Bathroom safety
Wet tile, a high tub wall, and nothing solid to hold. It is the most dangerous room in the house and it always has been.
Grab bars installed properly, transfer benches, shower chairs, raised toilet seats, bath lifts and tub cutouts. We look at the actual bathroom rather than selling from a catalogue.
What is actually hard in your bathroom?
Getting in, washing, or getting up. Each one has a different answer, and most bathrooms need two or three items rather than a renovation.
Everything that makes a bathroom a bathroom also makes it dangerous.
Hard wet surfaces, a step over a tub wall, standing on one leg to wash the other, low seating to rise from, and no furniture to grab if a knee goes. Every one of those is a hazard on its own, and a bathroom combines all of them in a room too small to fall safely in.
The fix is not complicated and it is not expensive relative to what it prevents. Something solid to hold, somewhere to sit, and a way in that does not involve lifting a leg over a wall at hip height. Most bathrooms need three or four items, not a renovation.
The tub wall is the barrier
Lifting a leg over a tub wall while balancing on the other, on a wet floor, is the single riskiest movement in the room.
Standing for a whole shower is tiring
Sitting down turns a shower from an ordeal into something ordinary, and removes the balancing entirely.
A toilet seat is low
Standing from a low seat is hard on knees and hips, and there is rarely anything solid nearby to push against.
A towel rail is not a grab bar
Towel rails, taps and shower doors all come away under real weight. Grab bars go into structure and are rated for it.
Start with how the person gets in.
Access first, seating second, then the toilet. In that order, because the way in decides everything else.
Stainless or knurled bars fixed into studs or blocking, positioned where the hand actually reaches rather than where it looks tidy.
A bench that straddles the tub wall so someone sits down outside and slides across, instead of stepping over.
A powered seat that lowers into the tub and raises again, for someone who wants a proper bath rather than a shower.
A section of the tub wall removed and a watertight step-through insert fitted, converting a tub to a walk-in shower without replacing it.
A grab bar is only as good as what it is screwed into.
A grab bar has to hold a falling adult. That load has to go into studs or into blocking behind the wall, not into tile and not into a plasterboard anchor, however confident the packaging sounds. This is the whole reason we install them rather than sell them in a box.
Position matters just as much as fixing. A bar mounted where it looks neat is often not where a hand reaches during the movement it is meant to support. We watch the movement, mark the position, then fix it.
The rest of the room
The items that come up at nearly every bathroom assessment.
Sitting to shower removes the balancing entirely. Height adjustable, with or without a back and arms.
Adds height so standing takes less from the knees and hips. Some lock on, some come with arms to push against.
A bedside toilet for the night, or a frame with arms over the existing toilet. Often the thing that prevents a night-time fall.
Mats, long-handled sponges, hand-held shower heads and lever taps. Cheap, and each removes a specific difficulty.
Products available now
Bellavita Auto Bath Lifter
A powered seat that lowers into the tub and raises you out again.
Aquasense Adjustable Bath Seat with Backrest
Sit to wash, height set to the person rather than the room.
Aquasense 3-in-1 Raised Toilet Seat
Adds height so standing from the toilet takes less from the knees.
Aquasense Multi-Adjust Bath Safety Rail
A rail we position by watching the movement, then fix properly.
Drive 2-in-1 Locking Raised Toilet Seat
Locks on, with tool-free removable arms to push against.
Drive Clamp-on Tub Rail
A clamp-on rail for the tub wall when a full bar is not the first step.
Deluxe Bariatric Shower Chair
A wider shower chair with a cross-frame brace for stability.
Deluxe Aluminum Shower Bench
A bench without a back, for sitting once you are already in the shower.
ADP does not cover bathroom equipment. Other programs may help.
ADP does not cover grab bars or general bathroom fittings. Some bath equipment such as certain commodes and bath lifts may have other funding paths. The federal Home Accessibility Tax Credit when CRA eligibility rules fit, March of Dimes HVMP, ODSP, WSIB and Veterans Affairs are the usual routes for bathroom work.
