Mount Laurel's Aging-in-Place Home Modification Provider

Mount Laurel’s Corporate Corridor Hides a Community Quietly Growing Older

Mount Laurel is known for its corporate parks, its shopping centers along Route 38 and Centerton Square, and its position at the crossroads of South Jersey’s highway network. The New Jersey Turnpike, Interstate 295, Route 73, and Route 38 converge here, making Mount Laurel a logistical hub for business and commuting. But behind the office buildings and retail corridors lies a residential community of more than 40,000 people whose housing stock is steadily aging — and whose original residents are aging with it.

Mount Laurel’s residential boom began in the late 1960s and accelerated through the 1970s and 1980s, when developers converted former farmland into the suburban neighborhoods that define the township today. Raised ranches, bi-levels, two-story colonials, and townhome communities went up in rapid succession along Church Road, Hainesport-Mount Laurel Road, Elbo Lane, and the streets radiating from the commercial core. Age-restricted adult communities followed in the 1990s and 2000s, drawing retirees from North Jersey and Philadelphia who wanted affordable suburban living with easy highway access.

The people who filled these homes are still here. The young families of the 1970s are now retired couples in their seventies and eighties. The active retirees who moved into age-restricted communities at sixty-two are now in their late seventies, discovering that “low maintenance” does not mean “accessible.” Across every neighborhood and housing type, Mount Laurel residents are confronting the same reality: their homes were not built for the way they live now.

Accessible Solutions provides every aging-in-place modification Mount Laurel residents need to stay safely in the homes and community they have chosen.

Raised Ranches and Bi-Levels: The Homes That Define Mount Laurel’s Accessibility Problem

Drive through Mount Laurel’s older neighborhoods — along Elbo Lane, Ramblewood, or the developments off Hainesport-Mount Laurel Road — and two housing types dominate the landscape: the raised ranch and the bi-level. Both were staples of 1970s suburban construction, and both present distinctive accessibility barriers that set them apart from the two-story colonials and Cape Cods found elsewhere in Burlington County.

The raised ranch elevates the main living floor — kitchen, living room, bedrooms, and bathrooms — approximately four to six feet above grade. The lower level, at or near ground level, contains the garage, a utility room, and often a finished recreation room or family room. The front entry typically opens to a small foyer with a half-flight of stairs going up to the living level and another half-flight going down to the lower level. There is no ground-level entrance to the main living space. Every trip into the home requires climbing stairs.

For a Mount Laurel resident who develops mobility limitations, the raised ranch’s defining feature becomes its primary obstacle. A modular ramp at the front entry must span a four-to-six-foot elevation change, which requires a ramp run of 24 to 36 feet to meet ADA slope requirements. Configuring that length within a typical Mount Laurel front yard requires turns, switchbacks, and intermediate landings. Our ramp engineers design these layouts for each property’s specific dimensions, accounting for setback requirements, walkway locations, and driveway proximity.

The bi-level distributes living space across two main levels connected by a central stairway — roughly half the home sits a few steps above the entry, the other half sits a few steps below. Neither level contains a complete set of living functions by itself. This means a stairlift or alternative access solution is essential for a resident who cannot manage stairs, because there is no way to consolidate sleeping, bathing, eating, and living onto a single floor without structural renovation.

We install stairlifts on bi-level stairways throughout Mount Laurel, using the short-rise, straight-rail systems that fit the half-flight geometry of these homes. For families who want to avoid stairs entirely, we evaluate whether the lower level can accommodate a bedroom and accessible bathroom, creating a self-contained living space with direct access from the garage or a rear entry ramp.

Age-Restricted Communities and the Gap Between Marketing and Reality

Mount Laurel contains a substantial inventory of age-restricted housing — communities marketed to buyers age fifty-five and older, built primarily during the 1990s and 2000s. These developments offer smaller homes, reduced exterior maintenance responsibilities, and community amenities designed for an active adult lifestyle. What they do not offer, in most cases, is genuine accessibility.

