Moss grows while homeowners delay

Why is it that the longer we ignore something, the tougher it is to take action?  That’s certainly the case with writing a blog, as evidenced by the length of time since I last wrote.  But its also true about a host of things around the house.

In particular, I’m thinking

about roof care.  Here in the Pacific Northwest we do live up to our reputation as a wet climate, at least for 7 or 8 months of the year.  And if there is one thing that loves the wet, moss is its name.  Moss is beautiful growing on an old stone wall or as a verdant carpet in the Japanese Garden.  But it wreaks havoc on roofs, degrading shingles and retaining water. We do have hot, dry summers, but that does nothing to slow the moss down, it sleeps and then resumes its growth with the first mists of fall.

With regular treatment, it’s actually pretty easy to control.  But if you aren’t treating it regularly, the moss is going to get the upper hand.  And then you have to pay to have it removed.  And that costs a heck of a lot more than just having it treated on a regular basis.  In my case, a professionally applied spray product will last about 18 months—but removing a fairly light build up triples the price of the treatment.

And if I had regularly (2-3 times a year) applied home store products, I could have avoided the professional treatment.  But that is a lot of time on ladders, and it is hard to hit the entire roof with a hose-end or hand sprayer which means there is always some portion that is getting a buildup.  My roof is too tall and too steep to walk on with a safety harness—and even on a flatter roof, one misstep and I’m in the hospital or worse.  So, I’ve decided to let a pro with the right equipment do the job this year.

So, like so many other aspects of home maintenance, it really is cheaper in the long run to do it regularly, before the problem gets worse.  And I won’t have to keep looking at it getting worse and thinking that I better get something done.

Kinda like this blog has been since April. 

Remembering the empathetic side of aging-in-place

I came across this post the other day and thought it was better then the average repost of aging-in-place checklists and maxims (tho there is a link to the CDC list).  What I liked was the way the author, Rob Tufel, reminded us that decisions around aging-in-place are about a whole lot more than fixtures and floorplans. We have to maintain an empathetic approach if we want to be able to get past initial denial and resistance to a good plan.

And, I love the sentiment he conveys of "Better barley soup in your own home than a roast in someone else's home."

http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/68259/seniors-home-care-often-the-best-option-for-aging-in-place/

Rethink suburban AIP

This article raises a topic that has been under consideration for some time--that the suburban environments our country has developed over the past 60 years are often poorly suited to aging-in-place largely do to their lack of services and resources within walking distance, something that forces continued reliance on the automobile and the potential for isolation.

I did some research awhile back for the engineering firm EDAW where we looked at urban areas as an environment for aging and the inherent advantages were clear--not only for walkability but for the vibrancy of the arts and entertainment scenes and access to continuing education. And it need not be a big city--modest college towns can be great locations for the same reason.  But some of these lessons could be applied to age-restricted communities--why do so few of them have a central village design that can house shops and services? 

I live in a close-in neighborhood but even then walking can be difficult because of lack of sidewalks and people driving way too fast on residential streets--the same concerns that keep families from letting their kids walk a few blocks to school. The more reasons we have to walk, and the safer it is, the healthier we all would be.  Hopefully a greater emphasis on creating those sorts of neighborhoods will go hand-in-hand with the aging population--another positive force our getting older might have on the country.

http://www.placemakers.com/2012/10/08/ready-for-the-geezer-glut-think-beyond-aging-in-place/

More focus on well done but affordable solutions. please.

This article at Silver Planet is from awhile back (a post I never got around to finishing) but seems as pertinent now as last year. It does a good job of conveying one of my common themes--that our approach to aging is about one's lifestyle, not just about adapting to decline. The subject, Cynthia Leibrock, is a noted author and had large feature article in the New York Times that I also intended to blog on but did not get around to, so this is a second chance. The NYT piece is the better article in my view for its message about remodeling for aging. Cynthia and I have only communicated via email a few times, so I really don't have a sense of her personality as portrayed in the Times' article. What i know is that she HAS contributed some great viewpoints about appropriate home environments. BUT, what irritates me about the Times article in particular it this: it is easy to create an aging-in-place showcase when you have a $600,000 budget. That's great, lovely, I'm sure it fits her lifestyle well and the future buyer of a home like that can afford to rip out whatever they don't like and install what they do like.



