Handicap Shower Accessories
For most of us who gratefully enjoy the benefits of being able bodied, a regular bathroom fitted with all the usual acoutrements does us just fine. But when you're a person with disabilities, the regular bathroom layout and sccessories suddenly become woefully in adequate for your needs.
That's why there are sensible handicap bathroom layouts, furniture and accessories that are specially designed for people with special needs.
When it comes to looking around for handicap bathroom accessories, there are a surprising number of vendors both in the real world stores and online. With all this great choice comes the problem of being overwhelmed by the enormity of the resources that are available. So this Station has been created to explain what the many handicap bathroom accessories are available and how they're used.
Handicap Showers
First up, it might be a good idea to first of all explain just exactly what handicap showers are and how they differ from regular showers built for the able bodied.
These special units are built for ease of access for people that would otherwise find using a regular shower near on impossible, depending upon the extent of their disbility. They are often much larger in size than a regular enclosure and usually fit flush with the floor to enable wheelchair access so that a wheelchair bound person can remain in the chair whilst enjoying showering.
With this kind of setup, it may seem like the water is going to spill all over the floor, making it slippery and dangerous, especially for someone with disabilities. This problem is taken care of by the fitment of a water gully and fine grid at the entrance to the enclosure, allowing all excess water to drain safely away.
Handicap Shower Accessories
Let's now look at the various accessories for handicap showers that are available and why they are what they are.
Shower Seats
These special showering seats come in a large variety of noth wall mounted, folding and free standing seats. You can also get benches that are available in a good variety of styles, heights and sizes.
The best quality shower seats are generally constructed from stainless steel, which gives them good strength as well as resistance to corrosion from water. They are generally made with smooth and rounded edges and hinges.
This allows for simple and safe side transfers. Most properly installed seats are ADA compliant. Fold down shower seats can support loads from 250 lbs to 900 lbs.
Water Retainer
To help keep the bathroom floor free of excess water, a collapsible water retainer or water stopper is a useful accessory. These are easily fitted to the threshold of the enclosure.
As they are made of neoprene rubber, their durability allows a person with limited mobility to be able to step in and out of the enclosure easily. Similarly, they are easy to roll over with a wheelchair.
Hand-held Shower Head
A great accessory can take the form of a hand-held shower head which is easy to install and it helps to make showering that much safer and simpler to use. It's an easy task to adjust the head's stationary position using the chrome yoga glide bar.
Optionally, the head can be removed from the glide bar and used as a true hand shower that is easily hand held for convenience and ease of use.
Pressure Mixing Valve
A pressure mixing valve accessory ensures that the temperature of the water will remain constant being independent of water pressure. This frees you from the annoyance of water pressure changes which are the main cause of temperature fluctuations during showering.
Because a pressure mixing valve is thermostatically controlled, it keeps to the exact water temperature that you initially set.
Heavy Duty Shower Curtain
A good quality heavy duty curtain is resistant to such things as flame, stains, static and odors as well as being antimicrobial. They are extremely durable making them the most economical choice when considered over time.
This is because they will last a very long time. To support one of these heavy duty shower curtains, you will need one of the heavy duty curtain poles that are available in order to support the curtain.
So you see there are actually a large range of highly useful and practical handicap shower accessories that are available to purchase online as well as in brick and mortar stores. So if you are considering making additions to your bathroom, bear in mind that quality is preferable to cheapness for long lasting durability that will also look good for longer.
