Foreign.
Speaker BWelcome to around the House with Eric G. Your trusted source for all things home improvement.
Speaker BWhether you're tackling a DIY project, hiring it out, or just trying to keep your home running smoothly, you're in the right place.
Speaker BWith over 30 years of remodeling experience, certified kitchen designer Eric G Takes you behind the scenes with expert advice, industry trends, and the latest innovations for your home.
Speaker AHome.
Speaker BIt's everything you need to know without the fluff.
Speaker BNow, here's your host, Eric G. Hey.
Speaker AThere, around the House fans.
Speaker AEric G. Here, and I'm thrilled to bring you a special treat this week.
Speaker AJohn Dudley and I are out taking a quick break to work on some exciting updates to make this show even better.
Speaker APlus, I'm in the middle of moving from my house that just sold, so it's a busy time.
Speaker AWhile we're fine tuning things, we're bringing you a best of episode from December of 2023 packed with favorite tips, tricks and home improvement moments.
Speaker ATrust me, you're gonna love revisiting these gems.
Speaker ASo grab a coffee, settle in, and let's dive into the best of around the House.
Speaker AAnd don't worry, next week we'll be back with a fresh new version of around the House.
Speaker AAnd remember, guys, if you have something you want to ask the show, head over to aroundthehouse online.com and just click on that Contact Us page or jump over to social media and send me a message.
Speaker AYep, I read every single one of them.
Speaker ANow let's jump into that wayback machine to December 2023 and dive into a great episode of around the House.
Speaker AAnd we'll see you next week with a brand new episode.
Speaker AThis is a good one, so hold on tight.
Speaker AHey guys.
Speaker AWelcome to the Round the House show.
Speaker AThis is where we help you get the most out of your home through information and education.
Speaker AThanks for joining us.
Speaker ADoesn't matter if you're on the talk media network out there, where we're on the radio all across the country, or the podcast internationally, I am here to help you through your home improvement journey.
Speaker AToday we're going to be talking about designing and remodeling homes for people that want to live there through the rest of their lives.
Speaker AIf it's going to be I'm going to die in this home, this episode is for you.
Speaker AOr if you have parents that don't want to go into assisted living or go into something like that, we are going to talk about that today.
Speaker AAnd this is an important subject because if you're remodeling and this is a house that you're going to be into.
Speaker AThere are some really cool, neat tricks and tips that I can give you.
Speaker AAnd one of those, let's just start out at the front of the house, more people.
Speaker AAnd let me give you a quick background on this before we go to the front of the house.
Speaker AThis is an important one.
Speaker AMost of the time, you can remodel the house for much less than going into a care facility.
Speaker AI know care facilities out there.
Speaker AThey're anywhere from 8 to 12,000 bucks a month.
Speaker AAnd I tell you what, you can do a lot around your house, especially if you're remodeling as you go.
Speaker AIf you're like, I'm not going to be there for 20 years, what happens if you get hurt?
Speaker AWhat happens if you have to have a knee surgery or hip surgery or something, or even a shoulder surgery?
Speaker AThese are all things that we can do to your house without making it look like a cheap ADA hotel room that just looks like somebody's hospital.
Speaker AThat's the last thing we want to do.
Speaker ABut here are my tricks and tips on this.
Speaker AAnd this is something that I've done for many people in the last 30 years of my design career.
Speaker ASo this is something that we have done, But I'm going to give you all of my insider tricks and tips today on this.
Speaker ASo the first thing is when you're outside of the home, if there's a way to do it, when you're doing your landscaping, your front porch, if there is a way to make it where you can landscape and get a pathway up to the front door of the house by just rolling and not having a step, that is the ultimate one.
Speaker ABecause if you end up getting put into a wheelchair or a walker and you have to put one of those large metal temporary commercial ramps in there that are just a looks like you're out in front of a courthouse, that they put a metal ramp on the side to get people up those big steps.
Speaker ANobody likes that design unless they have to have it.
Speaker ASo if there's a way to bring that up, that can be key.
Speaker AOver the years, garages have been a tough place to manage that way.
Speaker AAnd this is starting to change.
Speaker AIf you noticed, garages either had to be like 4 inches or 8 inches deeper than the rest of the house.
Speaker AAnd that was because of a couple of reasons.
Speaker AOne, the main one is gasoline vapors tend to stay down low to the ground.
Speaker ASo they did not want those gasoline vapors creeping into the house.
Speaker AAnd so you always had a step or two going down into the garage.
Speaker AAnd that's why.
Speaker AAnd that's how it's unfortunately easy way to check out a a garage that has been converted is you walk out of the kitchen, there's two steps down, and guess what?
Speaker AYou go, okay, this rec room is now somebody's former garage.
