Whether senior citizens, small children or people with disabilities, many home exchangers may be unable to swap with you if your home is not accessible. Stairs, or even a few steps, are the prime culprit in denying access, but there are other hazards which can make your home unsafe or totally unusable for certain exchangers.
UNEVEN TERRAIN
Gravel or natural stones make an attractive entry path but their uneven or shifting surface is hard to walk on. Brick pavers are more even but the space between them can make walking difficult as well. A sloped entry may be too steep for wheelchair users or anyone who is not a strong walker. The land on which your home is situated may not lend itself to easy solutions to these problems, but creating a smooth, level access path will benefit your family as well as potential home exchange partners. Making your home's entry easier to walk on is a worthwhile project if you intend to stay in your own home for a while.
LIGHTING
After age 40, seeing at night gets more difficult for most of us. Installing better exterior lighting, particularly at your entry door, makes getting into your home easier for home exchangers and safer for everyone.
STAIRS
Many homes have several steps from the street level up to the front door. It is important to reveal to swap partners that entering your home, or accessing living areas, requires climbing steps. If you do not do so via a photos, listing text or a mention in your email, you may find a possible swap falling through when exchangers discover this.
Unless someone with reduced mobility lives in your home, mechanical solutions to interior stairs may be too expensive. These include a "stair elevator" or chair that runs on a track installed along the staircase.
Exterior steps are another matter. Portable ramps that can allow a wheelchair or walker user to ascend several steps can be had for $200. Providing such access is inexpensive compared to a hotel stay and shows concern for the safety of one's swap partners. Ramps are handy for parents whose young children use strollers, and for getting groceries or furniture into your home.
BATHROOMS
Tubs are relaxing, but showers are easier to access for anyone who cannot climb into a tub. It is best if your home has both a tub and a walk-in shower. Non-slip strips or mats are also needed in each bathtub.
HOME DECOR
Throw rugs can do just that unless they are kept from slipping through the use of rug pads or adhesive strips. Cluttered rooms don't just look messy, they can make it difficult for guests to move around safely.
DOORWAYS
We recently had to reconfigure one of our bedrooms. Part of the work involved creating a new doorway. We specified that the new door meet the legal standard for wheelchair access, and we designed the new doorway with a flat sill. We also chose lever doorhandles instead of knobs. Doing this added almost no cost to our project, and we now have a fully accessible bedroom. If you are remodeling or building a home it makes sense to incorporate "universal design" or "barrier-free access" into your plans. This isn't just a way to increase the number of families with whom you can exchange homes, it is a good way to plan for your own future.
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