Gloucester County's Aging-in-Place Home Modification Specialists

Why Gloucester County Families Are Choosing to Age in Place

Gloucester County has been one of South Jersey’s fastest-growing areas for decades. From the suburban expansion of Washington Township and Deptford in the 1970s and 1980s to the new construction boom in Harrison Township, Woolwich, and East Greenwich over the past twenty years, this county has attracted families looking for affordable homes, strong schools, and a short commute to Philadelphia or the South Jersey job market.

Now the first wave of those families is aging. The parents who moved to Washington Township when Turnersville was still surrounded by farmland are now in their seventies and eighties, living in the same bi-levels and colonials they bought four decades ago. Their children — many of whom settled nearby in Gloucester County’s newer developments — are having the conversation every family eventually has: Can Mom and Dad stay in the house?

With Accessible Solutions, the answer is almost always yes.

The 1970s and 1980s Housing Stock That Built Gloucester County

Washington Township, Deptford, West Deptford, and Mantua grew rapidly during the suburban construction boom of the 1970s and 1980s. The homes from this era share common characteristics: bi-level and split-level layouts with living areas on two or three staggered floors. Two-story colonials with center-hall plans. Attached garages with a step or two up into the kitchen. Bathrooms with fiberglass tub-shower inserts and standard-width doorways. Hallways that are passable on foot but tight with a walker and impossible with a wheelchair.

These homes were built well — good bones, conventional framing, solid foundations. But they were designed for a generation that was young, mobile, and not thinking about accessibility. Forty years later, the homeowners have changed even though the homes have not.

Our modification approach for these properties follows a proven sequence. We begin with the bathroom — typically converting the upstairs tub-shower combination into a walk-in shower with a low or zero threshold, grab bars on multiple walls, a fold-down bench, and a handheld showerhead. We add grab bars beside the toilet and install non-slip flooring. In bi-levels and split-levels, we install a stairlift to connect the main living area with the bedroom level, eliminating the daily stair climb that represents the single greatest fall risk in these homes.

From there, modifications expand based on need: door widenings to accommodate a walker or wheelchair, handrails on both sides of every stairway, ramps at the garage entry or front door, and in some cases a first-floor bedroom conversion that eliminates stair use entirely.

Newer Construction That Still Falls Short on Accessibility

Gloucester County’s growth corridors — Harrison Township, Woolwich, East Greenwich, and South Harrison — feature newer homes built since the early 2000s. These homes offer some advantages for aging in place: wider hallways, open-concept main floors, and first-floor master bedroom suites in some floor plans.

But even new construction misses critical accessibility features. Master bathrooms have soaking tubs and glass-enclosed showers with curbs that become barriers when mobility declines. First-floor master suites may have stepped entries from the garage. Thresholds between rooms are sometimes raised for flooring transitions. And almost no new home is built with grab bars, reinforced bathroom walls, or curbless showers — features that cost almost nothing to include during construction but are expensive to add later.

We work with families in these newer communities to make proactive modifications — adding grab bar blocking behind bathroom walls, installing curbless showers during a planned remodel, and building in the infrastructure for a future stairlift before one is needed. Planning ahead costs a fraction of retrofitting after a crisis, and Gloucester County families who have watched their own parents struggle in older homes understand the value of getting ahead of the problem.

Glassboro, Mullica Hill, and Southern Gloucester County

The southern portion of Gloucester County — Glassboro, Elk Township, Franklin Township, and the Mullica Hill area — blends suburban development with agricultural heritage. Homes here range from new townhouse communities near Rowan University to century-old farmhouses along Swedesboro Road.

Glassboro’s housing stock includes a significant number of smaller, older homes in the borough’s traditional neighborhoods — two-bedroom ranches and Cape Cods from the 1940s and 1950s built for Owens-Illinois glass factory workers. These are compact homes with small bathrooms, narrow doorways, and limited interior space. Modifications here require creative solutions that maximize accessibility within tight footprints.

Mullica Hill and the surrounding agricultural areas feature larger properties with older construction. Farmhouses with multiple additions, uneven floor levels between original and added sections, and exterior entries that have settled or shifted over time. Our crews assess these properties carefully, addressing structural issues before installing accessibility equipment to ensure modifications are safe and durable.

Coordinating Care Between Hospital and Home in Gloucester County

Gloucester County residents have access to several regional hospitals — Inspira Health in Mullica Hill and Woodbury, Jefferson Washington Township, and Virtua Voorhees just across the Camden County line. When a family member is discharged after surgery or a medical event, the transition back home is often the most dangerous period.

We partner with hospital discharge teams and rehabilitation centers to prepare homes before patients return. A ramp at the front door. Grab bars in the bathroom. A hospital bed set up in the first-floor living room if the bedroom is upstairs. These modifications are not luxuries — they are the difference between a safe recovery at home and a preventable fall that sends someone back to the emergency room.

Our locally staged inventory and dedicated scheduling for urgent projects means Gloucester County families are not waiting three weeks for a ramp while a loved one sits in a rehabilitation facility. We move quickly because medical timelines do not wait for contractor schedules.

Everything Gloucester County Families Need From a Single Provider

Ramp installations and rentals starting at $300 per month. Bathtub-to-shower conversions and barrier-free roll-in showers. Tub cuts that lower existing bathtub entry points. Grab bars and safety handrails throughout the home. Stairlifts for straight and curved interior staircases. Vertical platform lifts for exterior entries. Ceiling-mounted patient transfer systems for safe bed-to-wheelchair transitions. Door widenings to full 36-inch ADA clearance. First-floor bedroom and bathroom additions. Full-home accessibility renovations. Durable medical equipment including hospital beds, wheelchairs, and power scooters.

Licensed New Jersey contractor. Certified NJ MLTSS Medicaid provider with access to lifetime modification benefits for qualifying residents. One company with the depth and range to handle every aging-in-place need a Gloucester County family will ever have.