Hammer & Hand and ReFit cut the ribbon on an accessible bathroom remodel.
Before: The tight bathroom featured a tub Paul could no longer get in and out of easily.
When a stroke left Paul V. Riordan without function on the left side of his body, his family rallied around him. His wife Sheila continued to work while his granddaughters helped take care of him at home. One issue that they had trouble overcoming, however, was a structural one: Paul could no longer get in and out of the tub in their only bathroom.
Luckily, their neighbor, a retired contractor, suggested to the family that they seek assistance from ReFit. ReFit is a volunteer organization that provides home modification services for physically and financially challenged homeowners who wish to remain living independently in their homes. H&H has worked with ReFit on a number of projects in the past (check out this one and these two), so when they came to Hammer & Hand to take on this difficult bathroom remodel, the answer was a quick yes.
“Hammer & Hand is probably our biggest supporter – they always take on the bigger projects,” said Laurey Maslyk, Executive Director of ReFit. “They take on the difficult projects because they know that if they didn’t do it, they probably wouldn’t get done.”
The old plaster bathroom, the only one in the 2-bedroom home built in the early 1900’s, needed to be gutted to transform it into an ADA wet room. H&H removed everything and tiled the entire space. The team then replaced the tub with a walk-in shower, installed new countertops, and replaced the window with a new water-tight one.
“We took an old plaster bathroom and made it into a beautiful, useable, barrier-free ADA wet room like you would get in any care facility,” said H&H Project Lead Sarah Fernandez.
The team was able to reuse some items from the original bathroom, such as the vanity.
“Sarah did a phenomenal job of getting it done,” said Laurey. “She got everyone in and out of there in under two weeks.” The quick turnaround was important, as the family had to be relocated to a hotel (paid for by ReFit) while the work was being done.
The ribbon cutting ceremony for the Riordan’s new bathroom was February 22.
Sheila and Paul Riordan with their granddaughters Anjelica and Sophia at the ribbon cutting ceremony.
P.S. Special thanks to these subcontractors who helped with this project:
- A+B Tile
- Florida Tile
- Petra Heating
- John Apostolos