The bigger challenge, in my mind, is one that our company deals with every day. How to make a good aging-in-place environment when your budget is 5% if that amount, much less the 1% that is a typical number for many of our customers.



Aging wisely (aging beautifully, as Cynthia puts it) needs its cheerleaders, for sure. But it also needs its guys who are good with a hammer and able to knock out nice, functional, value-oriented solutions. I see the same thing when the local paper profiles an AIP remodel--it's always higher end, seldom (never?) about lower cost, practical solutions.

Cynthia makes a related point on her website when she discusses volunteering as a way to provide solutions for the less well off. But volunteerism will not solve the problem. I got a similar response from Senator Ron Wyden when I asked why Medicaid/Medicare will provide a wheelchair but do nothing to ensure the person can get past the 5 step entrance to their home. He gave a dodging, "it takes a community" type answer. Not that I necessarily want the government to take on yet another role, but as a country we need to treat these issues more rationally and creatively. Providing one solution without the other is an example of waste.

We need more attention on mainstream solutions, please--and I don't mean recycling those same old CDC checklists with a few new items. We are seeing the business community come to the plate with more and better solutions for things like barrier free shower systems. But we need to move to affordable, holistic solutions that cover both public and private resources.

Here are links to the articles mentioned above.



http://www.silverplanet.com/health/healthy-living/redesigning-homes-eye-future/54770



http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/garden/19colorado.html



http://agingbeautifully.org/1024x768.html

Differences, and similarities, between aging and gardening;

It is late-summer, almost the end of August. There is much in my garden that is vibrant—those rose bushes that have decided to put on a dramatic show this year, the bee balm in full flower and drawing hummers from every corner. The Kentucky Runners dangling their tender bean pods. But as I walk around my garden I see everything that has already bloomed. While there is so much good weather left to experience—here in Portland we can expect the pleasant weather to last well into October-- so much has passed, not to come again this year.

As with almost everything, I see an allegory to our clientele at In Your Home. So many people we work for have much good time left despite the fact that so much of bloom of their life has faded. The difference is that when I look at the spent blooms of my garden, I naturally think about next year. What do I want to move or propagate to extend the blooming season? What do I want to give something better conditions so it can really flower. Where are there holes to fill in the border or overcrowded beds to thin. There always another chance that another spring and summer provides.

But we humans aren’t a garden. We talk about the seasons of our life, but as I see it we are not a plant, but ourselves a garden that has one long “growing season.” Just like the garden in spring is different than the garden in late summer, if we live well, we can flower repeatedly with different blooms fitting each of our stages in life. Yet in the end, if we are honest, we know we have but one season that slips away toward that cold winter soil.

So, how do we provide the conditions that will make these lifelong season one that is as nurturing and fertile as possible? As always, I find, the garden has some inspirations:

• Don’t be afraid to transplant. Uprooting and moving can be the right decision for many plants. We humans tend to be unique, enjoying changes in our environment at different times. We can fix up a house and sell it and move on to a new experience—aging in place need not mean being trapped in the same ol’ structure, it is aging independently and in community. As with a garden, certain times are better than others to transplant—leaving it too late or under the wrong conditions can mean your success is compromised.

• Tend and till. A home, like a garden, only prospers if tended. A light hand at tending, perhaps, but tending none-the-less. If we don’t take care of our home, it will be eaten by mold, nibbled at by destructive creatures, and generally lose its vibrancy due to lack of care.

• Acknowledge what does not work. Trying to get in and out of a tub shower has about as much likelihood of success as growing lavender in a bog. It may work for a few seasons if we work hard and catch good luck from the weather, but eventually the rot occurs. Better to plant (or build) what will work for the long term with minimum care.
  

