Barrier-Free Home Testimonial
Our needs where very special and specific. We looked for a builder that could meet our unique needs. We have two growing children in wheelchairs so we needed things like extra wide doors everywhere, zero level entrances to the house front, back and garage. Extra supports in the walls for bars, lifts, and handrails. We wanted space for a future elevator that could be used as storage until it was needed. We also needed a separate room for an indoor swim spa 14’ long x 8’ wide x 4’ deep with the structures in place to support and stabilize the pool with 3000 litres of heated water in it. And we didn’t want it to look institutional. It needed to look like anyone could live here with or without special needs. Carmine Gargarella of Bridlewood Homes was asked by our Realtor to sit with us and go over our wish list. Up to this point no other builder that we approached had what we needed in the price range that we wanted.
We saw right away that Carmine was unique. He was open, enthusiastic and experienced. We worked together for 6 months designing, manipulating and massaging the floor plan until it met our every need. We so enjoyed working with Carmine on the plans and we know he did too. He loved the challenge. It was always a positive productive experience. Each time we met we had new ideas to discuss and he would come with his own that piqued our interest even more. All the structural challenges, non-standard material requirements, and engineering innovations where met with enthusiasm and spirit. Some such special requirements where the extra high garage door (102”) needed to accommodate a full sized raised roof van. The 9’ sliding doors that separate my sons bedroom from his bath that also needed to be notched to allow for the lift track that would carry him from his bed to his change table and potty chair in his bathroom. The raised basement floor to support the swim spa that had to be just the right height that the pool looked like it was resting on the main floor boards but didn’t touch it, all the way around nor leave too big a gap. The miles of wiring for the extra electrical requirements for lighting, heating, security system, intercom, cat 5 cable for computer access to the internet and coax cable for TV feeds to every room including the basement, speaker wires to overhead speakers in the dining area, the swim spa room and the back patio and in the ceiling in the basement for the future entertainment centre. For the children we had extra wide hallways, open concept great room/dining/kitchen area to give them plenty of turn radius for their wheelchairs or walkers. Ceramic and wood floors on the main floor to facilitate their movement and stand up to the punishment wheelchairs and walkers place on flooring and carpet in the basement. Our office in the basement that accommodates our computers and internet access needs. And many more small details too numerous to mention here.
Our experience with Carmine, Jim his foreman, and his team of craftsmen, designers and building staff has been exemplary. We would recommend Bridlewood Homes to anyone especially if they had special needs issues. Carmine loves a challenge and he stands by what he does to help his clients get what they want. Needless to say he also has the patients of a saint.