• Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • NEWS
  • PRODUCTS
  • CONTRACTORS
  • ENGINEERS
  • RADIANT & HYDRONICS
  • INSIGHTS
  • MEDIA
  • RESOURCES
  • EMAGAZINE
  • SIGN UP!
cart
facebook instagram twitter linkedin youtube
  • CONTRACTORS
  • BATH & KITCHEN PRO
  • BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
  • HIGH EFFICIENCY HOMES
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • WATER TREATMENT
  • PMC COLUMNS
  • PMC COLUMNS
  • Dave Yates: Contractor’s Corner
  • John Siegenthaler: Hydronics Workshop
  • Kenny Chapman: The Blue Collar Coach
  • Matt Michel: Service Plumbing Pros
  • Scott Secor: Heating Perceptions
  • ENGINEERS
  • CONTINUING EDUCATION
  • DECARBONIZATION | ELECTRIFICATION
  • FIRE PROTECTION
  • GEOTHERMAL | SOLAR THERMAL
  • PIPING | PLUMBING | PVF
  • PME COLUMNS
  • PME COLUMNS
  • Christoph Lohr: Strategic Plumbing Insights
  • David Dexter: Plumbing Talking Points
  • James Dipping: Engineer Viewpoints
  • John Seigenthaler: Renewable Heating Design
  • Lowell Manalo: Plumbing Essentials
  • Misty Guard: Guard on Compliance
  • RADIANT & HYDRONICS
  • RADIANT COMFORT REPORT
  • THE GLITCH & THE FIX
  • INSIGHTS
  • CODES
  • GREEN PLUMBING & MECHANICAL
  • PROJECT PROFILES
  • COLUMNS
  • SPONSOR INSIGHTS
  • COLUMNS
  • Codes Corner
  • Natalie Forster: Editorial Opinion
  • Guest Editorial
  • MEDIA
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WEBINARS
  • RESOURCES
  • INDUSTRY CALENDAR
  • DIRECTORIES
  • EBOOKS
  • PM BOOKSTORE
  • CE CENTER
  • MARKET RESEARCH
  • CLASSIFIEDS
  • EMAGAZINE
  • EMAGAZINE
  • ARCHIVE ISSUES
  • CONTACT
  • ADVERTISE
  • PME EMAGAZINE ARCHIVES
search
cart
facebook instagram twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • NEWS
  • PRODUCTS
  • CONTRACTORS
    • BATH & KITCHEN PRO
    • BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
    • HIGH EFFICIENCY HOMES
    • TECHNOLOGY
    • WATER TREATMENT
    • PMC COLUMNS
      • Dave Yates: Contractor’s Corner
      • John Siegenthaler: Hydronics Workshop
      • Kenny Chapman: The Blue Collar Coach
      • Matt Michel: Service Plumbing Pros
      • Scott Secor: Heating Perceptions
  • ENGINEERS
    • CONTINUING EDUCATION
    • DECARBONIZATION | ELECTRIFICATION
    • FIRE PROTECTION
    • GEOTHERMAL | SOLAR THERMAL
    • PIPING | PLUMBING | PVF
    • PME COLUMNS
      • Christoph Lohr: Strategic Plumbing Insights
      • David Dexter: Plumbing Talking Points
      • James Dipping: Engineer Viewpoints
      • John Seigenthaler: Renewable Heating Design
      • Lowell Manalo: Plumbing Essentials
      • Misty Guard: Guard on Compliance
  • RADIANT & HYDRONICS
    • RADIANT COMFORT REPORT
    • THE GLITCH & THE FIX
  • INSIGHTS
    • CODES
    • GREEN PLUMBING & MECHANICAL
    • PROJECT PROFILES
    • COLUMNS
      • Codes Corner
      • Natalie Forster: Editorial Opinion
      • Guest Editorial
    • SPONSOR INSIGHTS
  • MEDIA
    • PODCASTS
    • VIDEOS
    • WEBINARS
  • RESOURCES
    • INDUSTRY CALENDAR
    • DIRECTORIES
    • EBOOKS
    • PM BOOKSTORE
    • CE CENTER
    • MARKET RESEARCH
    • CLASSIFIEDS
  • EMAGAZINE
    • EMAGAZINE
    • ARCHIVE ISSUES
    • CONTACT
    • ADVERTISE
    • PME EMAGAZINE ARCHIVES
  • SIGN UP!
Columns

Aging in place

By Julius Ballanco P.E., CPD
December 1, 2011
Many user-friendly bathroom options are available for the elderly.

Photo credit: Delta Faucet Co.


This is the time of year for family and the holidays. It also reminds us we are getting older. Another year will pass us by. As we get older, our demands on plumbing systems change.

One of the growing trends of the elderly is something called “aging in place.” Rather than moving to Florida, Arizona or some other area, many elderly people are choosing to remain where they are. Why move when you have a house paid for and friends living in the community?

What this means is existing homes may have to be adjusted and modified as owners age. Some elderly people become confined to a wheelchair or need the use of a walker to get around.  Rather than climbing stairs, it is easier to stay on a single floor in your own home.