If I think now about how I want my garden to be next year, I have a chance to make those changes and enjoy something better next year. Even if it does not work, the vibrancy of spring will mask my mistakes. But there is no spring vibrancy for us poor aging humans—so if I think now about how I want my own life to be, I can make the changes and start to appreciate them tomorrow. There is little point in waiting.

Ageism at The Open

Reading the press coverage of The (British) Open this morning after, the sports writers and pundits are showing the ugly head of ageism right and left. Their reports are rife with phase like “his tired old bones,” “his age finally showed,” and even “old geezer.” Never mind that other players of much younger ages have blown final round leads of greater margins with poorer play. Never mind that leading The Open, or any other major tournament, on all four days is a seldom achieved event. Never mind that a certain great player of the day never even made the cut. And never mind that there is a whole cadre of golfers Watson’s age who play professionally week in and week out. I’m sorry, but playing 22 holes of golf is not beyond a fit 59 year old’s ability, and especially not a great athlete like we saw this weekend.

Sure, there are not many times when a professional athlete past their thirties plays at the top of their sport. Certainly age catches up with us. But to say that the only reason that Tom Watson lost was because he is “old” just shows how far we have yet to go before we treat age fairly, practically and without bias. Nothing was a more insidious reflection of this than the two announcers saying that it was nice Cink had won because he is young, and that if Tom had won, it would not have changed his life. Meaning: he’s just a washed up old man with not much life left. Wasn't it nice he got out for a good walk.

Of course it would have changed his life. He would have been remembered for doing what no one else had done, to seal that image he thirsts for still—to be remember as a truly great golfer. Achievements change our lives every day until we die. To say they don’t knocks the legs out from anyone who tries to live the latter years of their life with dignity, grace and purpose.

Of course, the apologists trot out the adage “age is just a number” which is just as idiotic as saying that Watson lost because of his age. Age is much more than a number. It's a reality, baby. It is a reality that each of us chooses to handle in our own way. Some of us retire to an easy chair, adding to our girth and our medical problems. Some of us become demoralized and withdraw. And some of us choose to adapt and keep doing what we love to do, as best we can. Racings cars, gardening, climbing mountains, cooking, running companies, writing, travelling, etc. We retrofit our bodies and our homes and keep living as we want to.

Tom Watson has adapted. He has had joint replacement. He has stayed fit. He has adapted his game and the courses he plays—links style golf suits him well, whereas by his own admission he hates the Masters because the course does not suit his game and he feels like an honorary golfer rather than a contender.

Adaptation is the key to aging well and Tom Watson has given us a rare glimpse into how it can work. He played extremely well for someone of any age. I won’t say that what Watson did was a great thing and he should feel good about it even though he lost. Sure, it was a great thing, no doubt. But losing is going to, in his words, tear at his gut. To say that he should be proud anyway is patronizing and ageist. I like Jack Nicklaus’s explanation that it wasn't age or being tired,but that missing the putt on 18, missing the chance to seize the Claret Jug then and there, very likely took the wind out of his sales and he didn’t recover from that. It’s the same thing that happens to many people in all sorts of situations and all walks of life. But it is part of choosing to live a rich life. Age does not defeat us as much as not caring, not engaging, and also not being realistic does.

And to say that he lost because of his age is not only a great disservice to Tom, it is a disservice to Stewart Cink, who won not because Tom is “old”, but because Cink fought back, gave himself a chance, and had the drive to treat Tom as an equal and a bona fide contender and do what he needed to slam the door on Watson’s chances to take another title. While I’m sure some thoughts about Tom’s stature and age crossed his mind, Cink was one person on the course who was not looking through the lens of ageism—he just competed. Any class of people who are not treated as equal suffers, and that applies to those who have a few years on the rest of us as well as anyone.

Cink’s competitiveness underscores the point that Watson has done a better job than most of adapting and staying fit and keeping motivated by what he loves. The more we all deal with our age in a manner that reflects Watson’s drive and spirit, the better off we all will be. Our company helps people every day who are doing the same in much smaller and less public ways, and it is a joy to see.

