Tub to ADA Shower

Scope: Have you ever considered being physically handicapped and wondering how you would bathe? That was the challenge for a family with a twenty-year-old son who had suffered very dramatic brain damage from an accident.

The young man had some use of his left side and that was the nexus of the shower design for him. His mother asked for a seat so he could undress in the bath for his shower. The shower bench was designed to be part in and part out of the shower for that purpose. His balance was comprised necessitating a curbless shower floor with a flush trench drain. A hand shower with a “grab bar”-slide bar was used for extra safety. Since he shared the bath with his sibling, the opposite end of the shower was trimmed out with the same shower valve, trim, and hand shower. Porcelain tile with a high slip resistance was used on the bath floor and matched with a 2” x 2” tile at the shower pan. Solid surface materials were used on the walls and bench for easy cleaning. A standard toilet was replaced with a new taller ADA toilet.

The final touch was updating the vanity with new sinks and faucets, a solid surface countertop, and fresh wall paint to create a cheerful non-institutional-looking bath.