This has resulted in a growing plumbing trend where plumbing systems need to be modified as owners become less mobile. All major manufacturers now offer showers and bathtubs for the elderly. Fixtures, such as water closets and lavatories, now can be placed anywhere in a home.

The first thing that may come to mind is handicapped fixtures. Handicapped fixtures are required to meet ANSI/ICC A117.1. There are specific requirements for spacing, size, grab bars and access. The elderly like some of these features, but not all of them.

Shower assistance

Bathtubs become difficult to use by some elderly folks, especially those having difficulty getting around without assistance. The preference is a shower with an enclosed seat. If confined to a wheelchair, a no-threshold shower is preferred. This allows the elderly to wheel into the shower compartment.

A shower valve with a hand-held showerhead is the fixture typically selected, which creates ease of use for the elderly end-user.

This sounds similar to a handicapped shower, with the exception of grab bars. Many of the elderly do not like the standard grab bars associated with handicapped fixtures. These smooth, stainless-steel grab bars are not user-friendly. They are designed so the user’s hand can slide along the grab bar. The elderly don’t want to slide their hands along the grab bar; they want to hold on to it for support.

Another generation of grab bars are what I call graspable grab bars. These grab bars are a little smaller in diameter. They also have a surface that allows your hand to grab and not move. One of my favorite graspable grab bars is a contoured grab bar shaped to provide a very firm grip.

Another feature that does not have to follow the handicapped provisions is the seat for a shower. Seats in handicapped showers are not easy to fold up and down. They include a strong support connection not needed by the elderly.

Some of the available seats for an elderly shower have legs that drop to the floor. These are not permitted for handicapped showers since a shower leg cannot move when a perpendicular force is applied to the leg. The elderly really don’t care about that.

Two nice shower features are offered by some manufacturers. One is a pumped-waste shower. The shower can be installed anywhere with the waste line pumped to an available drainage line. Since it is a pumped-waste shower, there is no vent required for the fixture. You don’t have to worry about pitch or a vent.

The other is a shower base that fits perfectly into the space of a bathtub. I’m a big fan of this idea. You can remove a bathtub and install a no-threshold shower, which makes remodeling quite easy.

Some of the available shower bases allow you to tile over the base. The shower base still serves as the floor, having been tested for a 300-pound concentrated load.

For wheelchair-accessible shower enclosures, half walls are available to close off the area. These glass walls extend only part way up the wall. When using a hand-held shower, you don’t need a full-height glass enclosure.

Toilet talk

When it comes to water closets, the elderly like some form of support. Some models have grab bars that swing down on either side of the water closet. These grab bars are not approved for handicapped water closets, but they work just fine for the elderly.

If the elderly are confined to a single story in the home because of restricted mobility, a macerating toilet system can be installed anywhere.  These toilet systems, which pump waste to an available drain, also allow the connection of a lavatory and/or shower. This removes the concern for needing the pitch necessary to install the fixture.

Code questions

You may be asking how this all plays out with the plumbing code and the plumbing inspector. It’s quite easy. The code already permits handicapped plumbing fixtures. Hence, the installation of a zero-threshold shower is permitted. Thus, the showers are all permitted, as are the other fixtures. Since grab bars are not required, any grab bar can be installed. The handicapped plumbing fixture requirements would not be applicable.

In the next edition of the model plumbing codes you will find language specifically geared toward fixtures for the elderly. No-threshold showers will be listed as acceptable for any installation. Technically, they already are.

I would encourage you to consider getting into the business of converting homes for the aging-in-place market. Besides being a business opportunity, it also provides your community with a service to its senior citizens.

As you gather for the holidays with the elderly members of your family, remember we have an obligation to take care of them with usable plumbing fixtures.

Have a very Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah and a prosperous New Year.

Links

  • Contact Plumbing & Mechanical
  • Follow PM on Twitter!

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Ballancojuliusvwhite 200

Julius Ballanco, P.E., CPD, F-ASPE, is president of J.B. Engineering and Code Consulting, P.C. in Munster, Ind. He can be reached at by email at jbengineer@aol.com.

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
to unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • Worker using the Milwaukee Tool SWITCH PACK drain cleaner

    Pipeline profits: Drain cleaning, pipe inspection create opportunities

    Drain cleaning and inspection services offer lucrative...
    Green Plumbing and Mechanical
    By: Nicole Krawcke
  • Uponor employee, Arturo Moreno

    The reinvestment in American manufacturing and training

    Plumbing & Mechanical Chief Editor Nicole Krawcke and...
    Plumbing News
    By: Nicole Krawcke and Natalie Forster
  • March 2024 Women in Plumbing hero image of woman engineer overlayed by circle of hexagon shapes with numbers from 1 to 10

    Celebrating 10 Influential Women in the Plumbing Industry

    Celebrating Women's History Month and Women in...
    Plumbing News
    By: Nicole Krawcke
Subscribe For Free!
  • eNewsletters
  • Online Registration
  • Subscription Customer Service
  • eMagazine
  • Manage My Preferences

