Transforming Homes. Enhancing Lives.

Years ago, I fitted bathrooms for a couple of the big national companies. On one job, I installed a simple corner shower in place of a bath. It was a couple of days' work. When I saw what that couple had been charged, I couldn't believe it. I was the one doing the work, so I knew exactly what the job was worth. Most of that price wasn't paying for the bathroom. It was paying for head offices, sales teams, commission, big advertising budgets and boardrooms. I knew I could fit better-quality, brand-name products for a lot less, and charge people for the job itself and nothing else. So my wife Kasia and I started our own company.

It started with the price. But not long after we opened our doors, I realised there was something else we could do better: the timing. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say around one in five of the bathrooms I fit are against the clock, because someone is in hospital and can't come home until their house is safe. I've worked to those deadlines more times than I can count. And if I had to hazard another guess, I'd say eight out of ten people only come to us after an accident has already happened. That's what we want to change. We'd much rather meet people before the accident than after it.

Many others come to us living with conditions like Parkinson's, dementia, MS, motor neurone disease or paralysis after an injury. Often the diagnosis came years earlier, and they only call when things have become a real struggle and their carers can't manage with the bathroom they've got any more. We're always glad to help, but I can't help thinking how much easier those years could have been if the bathroom had been ready sooner.

Getting older is something none of us can avoid, and none of us can know if or when an illness or long-term condition might change how we get about. Sooner or later, most of us need a bit of help. As the saying goes, it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. We can either prepare, or not. I've seen what "not" looks like, and you don't need to have a fall to make your home safe.

So we'd simply ask you to give us a call. No sales tactics. Ask us anything and we'll answer honestly, from years of real experience. Or let us pop round. Often, just from the way you get from the front door to the bathroom, and how your partner gets about the house, we can point out the hazards and the places a grab rail or handrail would make a real difference, all through your home, not just the bathroom.

And if you're reading this for your mum or dad, you've probably noticed it too: the hand on the wall in the hallway, the extra care on the stairs, the bath they've quietly stopped using. Those little signs are telling you something. Please don't wait for them to turn into something bigger. This isn't a sales tactic. It's about keeping the people you love safe, independent and at home for longer.

Dan and Kasia, Directors, Quality Life Build