Speaker AAnd to me that's always not an optimal situation because it just smells and looks like it.
Speaker ABut nowadays you're seeing this a little bit more because building codes and fire codes in areas are changing, especially where you see a lot of slab on grade construction.
Speaker ASo I'm seeing in some areas more and more homes on the same level, which caused a few other little issues.
Speaker ABecause what happens is when you have a garage and you have concrete going up to it, of course the garage floor, no matter what's, gonna have to be sloped towards the door.
Speaker ABut here's what happens and this gets a little bit interesting that you can cause some rot on the siding and stuff because you almost have to have the garage coming out because you want to have 4 to 6 inches there between the edge of the siding or the sill place in the ground.
Speaker ASo now you have to make that garage slope coming up to that really high.
Speaker ASo something to consider, I like to have that where it's not having that space.
Speaker ASo you got to be a little careful with that.
Speaker ASo in my situation that I would much rather see people do is I'd much rather see you have the garage be lower, but being able, if you are, have some ability issues of navigating stairs, you could put a big ramp in the garage that can take up a lot of space.
Speaker ABut if you're building, it's not a big deal.
Speaker AIf you're remodeling, it usually is.
Speaker ABut really if you've got that, where you could roll out of the garage, not use the steps in and go in through the front door, that's a better situation and that's a good one for access.
Speaker ANow, the same thing is I'd like to see a electronic front door lock that can be run with an app or something that you can be giving a code to.
Speaker ALet's say that you are elderly or you're doing something for your mom or dad or your grandparents or whatever, depending on what age group you're in.
Speaker AI like to have a code where you can give the fire department, the police department, someone's assisting you, their own code you're going to remember.
Speaker ASo I never say use your birth date for a code, but if you're going to do something like that and make an emergency code.
Speaker ASo if you called the police and I can't get up, I've fallen, I can't get up.
Speaker AYou can remember and give a code for them to come up to the door without having to break it down.
Speaker ASo these are great things that you can do with electronic door locks and things like that.
Speaker AOr if you've got an app on your phone and that person is hurt but they need help or assistance, they can come in and unlock it.
Speaker ASo there's many things that you can do just on the outside of the house and that goes to lighting, that goes to you slip proof areas.
Speaker AThat's talking about just having a nice gentle slope up to the house without that.
Speaker AAnd now that's really part of it.
Speaker AThe other thing that I would like to see too is a very nice camera system so someone in can't stand up and go see what's going out in front of the house.
Speaker AIf they hear a noise or they want to look around the perimeter, more people get hurt because especially when they're elderly trying to go out and navigate in the slip soft lawn.
Speaker AIf you've got a walker or something like that, those are things that can be pretty dangerous.
Speaker ASo having that camera system is a nice thing.
Speaker AWhen we come back here, we're going to talk about what to do in the bathroom.
Speaker AAnd there are so many cool things.
Speaker AYou can build a beautiful bathroom out that doesn't make it look like it came out of a hospital or an emergency room.
Speaker AAnd there's a lot of cool tricks we can do.
Speaker AAnd we're going to talk about these that you never see that just look like a beautiful style element or it's hidden behind the wall.
Speaker AAnd he gives you options later because here's the thing, maybe right now you're designing it for you and you're in your 50s and you're like, hey, I'm going to be in this house for 20 years.
Speaker AThe chance you're getting hurt or needing to do something or change things around is high.
Speaker ASo I'm going to be able to give you here when we come back the biggest flexibility that you can do things with.
Speaker AAnd that makes a big difference when you're designing this stuff out.
Speaker ABecause you might not need it now, but maybe you want the ability to deal with it later.
Speaker AAnd having the house built where you can do that is a really nice option.
Speaker AAll right, guys.
Speaker AHey, when we come back, we'll be talking more about designing that house to make it more accessible for everyone.
Speaker AJust as soon as around the House Returns.
Speaker AIf you got a home improvement question, give me a call.
Speaker A833-239-4144 and we'll put you in the show in a future episode.
Speaker A833-239-4144.
Speaker AAround the House I'll be right back.
Speaker BTo find out more about the around the House show, head to aroundthehouse online.com you are listening to a great episode from December of 2023.
Speaker BDon't worry, Eric and John will be back next week with a brand new episode.
Speaker BIf you have a home improvement question or topic suggestion for the show, give us a shout out on social media or at our Contact Us page@aroundthehouse online.com around the house we'll be right back after these important messages from our spons.
Speaker BWelcome back to the around the House Show.
Speaker BToday we're bringing you a special best of episode from December 2023.
Speaker BPacked with our favorite tips and moments, Eric and John are taking a quick break to remodel and refresh the show.
Speaker BDon't worry, they're keeping everything you love about around the House and we will all be back next week with a refreshingly new show.