The standard floor plan in a Mount Laurel age-restricted home includes a master bedroom and bathroom on the main level — a significant advantage over two-story colonials. But the bathroom still has a standard step-in bathtub or a tub-shower combination with a four-inch threshold. There are no grab bars. The toilet is standard height rather than ADA comfort height. The front entry has two or three steps with a railing that may or may not be structurally sound. The hallways are standard 36-inch width, which is adequate for walking but tight for a wheelchair.

Residents discover these limitations gradually. At sixty-five, the bathtub threshold is a minor inconvenience. At seventy-five, after a hip replacement, it is a barrier to safe bathing. At eighty, the front steps require deliberate concentration and a firm grip on the railing. The home that was marketed as retirement-ready actually needs modification to function safely for the resident who now needs it most.

Our modification work in Mount Laurel’s age-restricted communities follows a consistent pattern. We convert the master bathroom from tub to barrier-free shower, install grab bars at the shower, toilet, and hallway, add a comfort-height toilet if the existing one is standard, install a short ramp at the front entry, and ensure that every daily transition — bed to bathroom, bathroom to kitchen, kitchen to front door — is navigable without risk. This work transforms a retirement-marketed home into an authentically accessible one.

Virtua Mount Laurel and the Discharge-to-Home Pipeline

Virtua Health operates a significant campus in Mount Laurel, and the broader Virtua network — including campuses in Moorestown, Marlton, and Voorhees — serves the entirety of Burlington County. The Virtua system is the healthcare backbone for Mount Laurel residents, handling everything from primary care to emergency admissions to surgical procedures.

When a Mount Laurel resident is hospitalized and subsequently moves through rehabilitation, the discharge process creates a critical window during which the home must be evaluated and, if necessary, modified. Discharge planners at Virtua facilities assess the patient’s functional capacity and compare it against their home environment. If the home cannot safely support the patient’s current mobility level, the discharge is delayed, the patient is diverted to a long-term care facility, or the family is left scrambling to arrange modifications with no clear plan.

Accessible Solutions operates within this pipeline. We receive referrals from Virtua discharge planners and rehabilitation coordinators, assess the patient’s home, design the required modifications, stage materials from our warehouse thirty-five minutes away, and complete installation before the discharge date. For Mount Laurel families, this means the patient comes home to a ramp at the entry, grab bars in the bathroom, a barrier-free shower ready for use, and a hospital bed set up in the bedroom if required. The transition from facility to home happens on schedule, safely, and without improvised workarounds.

Townhome and Condominium Modifications Throughout Mount Laurel

Mount Laurel’s planned communities include thousands of townhome and condominium units scattered across the township. These multi-level attached units present specific modification constraints — shared walls, limited exterior space, HOA governance over architectural changes, and floor plans that concentrate bedrooms on upper floors.

We modify townhomes throughout Mount Laurel with solutions designed for these constraints. Stairlifts work in townhome stairways identically to single-family homes. Interior bathroom conversions, grab bar installations, and doorway widenings proceed without affecting shared walls or adjacent units. Exterior ramp installations may require HOA approval, which we manage on behalf of the homeowner. Under federal fair housing law, HOAs cannot deny reasonable modifications for residents with disabilities, though they may require that the modification meet certain aesthetic standards. Our modular aluminum systems satisfy these requirements consistently.

Every Aging-in-Place Modification Mount Laurel Needs Under One Roof

Accessible Solutions provides Mount Laurel with complete aging-in-place services. Modular ramp installations engineered for raised ranches, bi-levels, and age-restricted communities. Ramp rentals starting at $300 per month for post-surgical and temporary needs. Bathtub-to-shower conversions and barrier-free roll-in showers. Tub cuts to reduce existing bathtub thresholds. Grab bars and safety handrails for bathrooms, hallways, bedrooms, and stairways. Stairlifts for full-flight and half-flight staircases. Doorway widenings to 36-inch ADA clearance. First-floor bedroom and bathroom additions. Durable medical equipment including hospital beds, wheelchairs, and power scooters.

Licensed New Jersey contractor. Certified NJ MLTSS Medicaid provider with a lifetime benefit available for qualifying residents. One contractor for every modification your Mount Laurel home requires.