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Advice on manouvring wheelchair over door lip.

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  • 23-03-2007 9:36am
    #1
    Archeron
    Registered Users Posts: 6,282 ✭✭✭


    Howdy all,
    A quick question I hope you might advise on.

    We recently got a conservatory built at our house for some extra space. Unfortuantely, the guy who has built it has left it with a rather large lip on both the door into it from the house, and the door from the conservatory into the garden, which is posing a problem for getting my mums wheelchair around.

    The lips are actually part of the door frames, so we cant cut them off without weakening the door, and they are about 5 inches high. As my mum is quite heavy, its not really an option to lift her chair over this. Does anyone know a way round this to make it easier for her to manouvre? She is quite nervous in the chair as well and worried about falling, so something that doesnt seem scary would be great.

    I dont know if there are wedge systems that you can buy, or perhaps like some sort of see saw device that might work, but if anyone had advice, I'd be grateful.
    Cheers!


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    #2
    Amz
    Registered Users Posts: 14,330 ✭✭✭✭Amz


    I'm sure if you can't find wedges you could make them or get someone to make them. Is there no way you could make a little "ramp" type thing to go on either side of the door, allowing it to close and open normally, but without having the lip so severe.


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    #3
    Archeron
    Registered Users Posts: 6,282 ✭✭✭Archeron


    thanks Amz. Thats something I was thinking about alright. I'm about as handy with a hammer as a donkey though, so if there is somewhere they can be bought, that would probably be best. I'd give it a shot, but as the combined weight of chair and person is over 20 stone, my main worry is getting something strong enough. I wonder if a strong see saw kind of lever would work, or if that would seem a little too frightening for her. (she has been bed ridden for a long time so moving around generally is still a bit of a worry for her)


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    #4
    Amz
    Registered Users Posts: 14,330 ✭✭✭✭Amz


    See Saw type thing might seem scary for her as to her in the chair it might seem quite unstable. I'm not 100% sure where you might find such gadgets, but there might be something in the Useful Links thread on this forum.


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    #5
    smashey
    Registered Users Posts: 21,676 ✭✭✭✭smashey


    Go to a local metal works and the should be able to make a little two sided ramp that can be put in positon as and when required. Give them the height and width of the lip.


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    #6
    RainyDay
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,925 ✭✭✭RainyDay


    Did they sign-off to confirm that the construction complies with building regulations? It sounds to me like would breach Part M, so I'm just wondering if they (or an architect) signed off on this? It could cause difficulties when you come to sell the house.


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    #7
    snorlax
    Registered Users Posts: 4,381 ✭✭✭snorlax


    http://www.assistireland.ie/index.asp?locID=159&docID=4855 and http://www.assistireland.ie/swish_search.asp?words=ramp&Search=Search&type=info


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    #8
    hullaballoo
    Administrators, Entertainment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 18,727 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭hullaballoo


    Could you tilt the chair back until the front wheels clear the lip? The back wheels will then follow.

    My dad's about 20 stone, and just impossible for me to lift, but it's easy peasy to tilt his chair without spilling him out, and it's easy to recover if you over-tilt too.

    Perhaps I'm misunderstanding the problem though: other people seem to be suggesting something more like a bit of robust DIY!

    Edit: ah, just spotted that your mum's a bit nervous. Though, to be honest, I can't think of a solution that wouldn't be scary for her if she would be nervous about tilting.


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    #9
    Archeron
    Registered Users Posts: 6,282 ✭✭✭Archeron


    Cheers for the replies all. We were able to use a bit of grunt and two of us lifted it over, but I think the links to ramps will be the trick for the future.

    Thing is though, that we opened a new can of worms when we done this. The wheelchair went out the door at a squeeze, but would not fit back in again, which meant my mum having to make an awful lot of effort to get back in the house. I had thought that modern buildings would all be fully accessable to wheelchair users, but this doesnt appear to be the case. I'm a bit annoyed at this, as the conservatory was built purely for my mum, and now its posing trouble getting in and out of it. The door is too narrow by about an inch.

    I suppose these are all things you learn to keep an eye out for over time, but GRRRR nonetheless.


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    #10
    RainyDay
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,925 ✭✭✭RainyDay


    Archeron wrote:
    Thing is though, that we opened a new can of worms when we done this. The wheelchair went out the door at a squeeze, but would not fit back in again, which meant my mum having to make an awful lot of effort to get back in the house. I had thought that modern buildings would all be fully accessable to wheelchair users, but this doesnt appear to be the case. I'm a bit annoyed at this, as the conservatory was built purely for my mum, and now its posing trouble getting in and out of it. The door is too narrow by about an inch.
    What width is the door opening? Was there an architect involved? When was the conservatory built?

    You may be able to claim that they breached building regulations (Part M) and push them to fix it at their cost.


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