Speaker AWelcome back to the around the House Show.
Speaker AThis is where we help you get the most out of your home through information and education.
Speaker AWe've been talking about really trying to design that home so you can make it your forever home.
Speaker AAnd things to think about when you're remodeling your home as you get older, whether or not you're somebody young, you're working on your parents house, your grandparents house, there are things we can do along the way that give us that expandability and capability to make it more accessible for everyone.
Speaker ANow one of the most important rooms we've been talking about here is bathrooms.
Speaker AAnd bathrooms are a tough one because they are one of the most dangerous rooms in the house.
Speaker AAnd if you are aging in place and you're like, hey, this is gonna be my forever home, there's a lot of things we can do without making it look like it's a bad hospital bathroom or one of those ADA hotel rooms that make it not look amazing, right?
Speaker AYou want it to be beautiful, stylish, comfy, and none of those rooms like that really make it feel that way.
Speaker ASo that's why we're going to talk about some of these things today.
Speaker ASo one of the things that I like to do is if you're designing out a shower, go ahead and put in a roll in Curbless shower.
Speaker ACurbless showers are hot.
Speaker AYou can walk right into that and the nice thing is you can do that in almost any space nowadays.
Speaker AThey've come up with a lot of different ways to do it.
Speaker AWhere you can recess the floor, could have the right slope.
Speaker AAnd then you've got this really nice luxurious shower.
Speaker ABut if you needed to go in there with a wheelchair or if you're rolling in on a walker, guess what, that will work for you.
Speaker ASo that is one right there.
Speaker AAnd then if you're designing this space, giving yourself some extra room because you want to be able to get in there, turn around, especially if you've got a wheelchair.
Speaker ASo larger bathrooms are key.
Speaker ASo if you can do that in a perfect world, I'd have a five foot space which is a circle that's five foot across.
Speaker AYou can spin around if you're in a wheelchair and have assistance.
Speaker ABut that's not always necessary and quite frankly, not always practical.
Speaker ASo these are things here that you got to be really careful with just to be able to get in there.
Speaker AIf you've got somebody helping you, get into a space to do that.
Speaker ANow one of the things that I like to do is when you're building out the space, let's say you're doing a remodel in it, Whether or not, I don't care if you're 30 years old, go through and put blocks in the walls with your scrap lumber, block it out.
Speaker ASo you have places to put towel bars.
Speaker AThat way you've got towel bars, you've got grab bars, you've got safety handles.
Speaker AAll those things that you do, sometimes they'll go in the shower, sometimes they'll go out in the bathroom as you're getting into a tub shower.
Speaker ABut if you block that out and then what I do is, and it's great with pictures these days, after you get it blocked out, before the drywall goes up or the tile system goes in, take some pictures of it and get some measurements or at least document what those are.
Speaker AIf you could take a picture where those are with a tape measure, it's easy, even better.
Speaker AAnd then later on, if you need to add a grab bar, something to help you get into a shower, something to get you into a tub, something to get you over into the toilet, for instance, into that toilet area.
Speaker AThose are smart things to do.
Speaker AAnd it really costs you almost nothing.
Speaker AYou know, short pieces of scrap lumber, you might have the price of a few two by sixes or two by eights, but use big lumber.
Speaker AI go in there, block it out, and it looks really good because you won't be able to see it.
Speaker ABut when the time comes, you're not gonna have to dig into that wall and actually put those block.
Speaker ABecause anytime that you've got people like that, where you've got the weight of their body, you can't just go into drywall, it's got to go into studs.
Speaker AAnd that can be hard sometimes where you want to put them.
Speaker AAnd that can get in the way.
Speaker ASo that's another great trick.
Speaker AThe other thing is make sure you put that outlet behind the toilet for the smart toilet seats, the bidet toilet seats.
Speaker ABecause I tell you what, as you get older, that bidet toilet seat is something that really helps you have that freedom without having to somebody have somebody come help you.
Speaker AThat gives you that ability to take care of yourself.
Speaker AAnd there's nothing more embarrassing than having to have somebody come in and help you go to the bathroom.
Speaker AAnd if you can take that step by just putting an outlet back there, that gives you a chance to put up a day toilet seat on that existing toilet later and you'll be good to go.
Speaker ANow the next one on here is in super is super important and well.
Speaker AAnd I like this one because what you can do is get a toilet a little bit higher.
Speaker AComfort height toilets are big right now, they're bigger, better on your knees.
Speaker AAnd that's the cool thing, is that when you're sitting down low, it's harder to get up out of that position.
Speaker AIf you've got, let's say you've had knee surgery, let's say you've hurt your leg or you're not using them very well, those are great in this situation.
