Accessible bathrooms in Baltimore

50%¹³ of homes in Baltimore city are one-unit attached houses, the Census group that takes in rowhouses. If your only full bathroom is upstairs, as it is in many two-story rowhouses, the stairs can be as much of a problem as the tub.

That leaves two common plans. One rebuilds the upstairs bath with a curbless shower and leaves the stairs to a rail or a lift; the other puts a new bathroom on the first floor, often at the back of the house near the kitchen plumbing. A first-floor bath is a bigger job with its own drain run, so ask for both options priced before you choose.

Across the metro, 22%⁵ of homes went up between 1950 and 1969. Bathrooms from those decades tend to be compact, with a tub set between two walls, and the fix there is usually the doorway and the tub rather than the floor plan.

More than one in four adults 65 and older fall each year.¹⁴ The CDC says falling once doubles an older adult's chances of falling again.¹⁴ In a bathroom, the hard, wet floor is where those odds play out.

The CDC's home fall-prevention checklist recommends grab bars in and beside the tub and next to the toilet, and a non-slip surface on tub and shower floors.¹⁵ The National Institute on Aging suggests non-skid surfaces wherever a floor can get wet and a light left on in the bathroom at night.¹⁶ Even if nobody in the house needs bars today, have backing set in the walls while they are open.

If you have fallen, the NIA notes, your doctor might suggest that an occupational therapist, physical therapist or nurse visit your home to assess its safety and advise you about changes.¹⁶ Notes from that visit on how the person moves and which side they transfer from give a Baltimore company a much clearer brief than a list of products. NAHB's Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) credential trains remodelers in home modifications for aging in place.¹⁷

Baltimore City's housing department offers home repair loans, some of which may be forgiven or deferred, and grants for work such as making a home more accessible for people with disabilities, but only for owner-occupied homes whose owners meet its income limits.⁶ The city's income limits for a one- or two-person household are in the table above; larger households have higher limits on the city's page.

The state has its own program aimed squarely at this kind of work. Maryland's Accessible Homes for Seniors program helps owner-occupants when at least one resident is 55 or older and household income is no more than 80 percent of the statewide or Washington, DC metro median, paying for changes such as wider doorways, accessible showers, ramps, grab bars and lever handles, and it considers adding a first-floor bathroom case by case.¹⁸ Its loans carry zero percent interest and are deferred for 30 years, coming due when the home is sold, transferred or refinanced, and grants of up to $25,000 go to senior homeowners who don't qualify for a loan.¹⁸

Veterans can also ask the VA. The VA's Home Improvements and Structural Alterations (HISA) benefit pays for medically necessary changes to a veteran's or servicemember's primary residence, including use of essential bathroom facilities such as roll-in showers and lowering sinks and counters.¹⁹ Programs open and close and money runs out, so get the terms in writing before you sign a contract that depends on them.

You call the number on this page. The call is recorded, and it goes to one independent company that handles accessible bathroom remodels in the Baltimore area. You talk with them directly about who will use the room, what has to change and what it will cost.

We are paid for the call. You don't pay us anything, and we never call or text you. How we make money

Look the company up yourself before you sign or pay a deposit. Maryland's Home Improvement Commission licenses home improvement contractors and salespersons, and its License Search shows whether a license is current.²⁰ Check a Maryland license