Accessible & barrier-free bathing
Most of these jobs aren't renovations. They're someone deciding they would rather not climb over a tub wall any more — and that changes every decision in the room.
Typical step-in
Down from roughly sixteen on a standard tub.
Grout lines
Easier to clean with limited reach or grip.
Days on site
Most conversions finish inside that.
Year warranty
Written, and it transfers with the house.
The decisions that can't be undone later
Grab bars are the one to get right. A bar is only as strong as what it's screwed into. We add real blocking behind the wall while it's open — timber fixed to the studs — so the bar is anchored to structure, not to drywall anchors that pull out under load. This is the single part of the job that cannot be retrofitted cheaply afterwards, so decide on bar positions at the measure even if you don't feel you need them yet. Blocking costs almost nothing while the wall is open.
Curbless depends on the floor, not the budget. A curbless entry needs the drain to sit below the finished floor, which means there has to be depth in the floor structure. Over a basement it is often possible; on a concrete slab it usually isn't without cutting concrete. We tell you which you have at the measure rather than after the tub is out.
Where curbless isn't possible we fit a low-threshold base instead — a step of roughly 3½ inches rather than the sixteen or so you climb over now. For most people that is the difference that matters.
The rest follows from how the room gets used: where a seat goes and whether it folds, how far the hand shower reaches on its slide bar, whether lever taps are easier than round ones, and how much clear floor is needed to turn around.
Accessible work in Calgary homes
Quoted before we start, not after
- Removal of the tub or old shower, and haul-away.
- Structural blocking behind the wall for every grab bar position agreed.
- Low-threshold base set and levelled — or curbless where the floor allows.
- Grab bars, fitted where you actually reach for them, not to a standard diagram.
- Fold-down or built-in seat where there's room.
- Hand shower on a slide bar, plus the fixed head if you want both.
- Tile-less walls with no grout to scrub, and the 20-year written warranty.
Priced separately: moving the drain (usually needed for a true curbless entry), structural work on the floor, widening a doorway, and electrical changes. We price the whole thing before starting.
Planning it properly
- Free in-home measure — we watch how the room is actually used.
- Decide bar positions with whoever will use them, standing in the space.
- We confirm whether curbless is possible from the floor structure.
- Fixed written price, itemised, with nothing to sign on the day.
- Install: blocking and base first, then walls, bars and fixtures.
- Walk through everything with you before we leave.
Accessible bathing, specifically
Can you do a curbless, roll-in shower in my house?
Sometimes. It depends on whether there's depth in the floor structure to drop the drain below the finished floor — the direction the joists run and what's under them decides it. Over a basement it is often possible. On a slab it usually isn't without cutting concrete, which is a different job.
We tell you which situation you're in at the free measure, before anything is committed.
Where should grab bars go?
Where the person using the shower actually reaches — which is why we'd rather decide it with them standing in the room than from a standard drawing. Typically one at the entry and one on the long wall, but height and angle vary a lot with grip strength and height.
If an occupational therapist has given you positions, bring the notes to the measure and we'll build to them.
Will it look like a hospital?
Not unless you want it to. Grab bars come in the same finishes as the taps, seats can be built into the wall rather than bolted on, and a low-threshold base reads as a normal walk-in shower. Most of the showers on this page have accessibility built in and don't announce it.
How long are we without a bathroom?
One to one and a half days for most conversions — the half day is setting and levelling the base. If this is the only bathroom in the house, tell us at the measure and we'll plan the day around that rather than discovering it on site.
Looking for something else? See everything we install, or browse the gallery.