5 ms·
If you have kids on the way, I highly recommend knobs over levers for the exact reason Vancouver is specifying the opposite: they're harder to open. Between 1
by moomin 13y ago
If you have kids on the way, I highly recommend knobs over levers for the exact reason Vancouver is specifying the opposite: they're harder to open.
Between 1 and 2, it's invaluable.
- fatman 13y agoAgree 100% - but now that mine are a bit older, I'd like to replace them all with levers so I can open them with my hands full of laundry, kids, bags, toys, etc...
- igravious 13y agoSo patent the knob to lever transformer thingy.
- atwebb 13y agoWouldn't you just need a lever with a C shape that snaps of the existing knob with inner padding for grip and different handles?
- umsm 13y agoGrips wear out... Just have two holes on the lever which can be used for drilling pilot holes and then screw in 2 screws.
- jlgreco 13y agoJust take some clamps used for woodworking and slap those on. Some of those come with racketing mechanisms and can hold for very long periods of time (often necessary, since sometimes people clamp wood into place for months at a time).
- atwebb 13y agoI'd think the grips would wear out due to friction which should be minimal in what I'm thinking. Something that is a no tool install would sell much better.
- chronomex 13y agoIt's already been done. https://www.ncmedical.com/item_187.html https://www.ncmedical.com/item_187.html
- igravious 13y agoDamn you North Coast Medical - I thought I was rich, rich I tells ya!
- eco 13y agoI replaced the knob on my garage door with this one which opens with basically any manipulation of it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odA_OaVA0PU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odA_OaVA0PU I also installed this magnetic door stop on the same door. http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Hardware-Magnetic-Doorstop-Nickel/dp/B0011N0LP4 http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Hardware-Magnetic-Doorstop-Nic... These two combined have given me godlike powers of grocery transportation.
- adolph 13y agoSaw a demo the other day of a lever that you can also push and pull: http://brinksppr.com/ http://brinksppr.com/
- jtbigwoo 13y agoChild-proof covers for lever door handles work pretty well and cost less than $10. They also can keep clever pets from opening doors with lever handles.
- jlgreco 13y agoHow many people have pets or children? How many people are incapable of operating a door knob? It seems to me that having the first group all buy $10 adapters per door will almost certainly be more expensive than having the few people who cannot operate door knobs buy lever handles.
- tomkarlo 13y agoWith an aging population, there's going to be a lot more people who have trouble with doorknobs (due to common arthritis and other impairments) than those who have kids young enough to be stumped by doorknobs but not levers (say 3-5 years old) or dogs who turn lever handles. (So maybe 10% of homes.) It's not a "few" people who have trouble with doorknobs - it's probably close to 20-30% of your overall population and maybe 30-40% of households. E.g. it's about 1 in 5 Americans who are impacted by arthritis (of some form), plus you have people with repetitive strain injury and other non-arthritic conditions who will also benefit from lever handles. Compare that to the relatively small fraction of people in wheelchairs and this seems like a no-brainer compared to ramps.
- jlgreco 13y agoOld people have trouble with falls too. Maybe we should ban slick bathtubs, tile floors, and raised floors.
- tomkarlo 13y agoFloors and their traction level are in fact already regulated as part of ADA for many buildings. And there's tons of building codes regarding your residential bathroom for similar safety issues - minimum clearances, height of fixtures, anti-scalding valves, types of glass. As others have pointed out, the entire building code is basically a balance between cost and safety. Anything having to do with egress tends to get extra attention, as well. If there was a zero-cost way to prevent slips and falls, it might well end up in the building code, yes.
- DanBC 13y agoInstall the levers upside down, so you have to lift them, not pull them, to open.
- mprovost 13y agoA lot of older houses here (NZ) have the door handles about 3/4 of the way up the door, about chest height for an average adult. I always assumed it was to keep them out of reach of children. In modern times they've moved down to waist height, most likely for accessibility. Which also makes them accessible to kids and pets.