Morristown, Morris County
Aging in Place Home Modifications in Morristown, NJ
Aging in place in Morristown, NJ looks different from the suburbs. Whether you rent an apartment in town or own a townhouse, an easier home starts with one well planned job.
Home modifications in Morristown
Pick the job that matches the problem in your Morristown home. Each page covers what that work involves in the kind of building you are likely to live in.
Accessible bathrooms and walk-in showers
See detailsStairlifts and home lifts
See detailsWheelchair ramps
See detailsDoorway widening
See detailsGrab bars and handrails
See details
In Morristown, local help with aging services comes from Morris County Division on Aging, Disabilities and Community Programming.
Questions people ask
I rent in Morristown. Can I still make changes?
Often yes, but get the landlord's written agreement before anything is fixed to a wall or floor. Bars, a handheld shower and a portable threshold ramp are the changes most easily agreed, and a contractor can describe the work in terms a landlord can sign off.
Which Morristown homes are easiest to adapt?
Ground-floor units and townhouses with a short flight of stairs tend to be simplest. Third-floor walk-ups and buildings with a single shared stair take more planning, because you need to consider every neighbor who uses the same route.
Is there a county office I can ask about services for older residents?
Yes. The Morris County Division on Aging, Disabilities and Community Programming is the county agency on aging listed by the state, and it can explain support beyond home changes.
Does Original Medicare pay for a stairlift or grab bars in Morristown?
No. Medicare's national coverage determination lists grab bars, stairway elevators and bathtub lifts among denied items. Other sources, such as NJ Medicaid managed care, JACC and VA programs, have their own rules.
Can I start with one small job and add more later?
Yes, and many households do. Bars and a handheld shower are quick to place. A plan that lists the later jobs, such as a wider door, lets the first job be done so that it does not get in the way.
What should I check before I sign with a contractor?
Get a written, signed contract that names the business and states the total price. In New Jersey you can cancel a home improvement contract before midnight of the third business day after you receive your copy.
Homes in Morristown
Morristown is a town of apartments. Few of its housing units are single-family detached homes, and few occupied homes are owner-occupied, so a large share of residents live in apartments, condos and townhouses where the person who needs a change is not always the person who can approve it. Landlords, boards and management offices come into the plan early.
The buildings span a wide range. The median home was built in 1970, yet many units date from before 1960 and most from before 1980. Expect walk-up stairs with a turn at each landing, bathrooms squeezed behind narrow doors, and newer mid-rise buildings with lifts but a tub in every unit.
Only 14.3% of residents are 65 or older, well under the state share. In practice that means many households here are planning ahead, or planning for one person in a household of working-age adults, and the work is shaped by a lease, a unit or a shared entrance rather than a whole house.
Source: Census Bureau, median year built and age
Aging in place in Morristown, NJ: who has to say yes
In a town where only 36.7% of homes are owner-occupied, the first question is not what you want. It is who decides. Settle that before you collect prices.
Source: Census Bureau, owners and renters
- Renting: the landlord decides anything fixed to a wall, floor or stair. Get the answer in writing.
- Owning a condo: the unit is yours, but the association usually controls shared pipes, shared stairs, entrances and exterior walls.
- Owning a townhouse or house: the choice is yours, though neighbors who share a wall, a step or a walkway should hear about it first.
A contractor can describe the work in plain terms that a landlord or board can sign. Small, reversible jobs such as grab bars and stair handrails in Morristown tend to get a quick yes. Bigger jobs need a longer talk, so start it early.
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Which change to start with in a walk-up, townhouse or mid-rise
Start with the spot where you struggle most often, then match it to your building.
Older walk-up or converted house
Stairs are the likely problem. With 39.0% of units built before 1960, turning stairs and narrow doors are common. If the stair is yours alone, look at stairlift installation in Morristown. If a walker will not fit through the bathroom door, see doorway widening.
Source: Census Bureau, year built
Townhouse
Bedrooms upstairs and a laundry below turn the stairs into a daily load. Price a lift and a first-floor bathroom plan side by side.
Mid-rise or condo with an elevator
You skip the stair question, so the tub is often the main hazard. A shower built in the footprint of the old tub is the usual first step. See accessible bathrooms in Morristown.
Any building with a step at the door
A wheelchair ramp is worth a look if wheels cannot manage the step. Where space is tight, a modular ramp or a side entrance may do the job.
Paying for changes and finding Morris County help
Original Medicare lists grab bars, stairway elevators and bathtub lifts among its denied items, so plan on other sources. These are worth asking about:
- NJ Medicaid managed care: residential modifications such as ramps, grab bars, widened doorways and bathroom changes, up to $15,000 lifetime, when the plan of care requires them.
- JACC: for residents 60 and older who meet nursing home level of care and are not on Medicaid. Home modifications are one possible service.
- VA benefits: the VA home improvements and structural alterations benefit for medically necessary changes, plus larger disability housing grants.
- IRS: accessibility improvements can count as medical expenses, deductible only above 7.5% of adjusted gross income.
Sources: NJ Medicaid, IRS Publication 502
Morris County also lists a Housing Rehabilitation Program that names handicapped access as eligible work for income-eligible owners, and Operation Fix-It for minor safety repairs.
The Morris County Division on Aging, Disabilities and Community Programming is the county agency on aging listed by the state.
It is the place to ask which programs you might qualify for. Our guide to paying for home modifications in New Jersey walks through each one.
Helping a parent in Morristown when you live somewhere else
If you are the adult child coordinating from another town, you can do most of the groundwork by phone and photo.
- Ask your parent to show you the hardest daily route, from bed to bathroom to front door.
- Photograph the stairs, the tub, the entrance and the narrowest doorway, with a tape measure in the shot.
- Find out who owns the building and who approves changes.
- Call or send the form with the address. A local contractor then looks at the home with your parent.
Source: NJ Legislature
Ask for the scope and price in writing, and read our note on the three-day right to cancel in New Jersey before anyone signs.
Nearby towns in Morris and Essex counties
The same planning applies close by. See aging in place in Parsippany in Morris County, or aging in place in Livingston and West Orange in Essex County.
Also serving nearby
Ready to plan it?
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