If you ask Americans, the vast majority will say they want to live in their homes indefinitely. In fact, 95% of respondents to a 2024 U.S. News survey say that aging in place is an important goal for them.
Aging in place means remaining in one’s own home rather than moving to a retirement community, assisted living facility or nursing home. It sounds good in theory, but many houses aren’t designed for the needs of older adults who may have reduced mobility, greater fall risks and diminished stamina.
That first became apparent to Amanda Price when she broke her leg two years ago. The 67-year-old retiree found maneuvering around her Holland, Michigan, home became a challenge.
“It was a wake-up call,” she says. “It really made me think about how we are going to move around (as we get older).”
She and her husband, also age 67, had already been planning a home renovation, and they adjusted those plans to incorporate changes designed to help them age in place.
Most homes require some level of renovation to allow people to live there at an advanced age safely. However, those upgrades — and their cost — can vary significantly based on a house’s age and design.
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Cost Considerations of Aging in Place
A historic property will cost significantly more to upgrade than the more open design of a midcentury house, according to Dak Kopec, a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who describes himself as an architectural psychologist specializing in accessible living spaces. Widening doorways, enlarging bathrooms and installing stair lifts in an older home can quickly become expensive.
Still, “everything can be done on the cheap,” he says. For instance, inexpensive grab bars and support railings can be purchased at home improvement stores.
The problem with going the cheap route is that many inexpensive products can look and feel institutional. Kopec has seen firsthand how that can make some people withdraw socially because they no longer want to entertain friends and family in a home that makes it obvious they are aging.
“People don’t want to be seen as being an invalid … or getting older,” Kopec says. One of the biggest mistakes he sees people make when aging in place is not addressing their psychological needs as well as their physical needs.
Higher-end products and fixtures can be integrated into a home’s current design, making it less obvious that they are aging in place updates. What’s more, don’t automatically think you have to do away with stairs, Kopec says. In his experience, older adults who continue to use stairs maintain their knee and leg strength longer.
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Average Price of Aging in Place Renovations
While many factors will determine the final cost, the national average for aging in place renovations ranges from $3,000 to $15,000, according to home remodeling site Fixr. Simple hardware tweaks, such as replacing doorknobs and handles, can be done for as little as $350, while larger structural updates to the entire home can cost as much as $50,000. Price estimates their aging in place renovations to be in the $40,000 to $50,000 range. If you add in windows — which were due for replacement anyway and swapped out for easier-to-clean, crank-style windows — the cost was probably closer to $70,000, she says.
Removing carpeting and updating the shower to lower the 8-inch entry to a 3-inch entry were the biggest expenses. The couple also removed decorative pillars in their living room, increased the height of kitchen counters, replaced some kitchen cabinets with drawers and added pullout shelves to others.
Karen Watkins, a retired financial analyst in Berkeley, California, had extensive renovations completed in her duplex to accommodate the needs of her husband, who is 76. The renovations included adding exterior elevators for their second-floor unit, a roll-in shower and tiled floor in the bathroom, grab bars and an elevated toilet with bidet.
“(Toilet) height is really important as you get older,” she notes.
The couple also added threshold ramps and some new windows configured to allow her husband to safely exit and enter their home.
Watkins estimates all the updates cost $180,000, although the couple received assistance from the Department of Veterans Affairs to cover a portion of the cost. The exterior elevators, at $18,000 each, were the most expensive individual updates.
Bathrooms a Priority for Safety
Retirees point to the bathroom as the place where they most see the need for aging in place upgrades.
“It was terrifying to get into the shower by myself,” Price says of entering her old shower while her leg was broken.
Nancy Bean, a 66-year-old interior designer from Portland, Oregon, reports that her husband, who has Parkinson’s disease, has similarly struggled in the bathroom. “Even just getting in and out of the bathtub is a concern for him because of his balance,” she says.
Low-entry or curbless showers are game-changers for those with limited mobility. But it’s also crucial to have the proper tiling or mats on the floor to avoid slips and falls, according to Bean. “It gets flat-out dangerous,” she says about the current trend of highly polished bathroom floors.
Handheld shower heads, sturdy seating in the shower, grab bars and easy access to towels are also important components of good bathroom design.
“I do like to bring back some of those old dresser tables in the bathroom,” Kopec says. He notes that this is furniture with a cutout in front so people can sit to apply cosmetics or complete other after-shower routines. “Standing for an extended period can be tiring,” he says.
That is one aspect of their bathroom that Watkins wishes they could change. The couple had a sink installed that was designed so a wheelchair could be pushed up against it. However, her husband isn’t to the point of using a wheelchair, and standing at the sink becomes difficult for him.
“He wishes the sink was closer to the bathroom,” she adds, noting that it was placed in a nearby alcove.
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Independence While Aging
The ultimate goal for aging in place renovations is to allow people to live safely and independently in their home for as long as possible. That means looking ahead and anticipating problems before they occur.
For instance, Price updated her fridge to one that doesn’t include a water or ice dispenser on the front. She didn’t want to risk a situation in which water or ice ended up on the floor unnoticed and created a potential fall hazard.
Lighting is also often overlooked, and Bean says people need more lumens to see clearly as they age. “Every light in our house is on a dimmer switch,” she shares. This allows her and her husband to easily adjust the light settings as needed, such as during late-night trips to the bathroom. “A night light just isn’t enough,” Bean says.
In the kitchen, switching to drawers and adding pullout shelves to deep cabinets means people can easily access their cookware, dishes and pantry items even when bending and reaching becomes difficult. “I think that’s almost critical as you get older,” Price says.
Touchless water faucets can also be helpful since arthritis can make it hard for some people to grip and turn knobs, according to Kopec. Seating and beds should also be placed at the proper height, he adds.
“When someone is sitting on the edge of their bed, we want their feet to be flat on the floor,” Kopec says. The same is true for chairs. Any lower or higher could make it difficult for people to get up.
Bean says making upgrades to her home required removing some “really fabulous chairs” that were the wrong height. However, she notes that there are many stylish pieces of furniture that can work for aging in place, adding that having arms on chairs is important to help people stand independently.
She also recommends induction cooktops to eliminate the possibility of a fire should someone lean against a stove for support and accidentally turn on a burner — something that occurred once in her family.
Advice from Retirees: Start Planning Early
Renovating a home for aging in place can be expensive, and that is one reason to begin planning early. However, the other is that the construction process might take longer than you expect.
“It took a year just to get the permits,” Watkins says of her renovations. In total, her husband had to spend two years at an assisted living facility after a surgery before the home was ready for him to safely return.
It takes time and money to update a home for aging in place, but Watkins says it’s worth it. “(My husband) was so miserable in assisted living,” she shares. “It has improved his life so much to be home.”
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How Much Should You Spend on Aging in Place Renovations? Retirees Weigh In originally appeared on usnews.com
