Providing Plumbing Solutions Since 1986

Plumbing for the Generations

Does the plumbing in your home live up to the demands of your expanding family?

Adult children are returning home to live. Older adults, often widowed, are combining households with their grown children. Bathrooms, laundry facilities, and kitchens are stretched to the limit.

 

Independence and privacy

One Barrie-area family combined households to accommodate an elderly widowed parent. The original family home was redesigned, renovated, and extended to include a two-story addition. The senior parent retained some of the original rooms for independence and privacy including the main floor bathroom.

Plumbing was upgraded to meet the senior’s long-term needs. It received new fixtures, a wall-mounted overhead shower, and a hand-held unit both with large showerheads. The shower was a walk-in with glass doors and built-in bench.

An adjacent storage closet in the bathroom was converted and plumbed for laundry with a space-saving stackable washer and dryer.

All of it has allowed the elder parent to age-in-place and become an integral part of an active multi-generational family. For some inspiration, check out this houzz.com article.

 

A full nest… again

Additional changes were made to the original home to include a lower level bedroom/entertainment area for a high school student which served through the post-secondary school years. It was converted to a mini-apartment which included a separate space for a small kitchen, an expanded bathroom with a shower, and a separate entrance when the student married.

With the launch of the young couple’s careers, they moved out to set up their own lives. However, with pandemic job losses, the couple moved back to rejig their working lives in a supportive environment.

The new two-story addition accommodated two younger children who received new bedrooms while they shared a separate three-piece bath. The upper level also encompassed a wing for their parents, which including a bedroom, sitting room, and full en-suite bathroom with double sinks.

The kitchen was upgraded to include a centre island with plumbing for a sink and dishwasher.

Another multi-generational Barrie family handled merging lives a little differently. A widowed parent of a country home joined forces with an adult child living in the city. Each sold their individual homes and jointly purchased a picturesque house that was large enough to serve as a base for two students throughout high school and post-secondary years to the launch of their careers outside the family home. However, one has since boomeranged back and lives in renovated quarters, complete with a washroom, on the lower level.

 

Full Access

The biggest change to the established century home involved plumbing an on-suite, three-piece bathroom with a walk-in shower for the senior parent.

Bathrooms may have to be redesigned or created to accommodate aging-in-place. A main floor accessible bathroom may need to be added for easy access as well as to meet future mobility needs.

New plumbing fixtures may need to be considered, such as a raised-height toilet, or a high toilet seat, or perhaps a wheelchair-level toilet. Showers and tubs can be converted to walk-in. Some walk-in tubs feature a seated bathing expedience complete with whirlpool jets.

 

Whatever you are considering, make sure your plumbing can age in place too. Based out of Barrie, Plumbtech Plumbing Inc. has been providing plumbing solutions for Simcoe County and Muskoka since 1986. Estimates are free. Call 705-722-7209.

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