Build Your Own In-Law Suite : Floor Plans and More

128 page book containing 80 pages of floor plans. Also includes: 12 steps to success, handicapped accessibility & fixture options, choosing a contractor, warranty, contract & payment advice, money saving tips, advantages for parent & children listed, dealing with building department & city codes, how to save some time, and avoid some common mistakes. It is fully illustrated with charts & suite pictures.

Advantages of the in-law suite:

For the parents:
Avoids high-cost elderly facilities
Maintains independence
Feel secure (with family near)
Place to call home
Retain own possessions
May keep pet
Alleviates loneliness
Emotional support from family
Easier to clean & maintain (especially being new)
Children care for structure, lawn & snow removal
Help near for meals & laundry (if needed)
Hands-on help from family as opposed to strangers (if necessary)
Grandchildren near (fringe benefit!)
Financial help (lower expenses)
No inside steps (slab house may have one step to enter)
No stairways (helps prevent accidental falls)
No Accidental lock out (children have spare key to let you back in)
Warmth (8 ceilings & smaller area easy to keep warm)
Offers more normal life
Simplified lifestyle, less worry
Comfort to know children inherit (instead of impersonal corporation)
Not intruding on family s privacy

For the children:
Convenient to make daily checks on parent (if necessary)
Eating properly? Taking medications? Paying bills?
More convenient for doing laundry (if necessary)
Eliminates guilt feelings of not doing enough
Easier to take on errands (if a non-driver)
Saves time consuming trips to parent s house & saves on gas
Eliminates maintaining two full properties (theirs & yours)
Adds good value to property (for resale)
Easier to oversee any in-home health care workers (if necessary)
Vacation time: someone to watch house, feed pets, and water plants
May someday use the suite yourself, or the grandchildren-recycling
Protect parent from con artists or unsavory characters
Parent may watch grandchildren occasionally
Content knowing your parent is safe
Your care to parents sets a good example for your children to follow

Copyright ã 2000 by Carol J. Klima