North and Central New Jersey, from Bergen and Passaic Counties down through Morris, Essex, Union, Somerset and Middlesex to Monmouth and Ocean
Walk-In Showers and Accessible Bathrooms in North and Central NJ
A bathroom you, or a parent, can use without climbing over a tub wall, planned so the right contractor is on the job from the start, including a licensed plumber if the drain has to move.
Accessible Bathrooms quote
Tell us who the bathroom is for and what has become difficult. We will work out whether it is an accessories job or a plumbing one, and connect you with the right registered contractor. There is no obligation.
$100 off your first job
Credited by us on your first booked job.
- One credit per customer per property, on your first booked job.
- Valid through December 31, 2026.
Mention this offer when you book. Full terms.
A bathroom planned around the person using it
What you get is a bathroom planned around the person who uses it: a shower you walk into instead of climbing into, somewhere to sit, something solid to hold, and a toilet at a height that is easier to stand up from. We sort out what the job actually is before anyone quotes, because in New Jersey the same bathroom can be two very different jobs. Grab bars, a shower seat and a handheld shower are bathroom accessories, which the state construction code treats as ordinary maintenance. Taking out a tub for a curbless shower usually means moving the drain or the valve, and relocating drain, waste or supply piping is outside ordinary maintenance, so the plumbing has to be done by a licensed plumber named on the permit. Knowing which side of that line your plan sits on decides who comes out, and it stops a one-trade quote turning into a two-trade job halfway through. We are not a contractor and we have no product to sell. We connect you with a registered local contractor and, where the plumbing needs one, a licensed plumber.
- Tub-to-shower conversions: the tub comes out and a low-threshold or curbless shower goes into its footprint
- Curbless, zero-entry and roll-in showers, with the floor recessed or sloped so there is no lip to step over or roll across
- Low-threshold shower bases set into an existing shower or tub space, for a smaller change with less floor work
- Walk-in tubs with a sealed door, for someone who wants to keep taking baths, weighed against a shower before anything is ordered
- Grab bars fixed into studs or added blocking beside the toilet, at the shower entry and inside the shower
- Fold-down or built-in shower seats and a handheld shower on a slide bar, so washing can happen sitting down
- Comfort-height toilets and toilet safety frames, swapped in the same spot
- Pressure-balancing or thermostatic shower valves, lever faucets, and controls moved within reach of the seat
- Slip-resistant flooring, brighter lighting and a wider bathroom door, planned alongside the rest of the room
What decides the size of a bathroom job
Two bathrooms that look alike can be very different jobs. What changes it is whether the drain moves, what the floor is built on, and who the room is for.
Whether the drain has to move
This is the line that splits the job. Replacing a fixture with a similar one, with no change to the piping arrangement, is ordinary plumbing maintenance under the state code. Adding, altering or relocating drain, waste or supply piping is not, so a curbless shower placed away from the old tub drain brings a permit and a licensed plumber into it. Settle this first and the prices you compare are for the same job.
What the floor is built on
A shower with no curb needs the floor under it to drop or slope toward the drain. Over a wood-framed floor that can mean working into the joists; over a slab it can mean cutting concrete. Neither is visible from the bathroom, and it is often what separates a straightforward conversion from a structural one.
Who is using the bathroom, and how
Someone walking with a cane, someone using a walker, someone who needs a second person in the room and someone arriving in a wheelchair each need a different amount of floor space, a different seat and bars in different places. Tell us who the bathroom is for, and the contractor plans around that person rather than a catalog.
Whether it is the only full bathroom, and which floor it is on
In an older house the one full bathroom is often upstairs, and 37.7 percent of New Jersey homes were built before 1960. When it is, the question can become whether to adapt that room or add one downstairs, which is also a question about the stairs. Plan the two together rather than one after the other.
What is behind the wall where the grab bars go
A grab bar is only as good as what it is fixed into. Tile over plaster, a fiberglass surround, or a wall with no stud where the bar needs to be each change how it is mounted, and some need blocking added behind the finish. The state code lists bathroom accessories as ordinary maintenance, which keeps this among the lightest jobs on the list.
Whether a program may be paying
Some programs will only pay a contractor they have approved. NJ FamilyCare's residential modifications benefit, for example, is limited to $15,000 over a lifetime and requires a provider credentialed by the member's managed care organization. If a program may be involved, say so before anyone is chosen, because it changes who can be sent.
Not sure whether this needs a plumber?
Send a photo and a line about who uses the room. We will tell you which kind of job it is before anyone quotes.
From the first photo to the final inspection
Tell us who the bathroom is for
Who will use it, what has become hard (the tub wall, standing up from the toilet, washing without help), and whether there is a date to work to, such as a discharge from hospital or rehab. A photo of the bathroom from the doorway helps.
