The Adaptations Agency provide a wide range of adaptations to help with access to your home, toilets and bathing and lifts and hoists. Click on the links below to see more details about the assistance we can offer.
Access to your home
Toilets and bathing
Lifts and Hoists
Electricity supply to lifts and hoists
Other works
Access to Your Home
Ramps
This type of work will always involve some noise and mess. However, the contactor will do what they can to keep this to a minimum. They will also make sure that your home is secure at all times and at the end of each working day.
In most situations we will provide a ‘modular ramp’. These types of installations are reasonably quick to install 2 - 3 days, are durable and versatile.
The access work may also include the alteration of any steps you may have, and or your footpath, to accommodate the ramp and provide access in accordance with current building regulations. The work may also include the provision of a new uPVC door and frame.
On occasion, dependant on the required installation, the Agency surveyor may opt to propose a more traditional type of ramp which could include brickwork walls, concrete ramp and drainage. If this is the case the surveyor will discuss his proposals and reasoning with you prior to its design.
Widening doors or removing walls
These alterations can involve removing brickwork and plaster and will result in a lot of noise and dust.
It may also involve some structural work, which the contractor and surveyor will discuss with you before the work begins.
This type of work could take anything from 2 – 14 days or more dependant of the type and extent of the work.
Extension to your property
Please see Larger Works, Extensions and Applicants Preferred Schemes
Extensions are always expensive, sometimes costing more than the maximum grant of £30,000. If you are an owner-occupier or private tenant, the Agency staff will discuss with you the options for funding the costs over £30,000. This may include loans or other grants.
An extension can take a long time to provide, especially if it requires planning consent. This type of work can take more than a year from the time of your first enquiry to completion.
This involves major building works, and it will result in a reduction in the size of your garden. There will be a lot of noise and dust associated with this work, and access to some areas of your garden may be difficult during the course of the work.
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Toilets and Bathing
Additional Toilets
Wherever possible we will arrange for the contractor to fit these inside your home. The work will involve laying new drains and plumbing work. This could mean that the contractor will have to lift some floors and carpets and other floor coverings.
If the toilet cannot be located in your home then a small extension may need to be built.
Automatic Toilet
This provides a full personal hygiene service including washing and drying. Some minor plumbing work will be necessary, and there may be some disturbance to your decoration when the electrical supply is fitted.
Your original floor covering may need to be adjusted to suit the shape of the new toilet.
It normally takes 1 – 2 days to complete this kind of work.
Over Bath Shower
The work is likely to involve removing the bath panel, lifting floor coverings and floorboards. Workers may need access to your loft, to fit electrical cables and pipe work. The electrical supply to your new shower will need to be taken from your existing fuse board.
The contractor will tile the wall in the shower area up to 2 metres above the floor level and install an extractor fan in the external wall or ceiling. A shower curtain will also be installed to the edge of your bath.
The Agency Customer Support Officer will offer you a choice of tile from a range of 9 different colours and styles.
The work should take between 3 – 5 days.
Level Access Shower
This will include the removal of any existing wall coverings to the proposed shower area and in many instances dependent on its size, the whole of the bathroom. Floor coverings will also be removed. Floor boards will be lifted and any concrete floors will have to be broken up in part to receive your new shower floor. New works will generally include the installation of an electric shower, extractor fan and electrical fan heater (or relocation of existing/new radiator) and associated plumbing and electrical work. A new non slip floor covering will be installed over the top of a concealed shower tray. On occasion there is a need to relocate existing toilets and wash basins or renew them. When renewing wash basins, it is our policy to install them on wall brackets instead of a porcelain pedestal. The shower area and in most instances the whole of the bathroom will be tiled (dependent on bathroom size). Grab rails, drop down rails and a shower seat will be installed accordingly.
In some instances we may have to install a ‘shower pump’ dependant on the type of property and location of the bathroom. The pump may be needed to assist in the draining away of the water used in your shower.
The Agency Customer Support Officer will offer you a choice of tile from a range of 9 different colours and styles also we have a choice of 8 floor colours to match.
The work should take between 7 – 10 days to complete.
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Lifts and Hoists
Stair lift
This involves fitting a metal track to your stairs that carries the seat. The remaining space on the stairs will be narrower, but will still allow enough room for a person to walk up them.
The lift will be fitted on top of your carpet. If you are thinking of renewing your stair carpet, you should do so before the work starts, as there is a charge to have the lift taken out and refitted.
There is normally little disruption and it usually takes a day to complete the work. If meters and/or heaters have to be moved, the lift company will do this, but this may delay the installation of your lift.
Through-floor lift
The installation of a through-floor lift involves a lot of work and disruption in your home, and could also result in disturbance to some of your decorations.
A hole is cut in the floor/ceiling of the two rooms that need to be connected. There may be a lot of dust and you will be unable to use either room when the contractors are working. The contractor will make the rooms safe to use at the end of each day until the work is complete. The motor for the lift is usually fitted outside and this will involve drilling and cutting holes in the wall to feed in cables and pipe work.
When the work is complete there will be a false ceiling/floor made to fit into position, depending upon which room the lift is in at the time. There will also be two rails running up the walls to allow the lift to operate.
This work may also involve the re-positioning or removal of radiators to make space for the lift.
The floor space above and below the lift must be kept clear after installation to allow you to use it safely. This work can take up to 10 days to complete.
Fire precautions
Health and Safety regulations require the installation of hard wired smoke alarms if you are having a lift installed inside your home. As an additional precaution we would also recommend the installation of a fire door to your main bedroom.
If you are having a through floor lift installed in your home we may also install an additional layer of hard boarding to the bedroom floor.
There may be some additional items that also need undertaking and the surveyor will discuss these with you at the time. If you have any questions or concerns about this please speak to one of our surveyors who will be happy to discuss them with you.
External platform lift or Step lift
A platform lift is a metal vertical lift, which normally includes a safety gate to the upper level.
The lift is fitted outside your home to enable you to bypass any steps and is usually used when we are unable to reasonably accommodate a ramp outside your home.
In order to install the external lift, there will be some disruption to your garden. This will involve digging a pit for the location of the lift. The pit is formed by building brick walls to three sides on top of a concrete base.
A ramp or path in concrete or tarmac will lead to the lift.
The process can be quite lengthy and may take a few weeks depending on weather conditions and planning and building regulation approvals.
The lift has a key or a remote control fitted so that other people cannot operate it.
Ceiling track hoists
These are fixed to the ceiling of a room(s). They are used to help transfer people from one place to another.
The installation may involve the lifting of carpets and floorboards in the room above. Sometimes the company may need access to your loft.
There may be some dust, and slight disturbance to the ceilings and walls, where the hoist and electrical supply have been fitted. Work will normally take a day to complete.
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Electricity supply to lifts and hoists
If your electricity supply is on token/card meter, then you will be unable to have a lift of any kind. You will have to arrange with your service supplier to have the service changed to a permanent supply.
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Other works
The above are just a few of the main types of adaptations works the Agency undertake however the type of adaptation work you require is recommended to us by your Occupational Therapist and is necessary to meet your needs.
Any adaptations which are not listed above will still require a visit by one of our surveyors who will interpret your Occupational Therapists recommendations and will design a scheme to meet your need.
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