We have a friend who is trying to remain in her home. Her kitchen has a door that opens into her garage and there is an existing 3 or 4 step stairway someone built from wood. From the floor of her kitchen to the floor of the garage is a 24 inch straight drop. She has a very difficult time using these stairs as they are too steep. If I could come up with a vertical lift to lower her straight down and lift her straight up it would be ideal. She has limited mobility and uses a walker or cane but struggles to use these stairs. Any ideas or anyone else built or modified existing stairs?
There was a back drop from the den down onto a concrete pad. Two concrete steps. No rails. That’s where FIL fell backwards. Hit his head and all his problems began. Nothing to hold onto. No soft place to fall. We are going to be able to go up and down those steps forever without a problem, don’t you know??!
Also a note on the walker. If she could leave a walker at the foot of the stairs and another one at the top it would be easier than what she’s doing. She can use the new rail to go up the stairs. Used walkers can be found at thrift stores, goodwill etc.
Old Sailor, he also built the house, so knew how to do this, but you're right, most handy guys/gals can do it.
My parents had a drop from their interior door out to the garage, it wasn't a big drop but enough to make it difficult at times to get into the house. My Dad would tend to lean backwards when he grabbed the door jam... if I wasn't there he probably would fall back onto his car.
My Dad did think about installing a grab bar, which made sense, but he never got around to doing that. Dad decided the house was too much for him to deal with, he also used a cane and a walker, so he moved to Independent Living, which he said he wished he knew such places existed as he would have moved in years earlier :)
Sometimes we tend to enable a person to stay in their house when they should either have caregivers helping them navigate, or to move into an Independent Living where they would have a really nice actual one or two bedroom apartment, living room, and full kitchen. Soooo much safer. My Dad used the equity in his house to pay for Independent Living and later Assisted Living.
Also rubber grips on the ramp. Make sure the area is well lit.
You could also use reflective tape.