Ageism endeavors to make us less than we are. The sooner we see the back side of it, the better. How widespread it was this weekend was a sad state of affairs.

What's that box? Senior social networking??

What's that box to the left here, the one with the vintage photo of a guy scratching his chin? Its a Twitter gadget, showing my tweets. Might sond abit personal, but so it is, believe it or not.


I'm still not sure that Web 2.0 apps like Twitter will ever amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world (other than to make it crazier) but then again, they may be just the ticket.


Check out this article in the NY Times about social networking for the senior set.


http://tinyurl.com/lczw2n


I foresee tweets from the cruise ship. Tweeting family to say that all is well. A Twitter based device that sends an alert tweet if I don't press it on a regular basis. At least the grand kids would know about it.


Actually, while I expect Twitter won't last in its current form, and that little Twitter box over there will go away someday, I am a strong believer that technology will ease many of the burdens of age, and psychological isolation is certainly one of them. It's certainly not a panacea, but internet based socialization can certainly be a great boon for those who have limited ability to connect in other ways. Indeed, just like some youths and younger adults find it more easy to connect in a virtual world than a real one, there are probaby a lot of seniors who would sit isolated in a room full of people but who find that they have youthful, renewed ability on the social network.

What lesson will they learn?

As we boomers age and take first hand seats watching how our older friends and our parents handle the journey, I wonder what lessons we will really learn. Many times, we have customers who call us out to discuss a plan for an aging or disabled relative, only to have the person’s condition worsen before anything can be done. Often, the loved one passes away. In some cases they have spent years dealing with frailty and diminished ability, with an environment that creates stress or unhappiness, but when they finally decide to take action, it is too late. In the current economy, this is happening more and more.

In just the past month, we numerous examples—a family that made some urgent modifications and bought a portable ramp that never got out of the box because their loved one died. A family who wanted to make home better for their father who was in their 80’s—he passed away just before we were to visit the home. He was surrounded by his grandchildren and passed quietly in his sleep—isn’t that how we would all like to go.

One lesson, the one I would like to see, is that we need to be proactive in order for adaptations to our homes to provide value. But I’m sure many others will see a lesson of “why bother.” Perhaps this will be resignation that the latter stages of our life will be short and not worth taking precautions for. And that will be true for some. But for many more, life could be safer and more gratifying if we plan ahead. Not just for things like walk in showers or masters on the main, but for basic requirements for sound roof, durable flooring and efficient HVAC.

As a generation, which will be the lesson we most often learn—act, wait or not bother at all?

Being willing to modify tradition

We had a great Thanksgiving here, hope you all did. The holiday feast has moved to our house over the past decade because I love to cook, and we seem to have no shortage of family and friends who are happy to contribute and eat. But there is a certain level of stress, and a tad bit of work, to pulling it off.

I was on the bus the other day and overheard a woman say “I think I’m getting to that “Bah Humbug” stage of life where I don’t want to go through all the holiday hassle. I tried to get my family to go out to a restaurant.” This got me thinking about a story some friends of mine used to tell. One year, they headed up to visit her folks for the holiday. It’s was about a 3-4 hour drive to Seattle from Portland in those days, and all the way up they were thinking about drumsticks, mounds of mashers and puddles of gravy. They were anticipating the joy of walking into the house from a cold day and smelling all those aromas melding into a sensory explosion. Imagine their concern when they walked in and smelled…nothing.

Seems Mom had decided that it was just too hard and too much stress to cook the meal the day it was to be eaten. She had a new microwave and she intended to use it. She had peacefully cooked up the components of the meal over the weeks leading up and carefully interred them in the freezer. Dessert was even apportioned and ready to go with dessert spoons on the plate. I’ve tried to banish the thought of Swanson TV dinners with this tale, to no avail.

