Aging is a reality and an inevitable facet of life. However, most of us may not realize the extent to which it can have an impact on the entire family. As aging takes a toll on parents, adult children often find themselves unprepared for the role and responsibilities of a caregiver. Aging is also dynamic as older people have daily needs that keep changing with time; if you decide to take care of your elderly mother in her home and she needs specialized home care at some point, this may necessitate some home improvements to ease mobility, reduce hazards, and offer comfort. Below are a few home improvement suggestions to better aid in caring for your elderly mother.
1. Consider Waste Management Solutions
As you prepare and adjust to the role of caring for your elderly mother, you should keep high standards of hygiene since her body immunity will be fragile. One way to assist with this is proper management of waste. For this, contract dumpster rental services to provide temporary bins for convenient disposal of home waste.
Suppose your mother is under specialized home care. In that case, dumpster rentals will ensure the safe disposal of infectious materials and sharp objects like needles. Once the dumpster is full, you contact the provider to come pick it up. This service can also be useful during your home improvement project as the provider will haul everything away upon conclusion, helping avoid clutter, smells, and rodents. Choose the right dumpster size for your needs and understand the terms and conditions of their provider to get value for your money.
2. Work On Your Garage Door
Garage doors are complex mechanical contraptions with several moving parts supporting moving parts that eventually break, malfunction, or wear out, hence why it’s crucial to have them regularly serviced and maintained. The garage door can cause injury or fatal accidents if anyone or pets get trapped beneath it. Hence, it becomes even more compelling in the case of a home where you’re caring for your elderly mother with an increased need for safety precautions.
You’ll want to partner with a professional to ensure all the garage door components are serviced, repaired, and optimized. Some warning indicators could be hearing creaking noises while operating the door, meaning it’s time to call a professional garage door technician for routine garage door upkeep. Your heavy garage door lifts with the help of torsion springs. You must keep these in good condition by ensuring regular adjustments and timely garage door spring repair by a professional. A good test of the springs is to pull the door halfway down, and when released, the door should stay put.
Are you still not convinced you should work on your garage door? Security is yet another crucial thing for your elderly mum, as most people exit and access the house via the garage door. Ensure that it’s in good condition, and also install a garage door opener with remote-controlled access and an alarm for maximum security.
3. Address Tree Care Needs
Trees in any property’s yard make a great addition. Green vegetation has been known to have a positive effect on both our physical and mental health. As you’re caring for your elderly mother at home, prioritize giving her a beautiful ambiance outdoors. It’ll encourage her to go outside or at least give her something to look at through the window if she’s immobile.
Get a reputable tree service expert to trim and maintain all your trees. Doing this will help prevent dangerous accidents from weak trees, branches falling, or overgrown roots impeding smooth movement in the yard. Get an arborist to inspect your trees for disease and rot and remove dying or dead trees so your mother and everyone in the home can be safe and enjoy quality air from healthy trees. Consider evergreen trees that don’t grow so tall and are easier to maintain while retaining their luster all year round.
4. Address Any Swimming Pool Repair Needs
Inspecting your mother’s swimming pool regularly is important, as severe damage is labor-intensive, time-consuming, and costly. Swimming pool experts possess the equipment and skills to detect leaks when they’re small and manageable and perform swimming pool leak detection repairs promptly, saving you time and money. It’s important to have the pool in good condition as you’re caring for your elderly mother so that she can get her exercise and hydrotherapy, which is very beneficial for health and relaxation. Proper pool maintenance includes water management, which entails checking and maintaining optimal water chemistry and pool cleaning to prevent the emergence of algae that can cause health concerns and compromise the pool structure.
5. Get Sturdy Doors
Many people may prefer wood, vinyl, or fiberglass doors due to their aesthetic qualities. Still, a steel door has many more benefits when caring for your elderly mother. Firstly, residential steel doors are strong, not vulnerable to cracking or rust, and hence low maintenance. They also don’t need frequent replacement, thus saving you time and money that you can use for your mum’s direct needs.
Secondly, steel doors have great insulation properties, reducing heating and cooling costs. Thirdly, they have a significant level of fire resistance and would mitigate danger associated with an inferno if it ever occurred. Steel doors needn’t be dull, as many versions and options nowadays come with beautiful features to suit your style and preference.
6. Ensure a Constant Supply of Heating Supplies
Reliable heating oil delivery is essential to keep homes warm and comfortable, especially during extreme chilly weather while caring for your elderly mother. Oil heat has several advantages over other fuel options, such as natural gas, as it burns the hottest and is thus more efficient. Most importantly, oil heat is non-explosive, making it relatively safe and ideal for caring for your mum. As you work with your trusted HVAC service provider, analyze the usage based on your needs to establish a convenient delivery schedule. You could also have your furnace upgraded to achieve better energy efficiency.
