Thanks to Karen for her true devotion to the clients who don’t always get the attention they deserve.

The newly formed CARE (Council for Ageless Residential Environments)  of the Raleigh/Wake County Homebuilders Association is planning a fundraiser on October 20th at NuWave from 4:00 – 7:00.  A $25 ticket gets you BBQ, beer tastings from local breweries and participation in an auction being held that evening.  The better the ticket sales, the higher the donation to Sassafras. Please contact Lewis@SadlerConstructionNC.com for more information or to buy tickets.

One such product is the “Pull Down Closet Rod.”  The rod can be easily lowered by someone in a wheelchair as well as  someone with back problems, arthritic issues, or those of us that may be, shall we say, height-challenged?   There are no tricks to using it — an easily reachable, vertical rod pulls down the horizontal rod. I first saw this innovative product at the Southern Home Show in Raleigh at the Closet Factory booth.

Another product designed with the same audience in mind is the Evolution Three Range Hood.  The beauty of  this  range hood is it works by remote control (finally, a remote control your husband won’t hog).  The  remote lets you operate the range hood speeds, lights and delay-off feature from across the room. Its magnetic base holds securely on metal surfaces  — no more digging in the couch cushions!

In the relaxing tub category, we came across this Ava Bathtub. This tub features a low threshold with an automatic sliding door that moves up and own for easy access. The tub’s well is nice and roomy for comfortable bathing and drains 70 gallons of water in 30 seconds (no sitting there freezing waiting for a slow drain). This tub is great for simple bathing or can be customized to include whirlpool or air bath hydrotherapy systems.  Glass of wine not included.

Upon deciding to remodel her home, she wanted to take the one and done approach.   “Since I only wanted to do this once, I figured I’d make it accessible for when I’m older.”  Excellent thinking on her part.  “Having witnessed the mobility challenges that her ailing parents and her late husband had with stairs, bathtubs and narrow doorways in her former home” she understood the value of remodeling with the unknown in mind.

A Houston contractor noted, “Boomers are more likely to improve than move.”  Building or remodeling with wider doorways, improved lighting, stepless entries, curbless showers and kitchens with multi-level counter tops and pull-out storage  saves money. “An assisted living facility costs  $60,000 a year and up – or you can spend that amount once, and stay in the house you love for years.”

This relatively new concept has many names. Universal Design, Aging in Place, Accessible Housing, LifeStage Design (by Sadler Construction)  but no matter what you call it, it is the future of new home construction and remodeling.  It is the smartest investment you can make.   Prepare your home and thus your bank account for what the future holds.

This legislation would apply to all new homes where the building permit is pulled and the contract is signed after July 1, 2011.  The bill is effective until July 1, 2012.

For more information on this legislation, click here or contact the North Carolina Home Builders Association at 676-9090.

We also want to encourage you to watch”George to the Rescue” on NBC this Saturday night (April 2) at 7:30.   This episode will be the story of Rachelle Friedman from Knightdale and a tragic pool accident that left her in a wheelchair.  Area builders got together and made her house accessible.  The national airing of the show will give an account of Rachelle’s story and the all the volunteers that remodeled her house and life.

Thanks to many man hours and hundreds of volunteers, she now has a barrier-free home.  Please watch this touching story courtesy of NBC’s Today Show.  There was also an article in the News & Observer.