We sort the job before anyone quotes
Accessories only, a fixture swapped in the same spot, or a layout change that moves the drain. That decides whether you need a remodeling contractor, a licensed plumber or both, and you hear which before anyone visits.
A registered contractor visits and prices it
They look at the floor structure, the walls behind the tile and the piping, then give you a written price. In New Jersey any home improvement contract over $500 has to be in writing, signed by both sides, and show the contractor's registration number.
You decide, with time to think
Nothing has to be signed at the visit. If you do sign, New Jersey lets you cancel a home improvement contract for any reason until midnight of the third business day after you receive your copy.
Permits before work, where the job needs them
State rules say a contractor may not start until the permits the work needs have been issued, and must give you copies of any inspection certificates before the final payment is due. On a plumbing job, the permit application names the licensed plumber.
The work, and the paperwork at the end
The contractor builds it, the town inspects whatever it permitted, and you keep the certificates. If the plan changes along the way, any change to the contract has to be in writing too.
Accessible Bathrooms work we have arranged
What accessible bathrooms looks like
What we leave to others, and when a remodel is more than you need
When you may not need this at all
- If the tub itself is fine and the trouble is getting in and out, a pair of grab bars, a transfer bench and a handheld shower may be enough for now. Those are bathroom accessories, the lightest kind of work under the state code, and plenty of families start there.
- If standing up from the toilet is the only problem, a taller toilet in the same spot or a safety frame may solve it without touching the shower. Replacing a fixture with a similar one, with no change to the piping, is ordinary plumbing maintenance.
- If the need is short term, after a surgery for example, ask whether removable equipment would carry you through before committing to a remodel.
- If you are not sure what the person needs, an occupational therapist can watch how they move around the bathroom and say. We do not give that kind of advice, and a therapist's view is worth having before any money is spent.
- If the house is not yours, the owner has to agree first. NJ FamilyCare's modification benefit requires the owner's written approval, and any landlord will expect to be asked.
What is out of scope
- Medical advice, or deciding what a person needs clinically. That belongs with their doctor or therapist.
- Selling a tub, a shower system or any other product. We have nothing to sell.
- Applying to a funding program for you, or telling you that you qualify. The program decides.
- Personal care or bathing help. We arrange changes to the room, not help in it.
- Renovation of the wider house beyond the bathroom and the route to it.
Bathroom work arranged across North and Central NJ
- Accessible Bathrooms in Monroe Township
- Accessible Bathrooms in Manchester Township
- Accessible Bathrooms in Toms River
- Accessible Bathrooms in Freehold Township
- Accessible Bathrooms in Middletown
- Accessible Bathrooms in Edison
- Accessible Bathrooms in Old Bridge
- Accessible Bathrooms in Paramus
- Accessible Bathrooms in Ridgewood
- Accessible Bathrooms in Cranford
What families ask about walk-in showers and grab bars
Will Medicare pay for a walk-in shower or grab bars?
Expect not. Medicare's national list of durable medical equipment denies grab bars, bathtub seats, bathtub lifts and raised toilet seats as not primarily medical. If you have a Medicare Advantage plan, ask the plan directly what it offers. Other routes in New Jersey include NJ FamilyCare's residential modifications benefit, the state's JACC program for people 60 and over who meet nursing home level of care, and VA benefits for veterans, which name roll-in showers. Each program decides who is eligible.
Walk-in tub or walk-in shower?
It comes down to whether the person wants to soak. A walk-in tub keeps a bath, but you step over a low sill, sit while it fills and wait while it drains. A walk-in or curbless shower has no wait, takes a seat and a handheld shower, and leaves room for someone helping. Whichever is on the table, take the written price away and think about it before signing.
Do we need a plumber, or just a contractor?
If the drain, the supply lines and the valve stay where they are, it may be one contractor's job. Once piping is added, altered or moved, the state code requires the plumbing to be done by someone licensed for it, and the permit application carries their name and license number. We work out which it is before anyone comes to the house.
How long does a bathroom conversion take?
Nobody can honestly give a date before seeing the room. Grab bars are usually a short visit. A tub-to-shower conversion that moves the drain waits for its permit, then for inspections as the work goes. If there is a hospital discharge date, tell us, so the contractor can say plainly what is and is not possible before it.
Can the shower be built to ADA dimensions?
You can ask for them, and they are a sensible reference, but the ADA does not govern a privately owned house. The federal guidance for roll-in showers, for example, allows a threshold of up to half an inch if it is beveled and prefers a flush transition. A contractor can work to figures like that where the room allows. What matters more is that it suits the person using it.
What if my mother does not want any of this?
It is her bathroom and her decision. A contractor visit is a look and a written price, not a signing. Many families start with one small change, a grab bar or a handheld shower, and go from there when she is ready.
Start with the bathroom that is causing the trouble
One request, a registered local contractor, a written price and time to decide. There is no obligation.