While there were no production crews, cameras or screaming crowds present, a recent home makeover in Aurora for Zach Nieves and his family was as dramatic and exciting as any on national television.
Zach, 15, was born with cerebral palsy, which has led to several other health complications and special needs. He is confined to a wheelchair and lives in his Aurora home with his mother Jessica, stepfather Nathan and other siblings and relatives. Before the makeover, the family all shared one common bathroom in the upstairs of the house, which meant Zach could not access the facilities on his own. Zach’s bed was also upstairs, which meant making a grueling, hour-long climb every night that took every ounce of his energy.
Assessing the issue, Matt Guarino of Bridge Capital Resources of Greenwood Village and Greg Villezca of 4G Construction crafted a solution: Transform the unused garage on the Nieves’ home into a fully accessible bedroom and bathroom for Zach. The work started with running the necessary utilities to the space, building floor joists to match the main level of the house and installing full insulation on exterior walls. New carpet, paint, tile and extra-wide doors not only created a fully accessible space, but also meant Zach was done with navigating a brutal daily stair climb.
“Zach’s new room is life-changing for all of us,” said Zach’s mother, Jessica. “Before, we would have to help Zach up the stairs and it was exhausting for him and for us. With his new room and bathroom, he can use the facilities on his own, whenever he needs to. We have already seen a huge jump in his self-esteem and we can’t thank everybody involved enough.”
For 4G Construction and Villezca, years of residential construction experience proved critical in designing and building the space. Once Villezca figured out how to best use the space for a person in a wheelchair, he sketched out the room layout. After Aurora’s building department approved the plans, construction took just less than three weeks.
“We had to make sure that whatever we did, with the doors, closet, shower, toilet, sink and bed, it would make it easy for Zach to move around in his wheelchair,” Villezca said. “And it was our goal that when you stepped into this room, you would never know it used to be a garage.”
As music is a life force for Zach, one of the other special features of his new room is to have speakers in his bed’s headboard that can fill the room. Zach also helped choose the color schemes, drapes and decorations, which are a nod to his favorite Pixar movies “Cars” and “Monsters, Inc.”
The initial drive behind the makeover came from Patrice Jones, Zach’s grandmother, who works with Guarino. After giving Guarino a tour of the situation Zach and his family were dealing with, Guarino stepped forward to finance the construction.
“The joy and love this family has for each other is truly inspiring,” Guarino said. “Things that most of us take so for granted are huge obstacles for them, but none of that stops them from having great attitudes about life. To do something like this, that is pretty easy for us to do, and that will make such a huge difference for them, is an honor.”
