the best ADA-compliant fixtures. A wall-mounted sink is one of many options that can transform a cluttered bathroom into an easy-to-use personal space.

Floor space in the bathroom must first accommodate the turning radius of the wheelchair inside the bathroom. Research the ADA guidelines to familiarize yourself with ADA-compliant bathroom measurements and design guidelines.

The guidelines for an ADA-compliant bathroom sinkinclude:

• 30-inch by 48-inch clear floor access
  
• Nine-inch vertical foot clearance
  
• 27-inch vertical knee clearance
  
• 30-inch horizontal knee width
  
• 11- to 25-inch depth (from edge to wall)
  
• 34-inches or lower from floor
  

A growing trend for all bathrooms is the table-style bathroom vanity. This space-saving type of sink is composed of the sink basin supported by a wooden, granite, or other countertop. The countertop is in turn supported by table legs made of wood or metal.

The table-style bathroom vanity is a great choice for an ADA compliant sink station, since there's plenty of open space below the sink platform for legs and above the table for personal hygiene items. However, all exposed pipes under the table vanity must be insulated.

Ensure that your loved one will never get burned in the bath by replacing their old bath fixtures with anti-scald devices. Anti-scald faucets limit the temperature of water flowing out of the shower head or bath spout.

Thermostatic mixing valves are considered superior to pressure-balanced anti-scald devices. A thermostatic anti-scald device doesn't need to be recalibrated when you change your water-heater settings. However, you do have to recalibrate a pressure-balanced anti-scald device with any water-heater setting changes.

Thermostatic valves have a chamber where hot and cold water mix. A thermostatic element inside the chamber expands or contracts with water-temperature fluctuations. If heated water expands the element too much, the flow of water from the chamber is cut off until the water temperature goes down.

The pressure-balanced ant-scald valve has a diaphragm or piston that moves up and down in response to water-pressure changes. When the pressure of cold water falls, the piston closes off the hot water flow out of the faucet.

Always ask permission before scheduling work on someone else's home. But don't be afraid to reach out to loved ones on fixed incomes. They may be unable to make bathroom safety upgrades and deeply appreciate your thoughtful gift of plumbing-repair assistance.

Schedule safety upgrades for a loved one's bathroom in Lansingby contacting Michigan Plumbing today. Since 1992, we've offered superior plumbing services to our customers throughout mid-Michigan.