But while it’s easy perhaps to make fun, thinking back I’ve come to realize my friend’s Mom had done a wise thing for her. She had gotten to a point where what was once easy was stressful; where what was expected of her was not what she wanted to do. So she took control and changed the rules. She decided that doing things the same old way got in the way of her enjoyment of the holiday and her family. It’s really an admirable thing, even if I shudder at the thought of serving turkey dinner from the microwave.

This is what we need to do as we age. We need to recognize that the old ways of bathing, cooking, storing things may have been fine when we were young but as we age, we have to modify our routines. And we should do it in a way that makes us feel proud, not beleaguered. We can use new designs and new technology to our benefit. A walk-in bathtub might carry a connotation, but it’s a safer way to get a relaxing soak. Web cameras and social networking sites can help us maintain contact with friends and family and even make new friends, even if we are less mobile. Removing steps to a sunken living room may be just the way to banish the old Rat Pack era design ethics and create a more modern, safer living area. And deciding that downstairs bedroom is really just as good as the one on at the top of the stairs is a great way to intelligently change the way we do things to adapt to the way we are today.

Tradition is great and we all love to remember “the old days.” But when it comes to traditional, inflexible and intolerant aspects of home design, the sooner we relegate them to memories, the better.

Design your kitchen for the future.

Yes, of course, I've been delinquent in posting again as the summer busy season has gotten underway, but here is a link to a just published article I authored for The Boomer Advisor publication.

http://www.advisor.com/boomer/story/design-your-kitchen-for-future

A well-designed kitchen can make cooking and entertaining more enjoyable. So if you're considering remodeling the kitchen, your focus is probably cosmetic. However, as you or your parents get older, there are safety issues to consider, too. This article gives some practical examples.

Aging in place is green.

I came across an article yesterday that does a good job of covering a topic we've touched on here before--that aging in place is by definition a green approach to housing. There is so much stored energy in a home that you can never be greener by building something smaller, even if you downsize and use new technologies, so we shold be planning, designing and retrofitting our current homes to accomodate long life spans and a range of life situations. This article profiles Palo Alto architect Jon Stoumen. What I like most is many of the simple, lo tech, low cost design elements--like grape vines as heat reducing sun shades. And his philosophy about going green perfectly reflects our philosophy about aging in place--do what makes sense now, but plan for the future.

"We're going for universal access, so we've laid the groundwork for the elevator, but the clients won't need it for a long time. When they do need help getting up to the second floor, they'll be able to put the elevator in because we've planned for it with the infrastructure. It's one of the things about this house that will allow the owners to age in place. And I can't think of anything greener than aging in place. When you move, you throw a bunch of stuff away, new people move in and they remodel everything and throw a bunch more stuff away," Stoumen said. For that reason, the ground floor of the home is at grade. In the future, wheelchair access will not be a problem.

The model of planning for the elevator also follows Stoumen's idea that taking small steps toward greener living is a healthy way to think about environmental improvements. "People see all that you can do to make a home greener, and they think, 'I want it all now.' But not everyone can afford to do it all now. I think it's better to do what you can now and plan for the future," Stoumen said."

Read the complete article at :

http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=8459

Lifespan of modifications--its not kid stuff

Because of In Your Home's consistently high ratings on Angie's List, we are getting a lot of calls from folks from outside our specialty--growing families who are looking to modify their home to accommodate the kids. Adding extra space, adding or updating a bathroom, removing hazardous conditions. Lots of similarity to what we do for our target population and we do often take these projects on. After all, business is business. But while we have long questioned why families are willing to modify for children and not for adults, a new thought struck. Comparatively, how long can we expect these modifications to be useful?

If we modify a room for a nursery, it's appropriate for five to 10 years, depending on how many children we have and at what intervals. By the time we get around to adding a separate bedroom or bathroom, maybe we get 15 years of active use. Same for a playroom.

But what if we are in our late 50's, our 60's or 70's and looking to modify the home for the long term? That playroom converted to an adult entertainment area, hobby or exercise space could easily serve us for over 20 years. A bathroom modified to be safer and supportive for adults will easily get 10 to 20 years of useful life. And, not only will these mods add value to the home (if done attractively and well,) but they have a higher payback since they can help us stay more independent and healthy so we can avoid the expense of assisted living and long or short term nursing care. And we can enjoy them so much--most people do tend to spend more time in their homes as they age, so its all the more important that the home environment be attractive and supportive for maintaining the activities we love--hobbies, cooking, gardening, etc. The earlier we do it, but more we will benefit from it.