7. Consider a Well
A water well is an amazing option if you’re seeking to install an on-site water source, which is important as you’re caring for your elderly mother, as you’ll need a consistent, reliable, and safe water supply. Engage qualified and certified water well drilling service contractors to drill your well to get satisfactory work done. With time, you don’t want to find that your well yield or the amount of water you pump from your well decreases. This commonly happens with wells that aren’t developed adequately at drilling.
However, there are good rehabilitation services if it happens. You can still find companies that fix drops or complete loss of water level to curb this issue and maximize the water flow from your well. The initial cost can seem high, but after drilling and installation, you can forget about water bills while enjoying an unlimited supply, which is worth it.
8. Check the Sewer
Sewer cleanout is an integral part of your home’s plumbing system since it’s the section that allows you to access sewer lines that run from your property to the rest of the city sewers. They enable multiple pipe inspections and maintenance to prevent complications and offer an excellent overview of the origin of a problem in case of blockage or other issues. Engage a professional plumber who’ll ensure that your entire sewer system is well taken care of, as sanitation and hygiene are vital as you’re caring for your elderly mother. You want to especially take care of a sewer cleanout in basement to avoid water damage.
9. Contract a Professional Cesspool Service
Also known as septic tanks, cesspools require regular cleaning and maintenance to prevent environmental and water pollution, plumbing defects, and contamination, which could lead to an outbreak of diseases. Expert cesspool service is needed even more as you’re caring for your elderly mother, who requires the highest sanitation, health, and hygiene standards. You could use a core sample to determine when the right time is to pump your cesspool or have regular inspections done by a professional. If you add garbage disposal to your home improvement project, your septic size must also be increased. The longevity of your septic system is directly linked to proper maintenance and the amount and strength of the wastewater you put into it.
10. Clean the Dryer Vent
Doing laundry is a big part of caring for your elderly mother. Keep your system unclogged to avoid your dryer taking forever to dry your clothes or having some clothes still damp after taking them out of the dryer. Lint build-up in the tube and vent is common but also a fire risk for your dryer.
Other things that can get stuck there are dead skin cells, fuzz, pet and human hair, dust, or dryer detergent. Professionals will ensure they clean everything out while containing the waste by placing a bag over the outside vent to hold anything blown out to avoid a mess. Get a metal and flexible connection hose vent, as it’s the only one that can contain a fire as opposed to the most used foil vents. Proper maintenance entails a yearly professional cleaning and cleaning of your lint trap after every use.
12. Consider Additional Rooms
Foreseeable needs like advanced old age or the progression of an illness may be good reasons to add rooms as a home improvement project. It’s important to note that a garage, attic, or basement conversion can serve as additions without changing the home footprint. However, you must ensure they meet certain structural and code requirements.
With a reputable local general contractor, you can get counsel on which type of addition will suit your home. Your elderly mother may need more room in the bedroom in case of specialized equipment that may be needed to fit in there if she’s bedridden or living with a disability. A practical bathroom may also need to be installed to meet all her current and anticipated needs.
Besides the functional needs, you also want to consider ways to keep your mum entertained as you add an extra room. Older people often get lonely and don’t always have someone to talk to. If you have the funds, you can create a rec room where you fill all the supplies they need to engage in their favorite pastime activities.
13. Get an Electrician to Check for Fire Hazards
When caring for your elderly mother, there might be additional machinery that supports her health that may need plugging in. A licensed and experienced electrician will typically look for several key things to ensure electrical safety, including ensuring that there are no overloaded circuits with too many appliances or devices and inspecting outlets and switches for signs of damage or wear, like hot spots or cracked plates. An expert will also inspect the wiring throughout your home to identify faulty, frayed, or damaged wires that could cause a fire, which entails checking for exposed wires or loose connections. Checking the condition of your electrical appliances’ plugs, cords, and internal components will also be necessary. A great suggestion for your home improvement is upgrading outdated electrical components to modern components to support everything your mum will require and verifying that your electrical system is properly grounded to prevent fire hazards.
Caring for your elderly mother is a major responsibility. It could well turn out to be an overwhelming role, no matter how noble it is. Nevertheless, with proper information and knowledge pillared by proper preparedness, you can minimize hardships, complications, and problems that often present with our elderly loved ones.
The home improvement resources discussed here are useful if you find yourself in the role of caregiver. Learning more about them will give you all the information you need to ensure you get enough storage solutions to keep your home organized and a practical house layout for the different needs of your home at various phases of your mum’s life. Make safety measures a priority indoors and outdoors so you can enjoy the peace of mind you deserve while at home, knowing that you and your family are protected. Don’t hesitate to conduct further research to find additional information and other measures to excel in giving the best care to your loved one in their golden days.
