Wheelchair killing the walls...

[WoodMangler]

Hi all..

I need to find a decorative, reasonably cheap, and fairly quick and easy way to protect the walls in the bathrooms from getting all scraped up by wheelchairs. I can repaint, but of course it'll look bad again in a week...

I've considered a rub rail of some sort, but the different parts of the wheelchair that scrape the walls are at different heights, and I don't want to install multiple rails....

Plexiglass?

Tile board?

Any ideas?

[PastorPaul]

Marc,

Some of our local nursing homes use a semi-hard rubber rail about six inches wide spaced at two heights on the wall. The are positioned according to where most wheel chairs and electric scooters would do the most damage. You might try either one of the big box stores, or a durable medical goods dealer.

It ain't much to go on, but I hope it helps.

Pastor Paul
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"If they don't have woodworking in heaven, I ain't going!!!"

[doo_hicky]

Could you possibly use that fiberglass reinforced plastic wallboard. I can't remember the name of it, I used it in my shower, came in a 4x8 sheet, was a bear to cut(needed to use a circular saw)cam in a basic white with a texture. Any scuffs would just wipe off. You see the same treatment on other bathroom walls.


Mike

[Danial]

We use the hardboard (like used in pegboards but without hte holes) in the senative areas around work. It protects the wall from hand trucks and such. It's not painted so it has that medium to dark brown color. Painting it would just get you back to the same problem. I've seen it in white also.

Anything you use is going to show wear over time. If you mounted it with screws and raised washers replacement is easy. The price point is also relatively low.

I've seen Paster Paul's method used a few times. Doo-hickey idea of fiberglass is also pretty good. I think the key issue if you mount anything to the wall is making sure it is easily replaceable and does not pose a safety hazard. The rail PP talks about will inevitably get used as a hand rail to steady someone or help them get up or down from a wheelchair. So it needs to support someones weight.

Dan

[Cody Colston]

Marc,
Do you think it would be feasible to wainscot the walls in melamine?

Cody

"The expert at anything was once a beginner"

[Randy Privett]

Marc,
I run into this years ago, what we did was to install 26 gage stainless, trimed it out and then you just wiped it off when it got dirty.
Just a thought.
Thanks
Randy

[WoodMangler]

Where'd you get the stainless?...

and how much does it cost (approximately)

How was it attached?

Thanks....

[PastorPaul]

Dan,

The wall protections rails I have seen are actually in addition to the hand rails. They usually put one about six to twelve inches below the hand rail, and a second one about footrest height on a wheelchair. These things (at least the ones I've seen) aren't strong enough for supporting body weight. They are simply bumper cushions.

Pastor Paul
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"If they don't have woodworking in heaven, I ain't going!!!"

[rrich]

Marc,
How about a 1-1/2 to 2" thich base board? The wheels should hit first before anything that is chewing up the wall.
Rich

[PastorPaul]

Rich,

That's a good idea, but the height of the baseboard would have to be about 5 inches minimum (based on trying to remember the diameter of most front wheels on wheelchairs). I've seen a great deal of damage done by the large rear wheels, in which case the base board wouldn't catch those before they hit the wall.

Marc's got a real challenge on his hands.

Pastor Paul
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"If they don't have woodworking in heaven, I ain't going!!!"

[logical]

Try some of the plastic decking boards from HD. They keep them back with the treated lumber. They are relatively thick and wide and not all that unattractive. This would be cheap and easily cleaned if placed like pastor paul said.

[WoodMangler]

I'm examining all the options... thanks all...

I'll post the "solution" when I decide which way to go...

Here's my chance to impress my boss, and maybe even the corporate people, so I want to do a good job. My boss and corporate have been yakking about this for awhile... so if Maintenance Man can fly in, cape fluttering, and solve this it would be a Good Thing :)

[Randy Privett]

Marc,
We bought it through a sheetmetel supplier, and we used liquid nails or the something like it to attach it to the wall, kinda spread it around, and then used a J Roller to smooth it down, trimed it out with some molding that we had laying around, the stuff is really thin, so we really didn't worry about notching the molding for the edges of the stainless, just covered the edges, still there today, been there for a long time now. hope this helps.

Randy

[rrich]

PP,
I didn't think that the large wheels were a factor in the damage. My thoughts were the foot rests and front caster wheels were the cause of the major problems. Also there might be some damage from the hand wheels or sides of the chair. The large and thick moulding should solve most of those problems. I could see the push handles being a problem but they are usually covered with rubber grips. It probably isn't a perfect solution but cheaper than most other solutions.
Rich

[Danial]

I don't have any contacts in your neck of the woods or I point you the right direction. For the stainless steel find yourself a good metal shop. A small mom and pop type operation that likes to give back to the community. They are likely to give you technical assistance if you explain what you are trying to accomplish. As an example, most people don't know that stainless steel will rust if you use the wrong method to cut it, or if you anchor it to a wall with the wrong type of anchors.

A good shop can purchase sheets of stainless and shear it to size. They should even be able to bend the material to fit around corners. 22 or 24 gauge should work perhaps 20 gauge to be safe. It can be purchased as plain, brushed, or mirror. When you get into the brushed or mirror finish the price goes up a bit. I stumbled accross a link on the internet that describes the finishes pretty well. (http://www.mechanicalmetals.com/archfinish.html). They indicate it is available in colors. This is something new. I would expect the price to be a bit more and the availablility to be limited.

The stainless can be purchased with a protective coating of plastic. This would allow you to install it and then remove the coating without scratching the surface. I would recommend brushed. It limites the appearance of finger prints and help hide small scratches.


Good Luck
Dan

[WoodMangler]

Thanks for all the suggestions...

I have decided to try 14" wide (tall) pieces of really thin plexiglass... It's cheap, easy to install, and nearly invisible.

Probably wont hold up worth beans, but oh well, we'll soon find out.

Thanks again y'all....