Questions
Sixteen answers, including the awkward ones
Grouped by who is asking. If yours is not here, put it to us on the phone; we answer the uncomfortable ones the same way we answer the easy ones.
- Questions
- 16
- Groups
- 4
- Phone answered by
- Harriet
- Assessment
- Free
Mobility and daily use
Horizontal bars go at 33 to 36 in above the finished floor. That range is not a suggestion: below 33 in a standing adult has to stoop into the pull, and above 36 in a seated adult cannot reach it. Vertical assist bars start with the bottom at 39 to 41 in. We set the exact height within those ranges to the person who will use it, measured at their shoulder.
No, and this is the most dangerous assumption in a bathroom. A towel bar is anchored into drywall for a few pounds of towel. A grab bar is pull-tested to 250 lbf in four directions and bolted into solid blocking. We have replaced several towel bars that came out of the wall with someone attached to them.
A transfer shower is a 36 x 36 in stall with a fixed seat. You get out of the chair at the opening and move across onto the seat, and the walls stay within arm's reach on both sides. A roll-in is 30 x 60 in or larger and a shower wheelchair goes straight in. Transfer needs less room; roll-in needs no standing at all.
A standard walker is 24 to 26 in wide. A 28 in door leaf gives roughly 26.5 in clear, so it fits only if pushed through perfectly square. Thirty-two inches clear is the number where it stops being a daily negotiation, and swing-clear hinges buy 1.75 in of that without moving the frame.
For family and caregivers
This is the most common call we get and it is a conversation problem, not a construction one. What usually helps is framing it as the house needing work rather than the person needing help, and bringing the decision to them rather than about them. Our assessment specialist talks to the person who will use the room, directly, every time. Several families have booked the visit purely to get a neutral third voice in the house.
Only if it is designed in. A 36 in curbless opening with no door swing lets a second adult stand inside the shower without being in the spray, and a handheld on a 59 in hose lets them direct water rather than the person being rinsed doing it. A standard tub alcove keeps a helper at arm's length across a wall, which is how backs get hurt.
Yes. Tell us the visit times when we book and we will plan noisy work around them. We also keep one working toilet in the house at all times unless there is genuinely only one bathroom, in which case we tell you in advance exactly which two days will be difficult.
We run a zip-wall barrier at the bathroom door with a negative-air machine venting outside, so air flows into the work area rather than out of it. Floors on the route are covered, and the path is cleaned at the end of every day. Tell us about oxygen equipment or COPD when you book and we will add a second filtration stage.
Cost, permits and paperwork
Original Medicare does not. Some Medicare Advantage plans now include a supplemental benefit for home safety modifications, the VA has HISA and SAH grants, and Florida Medicaid waiver programs sometimes contribute. Our office keeps current contact details for each of those desks and will point you at the right one. We do not file claims on your behalf and we do not promise an outcome.
Because the floor has to change. Getting a true zero-inch entry means either sistering joists and dropping the sub-floor, or saw-cutting and re-pouring a slab, plus a linear drain instead of a centre drain. That is typically an extra day and a licensed concrete cut. A quote that offers curbless without any floor work is offering a small ramp.
Yes, because the drain moves and the valve is replaced. That is a plumbing permit at minimum. A full remodel that touches framing and circuits needs building and electrical permits too. We pull them, schedule every inspection and meet the inspector, so you never take a day off for it.
Yes, with one named exception. Substrate and framing repair behind a wall we have not opened yet carries a stated allowance. If we go past it we stop, photograph it and get your written sign-off before continuing. There is never a discovery on the final invoice.
Living through the work
A one-to-two day acrylic conversion means about three days without that shower. A tiled conversion is seven to ten working days. A full remodel with layout changes runs nine to fifteen. We give you a finish date in writing on the quote and we hit it, or we tell you the moment we know we will not.
One lead carpenter stays with your bathroom from demolition to handover, and you get their mobile number. Specialist trades come and go, but the person who knows your job never changes halfway through.
Tell us at the assessment. We will note the door discipline, keep the front door closed during deliveries and stage materials in the garage rather than the hallway. It comes up more than you would expect.
Saturdays occasionally, by arrangement, for jobs where the household only has one bathroom. Never on a Sunday, and never inside an HOA or condo community that prohibits it.
The last thing on this page
Ninety minutes, at your house, for nothing
Joaquin measures the room against every clearance, maps the studs so we know where blocking can go, and leaves a written report. If the honest answer is that your bathroom cannot do what you need, he will say so and the report is still yours.
- Call
- (941) 555-0213
- Office hours
- Monday to Friday: 7:30 am to 5:30 pmSaturday: 9:00 am to 2:00 pmSunday: Closed, messages answered Monday
- Workshop
- 2140 Cattlemen Road, Suite 4, Sarasota, FL 34232
We do bathrooms only. If you need a kitchen, an addition or whole-home work we will give you two names of people who do it properly.