Speaker ASo that's another one of those right there.
Speaker ANow the other thing is if you've got a tight space in there, making it where you can actually roll in underneath a pedestal sink or a contemporary styled sink where you've got legs that you could get underne.
Speaker AAnd if that's the case, and it's always good to go underneath there and they make this really cool padding that you could put under there so you're not hurting the pipes, you're not banging into them and you're not burning yourself.
Speaker ASo those are two great ones right there that you can get done.
Speaker AAnd these are all really easy things you can do in the bathroom.
Speaker ANow the other thing is too is make sure you've got a really nice non stick floor in there.
Speaker AYou want something that you're not going to slide right, you want that, the right surface coefficient there that you're not going to Have a wet floor and slip.
Speaker ASo those are also great things.
Speaker ASo polished stone, even some of the luxury vinyl planks out there, be careful with because those can be too slippery, as well as gloss tile.
Speaker AThose are things that I really want you to pay attention to because those can be dangerous in this atmosphere.
Speaker ASo bathrooms are really big like that.
Speaker AAnd anytime that you can do that and get a place that you can get into.
Speaker ANow, if you're going to do a tub and you're a year older, sometimes those walk in bathtubs are not a bad idea.
Speaker AEspecially if you're getting towards retirement age, something like that, and you're worried about it.
Speaker ABut here's the trick with those.
Speaker AWhen you're getting one of those walk in tubs, let's say you're getting it for your parents, you're getting for your grandparents, whatever.
Speaker AAnd the key with those is to get the power drain.
Speaker AAnd what that does is the problem with these tubs is when you sit down in the bathtub, you've got to let all this water that's very high because they're narrow drain down so you can get out of it.
Speaker ABecause you have to be able to open the door.
Speaker AThe power drain makes it so you're not sitting in there freezing outside of the water all wet.
Speaker AAnd that really helps speed that up.
Speaker ASo make sure you get the power drain option.
Speaker AIt's a much better call when you're doing that.
Speaker AAnd it's gonna be much more comfortable.
Speaker AIt's not that expensive.
Speaker AIt's got a little pump and it will pump the drain the water down and not just use gravity, it'll actually pump it out, which works out really well.
Speaker AAnd that really makes for a more comfortable situation there.
Speaker AAnd then the other thing is just make sure that you've got light switches and stuff are accessible.
Speaker AOutlets are accessible.
Speaker AThey're in the very far back.
Speaker AThat's not great.
Speaker AAnd then the other one is that to make sure that you've got handles that you can operate.
Speaker ANow, handles you can operate means that if you can turn it on with a closed fist, you're heading the right direction.
Speaker ASo lever handles are good where it doesn't get as great as when you have knobs and stuff that you have to turn.
Speaker AAnd if you can operate it with a closed fist, you're going to be much better off.
Speaker AAnd if you've got any kind of arthritis or things like that, these are smart things because you'll be able to handle it with a closed fist.
Speaker ASo that's a big one right There we come back.
Speaker AWe're going to dive into the kitchen and talk about that.
Speaker AWe'll be right back.
Speaker BTo find out more about the around the House show, head to around the house online.com if you have a home improvement question or topic suggestion for the show, give us a shout out on social media or at our Contact Us page at around the House online dot com.
Speaker BYou are listening to a great episode from December of 2023.
Speaker BDon't worry, Eric and John will be back next week with a brand new episode, around the House.
Speaker BWe'll be right back after these important messages from our sponsors.
Speaker BHey guys, producer Jim here.
Speaker BThanks for tuning in to this best of episode from December of 2023.
Speaker BEric and John are working on some cool changes for next week's show.
Speaker BSo enjoy this episode and we will see you next week.
Speaker AWelcome back to the around the House show.
Speaker AThis is where we hope you get the most out of your home through information and education.
Speaker AWe've been talking about designing your home while you're remodeling, building or whatever or doing those renovations to be more accessible for you and your family.
Speaker AAnd these are really cool little tricks that I've learned over the years through my 30 years of design.
Speaker AThese are projects that we've taken on and they have really been able to save people money because when you're doing a remodel, if you can do a few of these things, they're going to make it so much easier.
Speaker AAnd if you get into a situation where you get hurt, you have a medical issue or you're just getting older, we all are equally.
Speaker ANow here's the thing.
Speaker AIt's a lot cheaper to do that renovation than it is to go get into an assisted living care facility.
Speaker ASo these are all great tricks that I've got here for you.
Speaker AHere's the thing.
Speaker AWe're talking kitchens now.
Speaker AAnd kitchens can be really complex and a little bit, a little bit more troublesome to design depending on what you want.
Speaker ANow if you're in a situation where you're already in a walker or you're already partially in a wheelchair, you can really design that for that space.
