“As a wheelchair user for over 30 years, I have dealt with many companies in the world of mobility and adaptation. A change to my circumstances meant we had to make further changes to our already adapted motorhome.
We used Brook Miller for the first time and are pleased we did. They spent time listening to what we wanted to achieve and came up with imaginative and practical proposals. Their attitude to any challenge is to overcome it through good engineering.
I have no hesitation in recommending them to others – in fact, I have already done exactly that.
S & A Lightfoot
Leisure Vehicle Modification Assessment
The customers contacted Brook Miller Mobility, regarding some changes they felt were needed for their Burstner Harmony Line Motorhome.
They had previously had the motorhome adapted to allow for wheelchair access, with an adapted wide access door and wheelchair lift.
An appointment was made for the customers to visit our workshop, to allow our engineers an opportunity to assess the motorhome and discuss what modifications are required.
The two main areas that the customers felt needed addressing were firstly the motorhomes bathroom area, with the wish to create a wheelchair-accessible wet room.
Also needed, was a hoist which would allow the customers to access the driver seat and drop-down electric bed.
Bespoke Adaptations
When addressing the issues with the current bathroom, it was decided that we would replace the existing bathroom area with a fully wheelchair-accessible wet room bathroom.
To achieve this, we stripped out all the old bathroom, we removed the rear floor shower area and shower tray. In the new bathroom design, the shower was to be moved to a different area to better suit the customer’s requirements, so we had to relocate any pipes and wires as required.
We then fitted a new wet room shower floor and shower waste, with no obstructive thresholds to allow for easy wheelchair access. The wet room floor was fitted with non-slip Altro wet room vinyl.
In addition, we replaced the existing walls in this area with shower wall panels and resealed the whole area to make it fully waterproof and fit for purpose.
During the assessment, the customer mentioned that they struggled to access the controls for the toilet as it was, so we relocated this to the side of the toilet area, to allow for ease of access.
Finally, a custom curtain rail and shower curtain were made to complete the wet room area.
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- 1. The bathroom as it was prior to conversion, with toilet and sink as per the original layout design
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- 2. The bathroom walk-in shower as it was prior to our adaptations
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- 3. There was a substantial strip out of the motorhome wet room area to allow for this conversion
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- 4. The original bathroom furniture was removed, with as many parts reused in the new design to keep the appearance in keeping with the original look and finish
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- 5. The bathroom area stripped out, with the removal of the original shower tray
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- 6. A supporting structure was built to support the new wetroom bathroom flooring
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- 7. Installation of the new wetroom tray
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- 8. Relocation of the pipes to allow for the altered bathroom layout
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- 9. The bathroom wet room area nearing the end of the modifications, with new sink installed, and the non-slip Altro wet room vinyl flooring laid
The other area of the Burstner motorhome we were asked to adapt was the installation of a hoist to allow for access between the driver’s seat and drop-down electric bed.
To achieve this, we found that we would need to manufacture and fit a curved hoist rail, to give the customer the access they required.
In total, 7 support brackets were fitted along the curved radius of the hoist track, fitted and reinforced through the ceiling of the motorhome, to support the strength of the hoist track.
The hoisting equipment was then fitted, along with an inverter to power the hoist.
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- 1. Following the Modification Assessment, the ceiling inside the motorhome was marked out in accordance to the ceiling track required, working around existing features such as the sky light.
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- 2. 7 support brackets were manufactured and fitted, reinforced through the ceiling of the motorhome to support the hoist track.
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- 3. Once the hoist support brackets were fitted through the ceiling of the motorhome, the curved hoist rail could be installed.
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- 4. The hoist equipment is fitted. We installed a Prism Transactive Xtra Person Hoist
The Completed Conversion
This was a big job for the team, especially with wet room bathrooms, we can never be sure what we will find until we start to strip out an area when we are asked to relocate water pipes and other amenities.
However, we hope you will agree, the final finish on the wet room is brilliant. Our goal is to provide a finished result, which blends in with the rest of the motorhome.
If you did not know this was not the original bathroom area, you might not be able to tell.
We are so pleased that we have provided the customers with an internal layout which allows a wheelchair user complete independence to use the facilities of the motorhome without assistance.
Something as simple as the flush button on the toilet, which could do easily have been overlooked, is now exactly as the customer requires.
Retrofitting hoists is another challenging aspect of bespoke leisure vehicle alterations, especially when the vehicle requires a curved track, however, this is something our team of highly skilled engineers can handle without any real difficulties.
We hope the customers have many happy holidays in their Burstner motorhome now that these modifications have finally enabled it to meet their exact requirements. It is a beautiful motorhome.
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- Completed Conversion – Wet room Toilet and Sink
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- Completed Conversion – Wet Room Shower
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- Completed Conversion – Hoist Equipment Installed
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- Completed Conversion – Hoist Rail Installation
Could we help you?
If you have a caravan or motorhome, which for any reason is not working quite right for you contact Brook Miller Mobility. We specialise in making vehicles wheelchair accessible, both inside and out.
Maybe you have a standard caravan or motorhome, and you are struggling to get in and out, or perhaps, like the Lightfoot’s, you’ve already had alterations made, but have found on using the vehicle things are still not quite right.
We are happy to help with any aspects of your motorhome or caravan, just contact a member of our team to book a bespoke leisure vehicle modification assessment.
We will take the time to understand the aspects of the vehicle which you are finding challenging and make suggestions and recommendations from the assessment.
A quotation will then be prepared for you to consider before booking your vehicle into our workshop for the modifications if you choose to go ahead.
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