We can all agree that the “golden years” are a wonderful season of life. However, they are often accompanied by increasing physical difficulty, especially when it comes to navigating from the car to the house, or from the back porch to the outdoor living area you have enjoyed over the years. Stair Lifts Atlanta can help keep the “gold” in “golden” with options for landscaping and hardscaping for accessibility, especially as provided by our favorite hardscaping and landscaping services company, Outdoor Spaces.
Outdoor Spaces a landscape and hardscape design and installation business operating in Gwinnett, Hall and Forsyth Counties in north metro Atlanta. The Outdoor Spaces team strives to maintain high standards and consistent attention to detail to achieve the customer satisfaction their clients deserve. They also offer aging in place design to make the indoor AND outdoor living areas safe and accessible for everyone.
The Outdoor Spaces team strives to maintain regular up-front communication with clients from the initial meeting through to project completion. Experienced residential landscape design and installation professionals, they are committed to keeping clients regularly updated on the progress of the work.
Planning Safer Outdoor Access Around the Home
A well-designed exterior should provide more than attractive landscaping. It should also make it easier for residents and visitors to move safely between driveways, sidewalks, porches, patios, gardens, and entrances. Landscaping and hardscaping accessibility improvements can address uneven surfaces, steep grades, poor drainage, difficult steps, narrow pathways, and other outdoor conditions that may become increasingly challenging with age or limited mobility.
One of the most important considerations is creating a stable, reasonably level route between frequently used areas of the property. Existing stepping stones, gravel paths, deteriorated concrete, or irregular pavers may be difficult for someone using a cane, walker, wheelchair, or mobility scooter. As part of landscaping and hardscaping accessibility, homeowners may consider wider concrete or paver walkways, improved transitions between surfaces, properly designed ramps, and accessible landings at exterior doors.
Improving Drainage, Slopes and Walking Surfaces
Drainage and grading can also affect accessibility. Water that repeatedly crosses a walkway may create slippery surfaces, erosion, settlement, or muddy areas. Retaining walls, catch basins, drainage piping, grading improvements, and other landscape drainage solutions can help control water while protecting usable outdoor areas. Good landscaping and hardscaping accessibility design considers both the walking surface itself and the surrounding conditions that may affect its long-term safety.
Sloped properties common throughout North Georgia sometimes require more extensive planning. A new retaining wall may create enough level space for a wider walkway, patio, ramp, or platform lift landing. In other situations, modifying the route through the landscape can reduce the number of steps required to reach an entrance or outdoor living area.
Creating Outdoor Spaces for Aging in Place
Accessibility improvements do not have to make a home look institutional. Attractive materials, complementary landscaping, decorative retaining walls, landscape lighting, and thoughtfully placed landscaped planting areas can help accessibility features become an integrated part of the overall property design. The goal of landscaping and hardscaping accessibility is to combine function, safety, durability, and appearance.
Planning ahead can be especially valuable for homeowners who want to remain in their homes as they grow older. Improvements made today may make a patio, garden, driveway, or backyard gathering area easier to enjoy for many years. When combined with stair lifts, platform lifts, grab bars, accessible entrances, and other aging-in-place modifications, landscaping and hardscaping accessibility can help create a more complete approach to safe movement throughout both the interior and exterior of the home.
Outdoor Spaces offers a variety of options for landscaping and hardscaping for accessibility at homes and businesses across Gwinnett, Hall, Forsyth, north Fulton and Jackson Counties. To make your property safer for friends or family with mobility challenges it may require a new walkway or retaining wall to control storm water for example. The following are some of the options for landscaping and hardscaping for accessibility that Outdoor Spaces offers:
- Landscape lighting for safety and mobility at night
- Concrete work including a new patio, sidewalk or driveway
- Concrete platforms for stair landings, elevator or vertical platform lifts
- Retaining walls to control storm water collection or wet areas
- Landscaping services such as new sod, plant, tree or fence installation
If you are planning a new landscaping or hardscaping project to improve accessibility, contact Outdoor Spaces for an onsite consultation at (770) 880-3405 or via the contact form.
Consider these options for landscaping and hardscaping for accessibility as you continue to enjoy the “gold” in the golden years!
Outdoor Stair Lifts: Manufactured to be waterproof for weather exposed installations, outdoor stair lifts and wheelchair lifts are often located at sidewalk access points between a parking area and an entry area. Or, a home elevator or platform lift may be designed and installed to enable a wheelchair bound person to access outdoor living areas.
Contact us at (770) 880-3405 or via our contact form to arrange a complimentary visit to learn more about Outdoor Spaces and their services.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can landscaping and hardscaping improve accessibility around a home?
Landscaping and hardscaping improvements can create safer, more stable routes between driveways, entrances, patios, gardens, and other outdoor areas. Wider walkways, improved grading, better drainage, ramps, retaining walls, and level landing areas can make a property easier to navigate for people using canes, walkers, wheelchairs, or mobility scooters.
What are the best materials for accessible outdoor walkways?
Concrete and properly installed pavers are often good choices because they can provide firm, stable, and relatively smooth walking surfaces. The best material depends on the property, drainage conditions, slope, appearance, maintenance requirements, and the mobility needs of the people using the walkway.
Can landscaping and hardscaping accessibility improvements help with steep or sloped properties?
Yes. Landscaping and hardscaping accessibility planning may include grading, retaining walls, ramps, landings, or redesigned walking routes to reduce difficult elevation changes. On some properties, these improvements can also create an appropriate location for an outdoor stair lift or vertical platform lift.
How does drainage affect outdoor accessibility?
Poor drainage can cause standing water, erosion, mud, uneven surfaces, and slippery walkways. Drainage improvements such as catch basins, piping, grading, and retaining walls can help direct stormwater away from frequently traveled areas and make outdoor routes safer and more dependable.
Can accessible landscaping still look attractive?
Absolutely. Landscaping and hardscaping accessibility does not have to make a property look institutional. Decorative pavers, attractive retaining walls, landscape lighting, planting beds, patios, and thoughtfully designed walkways can be incorporated into an accessible design while complementing the architecture and landscaping of the home.
Other Aging In Place Outdoor Living Resources:
Enjoy Nature with Outdoor Stair Lift in Georgia
Best Outdoor Stair Lift Selection for Georgia Homes
Enjoy Gardening at Your Atlanta Home with an Outdoor Straight Stair Lift