Speaker AAnd there is some great technology out there to do this.
Speaker AIf you look out there now, there are systems that you see where you can actually hit a button and the countertop will move up and down and adjust it so you can bring it down to be able to get down to that height so you can get underneath that with a wheelchair.
Speaker ABut let's talk about some of the things that work and some of the things that don't, that don't work when you're designing a kitchen.
Speaker ALet's talk appliances.
Speaker AI'm a fan.
Speaker AIf you're in a, if you're in a wheelchair or if you have reduced abilities like you're in a walker or barely getting around, I'm a fan of side by side refrigerators for this because you can get in, get into both sides.
Speaker AThe problem is that when you've got a French door refrigerator, let's say, or even a top mount with the freezer on top, refrigerator on bottom, the problem is you've got one section that's higher than the other.
Speaker AAnd I like it that you can be able to stack things in there as you need to with a side by side.
Speaker AA French door door is okay, but the gallon door storage is usually up higher on the top or top shelf.
Speaker AAnd that's one of those things that, that makes it harder.
Speaker ASo you can, with a side by side, I think do better and then you can get it open where you can get into it and get into that space a little bit easier.
Speaker AAnd unless you're doing a lot of freezer stuff, you don't have to get there and struggle getting that freezer door open and get in there.
Speaker AAnd that's one of the things too is just to take a look and see how much pressure it takes to open that door, that drawer, that kind of stuff within that.
Speaker AAnd you got to be able to leave enough room there so you can sit there and be able to navigate that.
Speaker ASo that's one of them.
Speaker AI am much more of a fan of an induction cooktop.
Speaker ASo you've got something that's not getting very hot.
Speaker AA microwave down low in a, under a countertop in a base cabinet.
Speaker AI want to have a range hood, like what Zephyr makes, for instance, or some other brands where you can control it with your smartphone.
Speaker AThose are smart.
Speaker AA smart vent hood is great.
Speaker AEven one like Miele, where you can turn it on and then program it to turn the fan on as you start cooking.
Speaker AThat is great.
Speaker AAnd what I want to be able to do is if you're in a wheelchair, to be able to roll in underneath that cooktop and cook so you can get in there and have access to it.
Speaker ANow, if you're just planning ahead, that's maybe not the case, but many times you can go in there and take that cabinet out underneath it and go in and do some stuff with it.
Speaker ASo these are things that, and we have made cabinets in the past too, that Had, I guess the best way to explain it would be flipper door hardware that you would see on an old entertainment center where you can open the doors up and slide them back in.
Speaker ABy doing that gives you full access underneath there.
Speaker AAnd I've done that with an attached toe kick and it works out really well and it gives you access into that.
Speaker ABut now, here's the thing.
Speaker AIf you're just looking to do it so you want, hey, I'm gonna.
Speaker AI'm gonna grow old in this place, and this is my last home, then the good thing is you can do it, is you can do a oven that's down lower, like a single oven that's underneath the countertop height, where you're down low with that.
Speaker AThat's a cool one.
Speaker AThey make a lot of different oven configurations depending on how you want it.
Speaker AYou can get them that swing side by side like a microwave, or you can get them to drop down, really depending on the brand and the style of what you're looking at.
Speaker ABecause there are some nice pro style ones out there that work well.
Speaker ASo that's another one.
Speaker ANow, dishwashers, what I've done with that is it's easy.
Speaker AI've gone through and actually raised up the dishwasher.
Speaker AI did this in my mom's house and it turned out really good.
Speaker AI actually went through raised up that dishwasher.
Speaker AAnd by raising up that dishwasher, it made it where she could sit down in a chair and do the dishes.
Speaker AAnd so I raised that up about another six inches.
Speaker AAnd so by doing that, what it did is it gave us that access where the, when the door was down, it was not 6 inches off the ground, which is really tough to manage.
Speaker ASo it brought it up so it was almost a foot off the ground, which was a game changer for this.
Speaker AAnd even better, if you do that on an island or something like that, there's a lot of things you can make that work with.
Speaker AIt's really tricky.
Speaker ANow the other thing is, and that way you have a raised up area on the island.
Speaker AYou can put plants or stuff up there and make it look really nice.
Speaker ANow, one of the things I want to talk about is cabinetry.
Speaker AAnd this is one of those things that can be really cool.
Speaker AThey do make cabinetry that you can control that actually swings down or drops down so you have access to those upper cabinets.
Speaker ABecause if you are going to be in a wheelchair or in a reduced ability situation where maybe when you're in a walker and you're bouncing between the Two of those.
Speaker ASometimes it's really tough to stand up to get into that, or nearly impossible, if not impossible.
Speaker ASo really, if you think about it, that's a really great way to go.