We will tell you which items in your quote have a realistic chance, rather than letting you apply for everything. What you actually pay is confirmed in writing.
You want it sorted this month
Most bathroom work is equipment plus a couple of grab bars, and it is measured in hundreds rather than thousands. We can usually do the installation in a single visit.
Book an assessment →You want help with the cost
ADP does not cover grab bars. Some bath equipment such as certain commodes and bath lifts may have other funding paths. The federal Home Accessibility Tax Credit when CRA eligibility rules fit, March of Dimes HVMP, ODSP, WSIB and Veterans Affairs are the usual routes. We will tell you what qualifies.
See how funding works →There is nothing spare
Then start with what costs almost nothing: take up loose mats, put a non-slip mat in the tub, move a sturdy chair in to sit on, and stop using the towel rail as a handhold. Then call us and we will prioritise.
Talk to us honestly →Questions we get asked about bathroom safety
If yours is not here, call us on 905 451-7743. A person answers during business hours.
Can grab bars be installed on tile?
Yes, but the fixing has to pass through the tile and into a stud or into blocking behind the wall. The tile itself carries no load. Where there is no stud in the right place we install blocking or use a specialist fixing rated for the load. What we will not do is anchor into plasterboard and call it safe.
Are suction cup grab bars safe?
They are useful for balance and reassurance, and they are not a substitute for a fixed bar. A suction bar can release without warning, particularly on textured tile or when the surface is soapy. If somebody needs to put real weight on it, it must be fixed into structure.
Does ADP cover bathroom equipment?
No. ADP does not cover bathroom equipment, including grab bars, bath lifts and commodes. The federal Home Accessibility Tax Credit when CRA eligibility rules fit, March of Dimes HVMP, ODSP, WSIB and Veterans Affairs may help with bathroom work. We will tell you which alternatives are realistic for the items on your quote.
What is a bathtub cutout?
A section of the tub wall is cut away and a watertight step-through insert is fitted, so a standard bath becomes a walk-in shower without replacing the tub or retiling the room. It is much less disruptive and much less expensive than a full bathroom conversion, and it is usually done in a day.
Should I get a transfer bench or a shower chair?
A transfer bench is for getting over a tub wall: you sit down outside the tub and slide across. A shower chair is for sitting down once you are already in a walk-in shower. If the barrier is the tub wall, you need the bench.
How do I know where to put the grab bars?
By watching the movement they are meant to support. Where a hand actually reaches while someone is rising, turning or stepping is frequently not where a bar looks tidy on the wall. That is what the assessment is for, and it is free.
Do you do full bathroom modifications?
We do grab bar installation, bathtub cutouts and wide door installation, and we work with contractors for larger conversions. At the assessment we will tell you honestly whether equipment solves the problem or whether the room genuinely needs work.
What can I do tonight, before an assessment?
Take up loose mats, put a non-slip mat in the tub, move a sturdy chair into the bathroom to sit on, leave a light on at night, and do not use the towel rail or the shower door as a handhold. None of that costs anything and all of it helps.
Is a bath lift better than a cutout?
A bath lift is equipment: nothing is cut, it can be removed, and it lets you have a proper soak. A cutout is permanent, needs no operation and cannot fail, but the tub no longer holds a full bath unless you add a door insert. If you rent, the lift wins by default.
Will a commode help at night?
Often more than anything else. Night-time trips to the bathroom, in the dark, half asleep, are when a great many falls happen. A bedside commode removes the trip entirely, and people are usually more willing to accept one than they expect.
How long does grab bar installation take?
Most bathrooms are a couple of hours, including finding the structure and making good. If blocking has to be installed because there is no stud where the bar needs to go, it takes longer, and we will tell you that at the assessment rather than on the day.
Do you serve my area?
We install across the GTA, including Brampton, Mississauga, Toronto, Etobicoke, Vaughan, Markham, Richmond Hill, Oakville, Milton and Caledon. Ring with a postal code if you are not sure and we will confirm rather than guess.
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Book a free bathroom assessment
We look at the actual room, watch how the person moves through it, and recommend the three or four things that make the difference. No charge, and no obligation.