The Universal Design in Homes

By: EMILEY WESTFALL

This article was originally published at https://www.wcn247.com/the-universal-design-in-homes/

Typically when you think of a family home you think a couple steps into the front door. Once you open the front door you walk into a foyer with a big staircase to a second floor. As you keep walking the floor plan flows into a few rooms with doorways that probably only one person can fit in. The house will also have a mixture of both hardwood and carpet. For someone who is in a wheelchair this typical family home would be difficult for him or her to maneuver around.

Throughout the country there are many builders who build custom homes. They build these homes to accommodate to their customer’s needs and wants. One particular builder located in Mentor, Ohio whose mission is to build better is ProBuilt Homes.

ProBuilt is committed to their customers and they state, “ We constantly strive to make the homebuilding process easier and more professional, while continuing to exceed industry standards to build better for you.”

George Davis, ProBuilt’s president and founder, has been in the home building industry for 15 years. Since 2006, ProBuilt has been winning many awards. Some of these awards include Customer Service, Best of the Best, Fast Track 50, Builder of the Year, Product Design, Best Interior Design and the list goes on. He has built this company to fulfill quality and customer satisfaction.

When meeting with their potential homebuyers, ProBuilt offers the customer with the options of either pre-designed home plans or ways they can customize their home of their dreams. For someone who has accessibility needs, the best option would be to design their own dream home with ProBuilt.

This type of building is called Universal Design as stated by Davis. ProBuilt has built many of these types of homes for their customers. Within the universal design these homes will have doorways that are wider, counter tops are lowered, hardwood floors throughout the home, ramps instead of stairs and even an option for an elevator if they want a second floor.

Davis states, “ When a client comes to us and asks us about handicap accessibility, we ask them questions of what their needs are. For many people it is about making the doorways a little bit wider, the bathrooms a little bit larger to swing their wheelchair around. And for most people that’s what they are looking for.”

Sometimes though a client might need a whole another set of needs when it comes to their universal design. ProBuilt has built these homes where they needed just a little wider doorway all the way to a home that needed the full ADA Handicap Accessibility. These homes are designed to have elevators, specific kitchen counter layouts so a client in a wheelchair can wash dishes at the sink, zero threshold showers and zero threshold hallways.

As for the cost of a universal home there might not be any extra costs. For people who just need the doorways a little wider and bathrooms a little larger the cost is minimum or no difference at all. Although for someone who needs the full ADA Handicap Accessibility home, their costs can go all the way up to $30,000 dollars just for the elevator. There is a broad spectrum of cost for these types of homes.

ProBuilt Homes is here to build better. They will work with all their clients so they can have the home of their dreams. A home is where families come together, they laugh together in their home, they eat together in their home and they live together in their home. Building the right home for the right buyer will make happy customers. Someone who has accessibility needs should always be able to have the home of their dreams. ProBuilt makes sure of that.