Speaker ANow, those are all things that you're gonna probably do.
Speaker AThese aren't really great retrofit things, but they are great when you're designing a kitchen to think about those things moving forward because that's really important there, to be able to do that.
Speaker AAnd so really.
Speaker AAnd then anything that you're putting in, whether it's, I hate over the range microwaves, this is definitely not the place to put them.
Speaker AAnd then the other thing you can do here as well is have that microwave down low.
Speaker AIf you have a steam oven, have it down low, have everything down lower so you have access.
Speaker AAnd when in doubt, just go grab a dining room chair and sit in the kitchen and say, okay, how am I going to cook with this kitchen?
Speaker ABecause that's really what you're talking about doing.
Speaker ANow.
Speaker AIf it's something that you're like, hey, I'm going to make this.
Speaker ASo, you know, I could be, I could have some reduced abilities in 10 or 20 years.
Speaker AThen think about doing that cooktop with the oven that's a little bit lower and then just doing shelves above or something like that that you can keep things stored up there, but someone can help you or you can be able to go up and get it.
Speaker ASo again, there's a lot of details to this, but a great certified kitchen designer can do that with you when you design out the kitchen.
Speaker AAnd there's a couple things out there.
Speaker AIf you look at the certified kitchen designer, which is old, I think they're the certified kitchen appliance bath designer.
Speaker ANow as the new ones, they've combined and combined those together.
Speaker AThere's a certified master kitchen, a bath designer, which is another one as well as there's people out there that are caps rated and that is a another certification for people that are designing for aging in place.
Speaker ASo these are all things that really, when you're working on a project like this, it would not be a bad idea.
Speaker AI think everybody should sure take a look at that.
Speaker AWhether or not it's just your grandma coming to visit for two weeks and you want to be able to have access to make her more comfortable.
Speaker AThose are really good.
Speaker AAnd the other thing too is in a kitchen is be careful with your floors.
Speaker AI like to have something that's fairly non skid, so it's not too slippery.
Speaker AThat's not where I want to See, you put in the marble floors and nor do I want to see you put in 1970s kitchen carpet too, because it could be softer.
Speaker AIt's really not.
Speaker ABut what you want to do is be able to not have rugs in there, have your floor down, have your system there and make it so it's easily maintained and then you'll be much better off.
Speaker AYeah, as you can tell, there's a lot of little details here within this space to design it out.
Speaker ABut these are all great tips if you're really trying to make sure that you're trying to design this out correctly.
Speaker ATake the time, plan it out.
Speaker AThere's a ton of new technology out there.
Speaker AAnd as well, you can have all the lights running on apps so you don't have to travel across there faucets, there's touch faucets, there's voice controlled faucets.
Speaker ANow there's a lot of little things like that when it comes to that.
Speaker AYou can mount the garbage disposal.
Speaker AIf you get one of the air buttons, you can mount that forward on the countertop so they could get at it.
Speaker AAnd again, making sure that you can control the faucet with a closed fist so you don't have to worry about a dexterity issue of your fingers.
Speaker ASo when we come back, I've got a few more tips here for you and tricks that'll make this so much easier, including some of the things you should do in other rooms.
Speaker AAnd we'll do that just as soon as around the House returns.
Speaker ADon't go anywhere.
Speaker BMake sure you follow the around the House show on social media and our YouTube channel at aroundthehouse EricG for all of our home improvement videos.
Speaker BHold onto your tool belt, folks.
Speaker BWe're taking a short break to rewire our thoughts.
Speaker BAround the House will be back faster than you can say drywall dust.
Speaker ASam.
Speaker BWelcome back to the around the House show.
Speaker BToday we're bringing you a special best of episode from December 2023.
Speaker BPacked with our favorite tips and moments, Eric and John are taking a quick break to remodel and refresh the show.
Speaker BDon't worry, they're keeping everything you love about around the House and we will all be back next week with a refreshingly new show.
Speaker AWelcome back to the around the House show.
Speaker AThis is where we help you get the most out of your home through information and education.
Speaker AWe've been talking today here about making sure that you're planning ahead in your home, to make sure that if this is a place that you're going to live forever, that You've got some options out there to make it more accessible for you or other family members or in case you have a bad accident.
Speaker AThings happen in life.
Speaker AAnd when you're doing remodeling projects, sometimes you can do some things that'll really pay off later on in life.
Speaker AHere.
Speaker AOh wow, I'm happy I did that blocking in the bathroom 10 years ago.
Speaker AThat's one of those things that really helps out.
Speaker ASo those are the things that you can really do to make this worthwhile.
Speaker ANow one of the things that I like to do here as well is when you're designing, remodel or designing even a new home, we did this, my parents house is we put three foot doors into every room.