You could easily say that you will get as many or more useful years from aging-in-place modifications, which indicates a better financial justification. Of course, we don't remodel for our young families just because of financial payback--we do it because we want things to be the best they can be during that phase of our lives. But many of us have this dismal thought that we are getting old and aren't worth investing in. Or it's that old refusal to acknowledge that while we feel 40 we are past 60 and need to think ahead. If we get past those thoughts, then the value of adding a shop, changing a floor plan or modifying a bathroom can make things the best the can be at these new phases of life. That makes a lot of sense--financially and otherwise.

The cost of falls

CBS News reported yesterday on new survey findings from the CDC on the prevalence and risk of falls. According the report, 1.8 million report falling in the prior three month period--up from prior numbers of 5.8 million per year. Costs of these non-fatal falls is estimated at $19 billion. The CBS report notes that many senior adults may not take wise precautions because of "embarrassment"--but don't really touch on the fact that many safety modifications do not need to look institutional nor signify frailty.

Watch the news report here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3919186n&channel=/sections/health/videoplayer204.shtml

Dates set for 2008 Aging In Place week

WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 25, 2008) – The National Aging Aging in Place Council announced the Fifth Annual Aging in Place Week, from October 13 to October 19, 2008. Building on the success of last year, where over 100 educational activities were organized throughout the country, this year is expected to garner even greater local support and attention.

http://guidetoretirementliving.com/wordpress/?p=1163

We've watched these events get more and more popular, it will be interesting to see the scope of this year's event--hopefully the trend of public and private sector participation will continue.

Aging-in-Place is about designing for dreams not just disability

I bumped into a former work colleague the other day and we got to talking about career choices in later life. This sparked one of my pet issues—that when we think about aging-in-place modifications, too often we only think about infirmity and disability rather than creating spaces that support us in broader, more fulfilling ways. Michael and his wife Eve recently decided that her long standing passion for painting and sketching should be a business as well. But to accommodate this, they needed to make a few changes around the home.

When they first moved across the country to Oregon, they downsized from a 4000 square foot converted barn to a 1500 square foot efficiency home, a common pattern for empty nesters. But the size reduction was a little too severe and when they decided to launch the new business, they had to look for some additional space. They found a new home that met their needs fairly well:

• There is a large loft that serves as the studio and instruction area. Being above the level of the rest of the home gives them a sense of privacy. The business and the home feel distinct.

• While the home is not large, it does have three bathrooms, one of which is easily accessed by students from the loft area and further supports the sense that the business is a separate entity.

• They did make some modifications to the home—adding skylights to the loft area, which not only provide natural lighting for the studio but can be opened to let warm air out at night during the summers. They replaced the flooring with a high grade of linoleum for ease of cleaning in the studio environment, and they added storage to make access to art supplies easy. This sort of customized storage is something we do for many customers, providing easier access to everything from hobby materials to medical supplies to kitchen pots and pans.

• Storage was also added to the garage for more efficient use of space—while the new home is larger than their last, it’s still smaller than their old converted barn and they had materials that they did not need to have quick access to that could be stored in the garage.

Throughout this process they’ve made conscious choices about their environment. They are working very hard to stay fit and don’t expect that the stairs will present a major obstacle in the future. But if they do it’s a single straight flight, unlike the three flights of stairs in the old home. They’ve considered low maintenance and flexibility in the design of the space. They had to make some trade-offs—they’d like one more large room for living space away from the loft and the master bath has a "useless two person tub.” But overall the new home environment is well suited to this new phase in their life. This is what good aging-in-place design is really all about in my opinion.

And if you happen to be interested in Eve’s business, check it out at http://www.evekenyonsartdept.com/