Bell & Gossett Illustrates Path to Net-zero at AHR Expo

Bell & Gossett Illustrates Path to Net-zero at AHR Expo

NIBCO Press Solutions

NIBCO Press Solutions

AI can boost efficiency and profitability for plumbing, HVAC contractors

AI can boost efficiency and profitability for plumbing, HVAC contractors

IPEX celebrates grand opening of new Florida distribution center

IPEX celebrates grand opening of new Florida distribution center

More Videos

Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content is a special paid section where industry companies provide high quality, objective, non-commercial content around topics of interest to the Plumbing & Mechanical audience. All Sponsored Content is supplied by the advertising company and any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily reflect the views of Plumbing & Mechanical or its parent company, BNP Media. Interested in participating in our Sponsored Content section? Contact your local rep!

close
  • J.J. Keller CMV vehicles on road
    Sponsored byJ. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.

    The dash cam game-changer for small business safety

Popular Stories

Underfloor heating installation with drain sewer hole in bathroom close up on water floor heating.

Using hydronics to leverage time-of-use electrical rates

Watts Nexa mobile image

Behind the Wall: Where smart plumbing gets smarter

Six tankless water heaters that feed the nutraceutical manufacturer’s operations.

How to deliver large volumes of hot water quickly and intermittently

PMCE Home-X April 29 Free Webinar: From Legacy to Leadership: Preparing Your Home Services Business for the Next Generation

Events

November 13, 2024

Future Proofing MEP: Navigating the 2026 High Efficiency Water Heating Standards

Join our deep dive into DOE’s new standards so you can future-proof your MEP practice.

EARN: 0.1 ASPE CEU; 1 AIA LU/HSW; 0.1 IACET CEU*; 1 PDH

View All Submit An Event

Poll

Will business be up or down in 2025?

Do you anticipate business in 2025 to be up or down in comparison to 2024?
View Results Poll Archive

Products

The Water Came To A Stop

The Water Came To A Stop

See More Products

Download the FREE Water Conservation, Quality & Safety eBook: Plumbing Trends Increasing Safe Water Availability

Related Articles

  • Aging in place

    Julius Ballanco: Plumbing for aging in place

    See More
  • ADA-compliant bathroom

    Matt Michel: The aging-in-place opportunity

    See More
  • Living in Place

    The ‘living-in-place’ movement

    See More

Related Products

See More Products
  • what hydronics taught holohan.jpg

    What Hydronics Taught Holohan: A Memoir of Life in the Heating Industry

  • M:\General Shared\__AEC Store Katie Z\AEC Store\Images\Plumbing\new sites\lessons_learned_in_the_boil.gif

    Lessons Learned in a Boiler Room: A common sense approach to servicing and installing commercial boilers

See More Products
×

Keep your content unclogged with our newsletters!

Stay in the know on the latest plumbing & piping industry trends.

JOIN TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Directories
    • Store
    • Want More
    • Supply House Times
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletter
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey/Respondent Access
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing

search
cart
facebook instagram twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • NEWS
  • PRODUCTS
  • CONTRACTORS
    • BATH & KITCHEN PRO
    • BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
    • HIGH EFFICIENCY HOMES
    • TECHNOLOGY
    • WATER TREATMENT
    • PMC COLUMNS
      • Dave Yates: Contractor’s Corner
      • John Siegenthaler: Hydronics Workshop
      • Kenny Chapman: The Blue Collar Coach
      • Matt Michel: Service Plumbing Pros
      • Scott Secor: Heating Perceptions
  • ENGINEERS
    • CONTINUING EDUCATION
    • DECARBONIZATION | ELECTRIFICATION
    • FIRE PROTECTION
    • GEOTHERMAL | SOLAR THERMAL
    • PIPING | PLUMBING | PVF
    • PME COLUMNS
      • Christoph Lohr: Strategic Plumbing Insights
      • David Dexter: Plumbing Talking Points
      • James Dipping: Engineer Viewpoints
      • John Seigenthaler: Renewable Heating Design
      • Lowell Manalo: Plumbing Essentials
      • Misty Guard: Guard on Compliance
  • RADIANT & HYDRONICS
    • RADIANT COMFORT REPORT
    • THE GLITCH & THE FIX
  • INSIGHTS
    • CODES
    • GREEN PLUMBING & MECHANICAL
    • PROJECT PROFILES
    • COLUMNS
      • Codes Corner
      • Natalie Forster: Editorial Opinion
      • Guest Editorial
    • SPONSOR INSIGHTS
  • MEDIA
    • PODCASTS
    • VIDEOS
    • WEBINARS
  • RESOURCES
    • INDUSTRY CALENDAR
    • DIRECTORIES
    • EBOOKS
    • PM BOOKSTORE
    • CE CENTER
    • MARKET RESEARCH
    • CLASSIFIEDS
  • EMAGAZINE
    • EMAGAZINE
    • ARCHIVE ISSUES
    • CONTACT
    • ADVERTISE
    • PME EMAGAZINE ARCHIVES
  • SIGN UP!