How Do I Prepare My Home for Recovery After Hip or Knee Replacement Surgery?

Make the parts of your home you use every day reachable without stairs, bending, or risky transfers — ideally before your surgery date. In practice, that means setting up a comfortable space on the main floor, securing the bathroom with grab bars and a shower seat, clearing trip hazards, and arranging safe access to your stairs and entryway. Because most of these needs are temporary, renting equipment like a stairlift or ramp is often smarter than buying.

Home Healthsmith has helped families across Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut prepare their homes for recovery for more than 45 years. Our rental program exists for exactly this moment: a temporary disability brought on by surgery or therapy, where you need a safe, functional home now — without investing in a permanent solution you may not need in three months.

Why should I prepare my home before surgery, not after?

After a hip or knee replacement, your mobility will be at its lowest in the first days and weeks home. That’s the worst time to be measuring doorways, ordering grab bars, or figuring out how to get up the stairs. Setting up beforehand means you come home to a space that’s already safe.

Preparing ahead also removes pressure from family. Adult children coordinating a parent’s recovery often scramble in the 48 hours before discharge. A little planning turns that scramble into a calm, ready homecoming.

“The families who do well are the ones who set the home up before the surgery, not after. When someone comes home from the hospital and the bathroom already has grab bars and there’s a safe way upstairs, the whole recovery is calmer — for the patient and for the family doing the caregiving. You don’t want to be solving these problems on day one.”  — Linda Bohmbach, Certified Dementia Practitioner, Home Healthsmith

 

Which rooms matter most during recovery?

Focus your energy where the risk is highest. The bathroom comes first — wet floors, low toilets, and high tub walls are the leading sources of falls during recovery. Next is the path between your bed and that bathroom, which should be clear, well-lit, and step-free if possible. Then come the stairs and the entryway, where a single step can stop a recovery in its tracks.

How do I handle stairs when I can’t climb them?

You have three good options. The simplest is to set up a temporary main-floor living space — a bed, a nearby bathroom, and everything you need on one level — so stairs come out of the equation entirely. If that isn’t possible, a stairlift gives you safe access to a second floor without climbing. And if the barrier is the steps at your front or back door, a ramp restores safe entry and exit.

For most surgery recoveries, these are short-term needs, which is why renting often makes more sense than buying.

Should I rent or buy equipment for a temporary recovery?

If the need will likely resolve once you’ve healed and finished physical therapy, renting is usually the better financial choice. Home Healthsmith offers stairlift and wheelchair-ramp rentals designed specifically for short-term situations — you get a safe, functional home at a reasonable cost, and you’re not paying for a permanent installation you’ll want removed in a few months.

Renting through a local provider has another advantage: when something needs attention, you’re calling someone who installed the equipment and knows your home — not a national call center.

What bathroom changes make the biggest difference?

Three changes do most of the work. Grab bars by the toilet and in the shower give you something solid to push against — we install medical-grade, properly anchored bars, not the suction-cup kind. A shower seat lets you bathe without standing on a wet surface or balancing on a healing joint. And a raised toilet seat reduces how far you have to lower yourself, which matters enormously after hip or knee surgery.

A simple pre-surgery home prep checklist

• Set up a recovery space on the main floor if stairs will be difficult.
• Install grab bars by the toilet and in the shower or tub.
• Add a shower seat and, if needed, a raised toilet seat.
• Clear walking paths of rugs, cords, and clutter; add night lighting.
• Arrange stair access — a stairlift rental — or plan to live on one level.
• Solve entryway steps with a ramp if there are stairs at your door.
• Put daily items at waist height to avoid bending and reaching.
• Book any installations to be completed before your surgery date.

Frequently Asked Questions

How far in advance should I prepare my home? Aim to have everything installed and tested before your surgery date — ideally two to four weeks ahead. That leaves time to order equipment, schedule installation, and get comfortable using it before you actually need it.

Can I rent a stairlift just for my recovery? Yes. Home Healthsmith’s rental program is built for temporary needs like surgery recovery. You get the equipment for as long as you need it, and we remove it when you’re back on your feet.

Will Medicare or insurance cover home modifications? Coverage varies, and many accessibility items aren’t fully covered — but there are more financing and assistance options than most families realize. Our guide to paying for aging-in-place modifications walks through them.

How quickly can equipment be installed? Grab bars, ramps, and straight stairlifts can usually be installed quickly once scheduled. A curved stairlift takes longer because the rail is custom-built, so it’s worth starting that conversation as early as possible.

Surgery on the calendar? Let’s get your home ready before you come home. A free SafeHome Audit identifies exactly what your home needs for a safe recovery — and we’ll tell you what makes sense to rent versus buy. We serve Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. Call (401) 293-0415 or schedule your SafeHome Audit at homehealthsmith.com/services/safehome-audit/.

Learn more: Rentals  ·  Bathroom Safety Products  ·  Wheelchair Ramps  ·  How to Pay for Aging-in-Place Modifications