Accessibility improvements

Manufactured homes have some real advantages for ageing in place, they are single storey, and layouts are often open. They also have specific obstacles: the home sits above ground level so there is always an entry height to solve, hallways and doorways can be narrow, and bathrooms are frequently compact.

Entry is usually the first project. A ramp needs a gentle enough gradient to be usable, which means length, and it needs a level landing at the door. Ramps are generally best built as free-standing structures on their own footings rather than attached to the home, for the same movement reasons as a deck. A vertical platform lift is an alternative where there is no room for a ramp.

Inside, the cheap and effective changes are grab bars, lever handles instead of knobs, improved lighting, and removing threshold trips. Grab bars need to be fixed into real structure, manufactured-home walls will not hold a bar screwed into the panelling alone, and a bar that pulls out is worse than none. Blocking may need to be added.

Widening a doorway is possible but takes you back into the structural question from the previous chapter. Get an opinion before assuming a wall can be opened.

Bathrooms are the highest-value and most involved adaptation. A curbless or low-threshold shower is achievable but has to work with the floor structure and the drain position, which in a manufactured home runs in the belly. Plan the drain route before committing to a layout.