Speaker ASo we have the same door size everywhere.
Speaker AAnd many times you'll see doors that are 32 inches, 28 inches.
Speaker AGoing three foot gives you access for everybody.
Speaker AAnd that's a really good thing.
Speaker AWhether you're going into the bathroom, into a hall closet, whatever.
Speaker AHaving those larger doors makes it easier to get furniture in when you're trying to move appliances around.
Speaker AHaving good egress in and out of a room is key.
Speaker ASo doing doors, that is a really good way to go.
Speaker ANow one of the things too that I like to do is also this is where we put in the smart light switches, the smart blinds, those kind of things.
Speaker ASo you have good access to that and you can close and open blinds and do it without having to get tangled up into cords and things like that.
Speaker ALutron makes a really nice one that I like.
Speaker AAs far as smart blinds, they've got part of their casita system.
Speaker AIt works really well.
Speaker ASo I've been really impressed with their blind systems.
Speaker AThey've got it dialed in.
Speaker ANow the other thing is to really take into account flooring.
Speaker AI'm not a carpet person.
Speaker AFor most people, if they're rolling around because you have to put a lot of pressure into roll, it's really not that much softer.
Speaker ABy the time you put a hard surface down, whether it's tile, whether it's a luxury vinyl plank or a vinyl, it's really one of those things that when you look at it, it doesn't Anytime that you do a transition between carpet and flooring, even with a no transition strip type of thing right there, where it's just a hard joint, those are things that wheels get caught up on and they're also sharp edges.
Speaker ASo I would much rather dial the design off 11 and bring it back.
Speaker ASo you have each room has a surface to it and if there's a transition chip.
Speaker AOkay, there's got to be sometimes, but maybe not.
Speaker AIf you do it right and the installer knows what they're doing, really putting in that flooring and making sure.
Speaker ANow, the other thing too is that I really like to see more natural woods for finishes because they hide dents and dings so much better.
Speaker AIf you put in a bright, white, beautiful kitchen with a wheelchair, just like with young kids, it's going to get beat up and it's not going to look great after a few years.
Speaker AAnd there's really not much you can do about that.
Speaker ASo medium tone woods, those look really good because you've got the wood grain, which hides the scratches, dings and dents.
Speaker AAnd those are smart right there.
Speaker AThose are things that you can do to really get that taken care of.
Speaker AAnd then the other thing is too, is just making sure that you've got that house planned out as far as where the furniture is going to go, where people can assist you with, you know, and that stuff around the house.
Speaker ASo these are all super important within that planning.
Speaker AAnd then I really want to see you put in a good, good heating and cooling system in there that can make sure that you've got it comfortable.
Speaker AIf you've got somebody that has limited abilities and you've got the house completely out of control and temperature where it's in its 90s because it's a hundred outside, that's a really bad, healthy situation that I want to make sure that we don't leave family members in.
Speaker AAnd like I said, there's a lot of little tips and tricks with this whole process, but these are all things that you can really do to make that easier to do that.
Speaker AAnd I think, honestly, a lot of these things just so that you're putting in a outlet right behind the toilet that is so key right there while you're doing the remodel.
Speaker ACost you nothing that way.
Speaker AWhen you go get your Toto washlet, you can plug it in right there and you're good to go.
Speaker ASo take some time on these things.
Speaker AThese are really important steps that.
Speaker AAnd you don't have to do it to make it look commercial or institutional.
Speaker AWe're trying to make it so people can stay in their home so much longer.
Speaker AAnd I think if we did this as a community in building and remodeling, and a lot of these things, quite frankly, can be done without having extra cost to the project.
Speaker ALike the blocking takes a guy an hour to knock that out, or a lady, they can go through and knock that blocking out and they're good to go.
Speaker AAnd then you have options down the road.
Speaker ASo it's something that I see good builders doing down there.
Speaker AAnd if you're doing it on your own project, it's smart.
Speaker AIt's really smart.
Speaker ASo that really covers this whole subject here of really trying to things to consider when you're remodeling your home to make it more accessible out there and less clutter, open pathways.
Speaker AThat is really good.
Speaker ANow, one thing I wanted to talk about today, I got to.
Speaker AWe were shooting my television show and this was a lot of fun.
Speaker AAnd I had the rep, Ben, who's my regional rep for Fine, and he came in and we had such a great time today in the TV studio playing around with their new tools.
Speaker AAnd you know me, I love new tools and it makes just taking on a project so much better.
Speaker AAnd I tell you what, that is the best multi tool I have ever used.
Speaker AAnd here's for a couple reasons why.
Speaker AAnd if you've seen me on my show, I've got a lot of Milwaukee stuff.
Speaker AStuff.
Speaker AI've got a lot of Bosch stuff.
Speaker AI've got some Dewalt stuff and just a tiny bit of Porter cable.
Speaker ABut that's really the big ones that I've got right there as far as that.
Speaker ABut boy, I tell you what, I have not used anything, of course, Saw stop on the table saw.
Speaker ABut really, tools wise, that's my first find that I've really used.
Speaker AAnd it was a cordless and finds using those Bosch batteries, which is really great.
Speaker AThey partnered up with them, which is great.
Speaker AAnd that is trick.
Speaker ABut really, I tell you what, the one thing that I noticed is how smooth of cut that thing gave.
Speaker ANow using my Milwaukee and sorry, Milwaukee, it's a great powerful tool.
Speaker ABut the way Fine builds, there is so much less vibration.
Speaker AAnd they designed it with this floating head that if I'm using that doing a bunch of molding cuts or cutting out cabinets for electrical outlets or whatever, man, I felt almost no vibration through that.
Speaker AAnd it was so much easier on my arms, so much easier on my hands.
Speaker AAnd I made just an absolutely beautiful smooth cut.
Speaker AAnd then I got to play with their, their dust extractors.
Speaker AAnd I tell you what, that was really cool, the dust extractors, man, those things are just finely built.
Speaker AAnd I'm not just saying that, no pun intended, but that stuff is great.
Speaker AAnd the other thing that I thought was really in.
Speaker AIn amazing and I haven't played with their stuff that much.
Speaker AIt's something I haven't really got to play with.
Speaker AI've played around with probably more festool than anything on the other kind of European brands.
Speaker ABut I tell you what, they have a blade for every situation, which I like.
Speaker AAnd that's some of the problems that you see out there with the blades.
Speaker AAs you see a lot of that stuff that the blades just don't do what you want them to do.
Speaker AAnd they make one.
Speaker AYou go to the hardware store and they've got.
Speaker AI got a bi metal blade, I have a wood blade and I have maybe a ceramic blade.
Speaker ABoy, those guys have probably a hundred different blades or probably closer to 200 different blades that work really well for the saw.
Speaker AAnd you can cut through stuff I went through and was doing it.
Speaker AYou'll see it on an upcoming video.
Speaker ABut I removed grout just like it was a dream.
Speaker AAnd I tell you what, there is nothing faster than taking grout out than that tool right there.
Speaker AAnd then it had a little putty knife that went on there.
Speaker AAnd what was great was is when I was doing all this stuff I could hook the vacuum up to it.
Speaker ASo it grabbed 99 of the dust coming out of it it which was pretty amazing.
Speaker ASo that was a really clean tool to use.
Speaker AAnd the nice thing with fine, they invented the power tool.
Speaker AThey were the first cordless drill manufacturer a century or two ago here.
Speaker AThose guys were all over it.
Speaker AAnd of course they were the inventor of the multi tool and they have just taken that again with their newer battery powered stuff to a new level.
Speaker AThe other thing too is if you're a steel worker, they have gotten into not only into wood but they've got into steel.
Speaker ASteel.
Speaker AAnd I was playing with this magnet vise that they have today.
Speaker AThat wow, that thing was impressive.
Speaker AAnd you could control how much adjustability you have with the magnet.
Speaker ASo you put it on there and you set it up and you can make it so it has 30% to get things dialed in where you want it on the magnet.
Speaker AAnd then when you hit full, it's got 1700 pound pull strength.
Speaker AYou were not pulling it off there.
Speaker AI was reefing that thing and you're not going to do it.
Speaker ASo I'm going to bring them on the show here in a future episode and talk power tools because they have so many great things going on.
Speaker ABut I have to give them a great thank you for coming on the TV show and that'll be a great segment coming up.
Speaker AWell guys, we're going to do another episode here coming up for hour number two.
Speaker ABut here's the thing.
Speaker AWe just have that brand new number.
Speaker AIf you have that home improvement question, are you stuck on a project?
Speaker AIs it something that you're stuck on and you don't know what to do, give me a call.
Speaker A833-239-4144.
Speaker AThat's 833-239-4144.
Speaker AI've also got the number up on our website which is around the house online and over going up on our socials as we speak.
Speaker ASo that's really cool and that's one of those things that I think is really trick as far as being able to do stuff.
Speaker ASo we've got another great interview coming up here next.
Speaker AStick around.
Speaker AThanks for tuning into Round the House hour one.
Speaker AHour number two is right around the corner.
Speaker ADon't go anywhere.
Speaker BHey, it's producer Jim here.
Speaker BThanks for checking out this best of episode of the around the House show.
Speaker BWe will be back next week with a brand new episode.
Speaker BTo find out more head to aroundthehouse online.com.
Speaker Bwe will see you soon.