Accessible bathrooms in Hagerstown

30%⁷ of homes in the city are one-unit attached houses, the Census group that takes in rowhouses. In many of them the one full bathroom is on the second floor, at the top of a steep, narrow stair.

That usually leaves a choice. Rebuild the upstairs bath with a curbless shower and add a stair lift or a second rail, or put a new bath on the first floor near the kitchen plumbing. The first-floor option is the larger job, so get both priced before deciding.

Out in the county, where 63%⁷ of homes are detached houses, more of them have the bath on the main floor already. There the work tends to be the tub, the door and the floor, not a new room.

More than one in four adults 65 and older fall each year.¹⁶ The CDC says falling once doubles an older adult's chances of falling again.¹⁶ A wet tile floor and a high tub wall are where many of those falls start.

Cost vs. Value's universal-design bath job updates an existing 5-by-7-foot bathroom to be wheelchair-accessible, with a zero-threshold entry, a 36-inch-wide door and flat-panel switches 36 to 42 inches above the floor.¹⁷ Cost vs. Value's universal-design bath job removes the tub for a curbless, tiled walk-in shower with an adjustable showerhead, fold-out seat, thermostatic mixing valve and glass door, puts in a comfort-height toilet with a bidet-type seat, and rearranges storage so it can be reached from a seated position.¹⁷ That is the job behind the York price above; your room may need less, or more.

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.¹⁸ Even if nobody needs grab bars today, have backing put in the walls while they're 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.¹⁹ Notes from that visit about how the person moves and which side they transfer from give the company a clearer brief than a product list. NAHB's Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) credential trains remodelers in home modifications for aging in place.²⁰

Start with the county's aging office. The Maryland Department of Aging lists the Washington County Commission on Aging, at 535 E. Franklin Street in Hagerstown, as the county's Area Agency on Aging.²¹ The Washington County Commission on Aging's Home Repair program helps elderly homeowners within Hagerstown city limits with necessary maintenance and repairs.²² The Commission on Aging's SOAR program may include safety-related minor home repairs and modifications, depending on state grant funding available each year.²³ The Commission on Aging lends walkers, canes, tub seats and other assistive devices to people with disabilities on a first-come, first-served basis.²²

The state has a loan and grant program aimed at exactly this work. Maryland's Accessible Homes for Seniors program serves owner-occupants with at least one resident 55 or older whose household income is no more than 80% of the statewide or Washington, DC metro median.²⁴ The program makes zero-interest loans deferred for 30 years, or grants of up to $25,000 for applicants who don't qualify for a loan, for changes such as widening doorways, accessible showers, ramps, grab bars and lever handles; applications are available from local county housing offices and Maryland Access Point agencies.²⁴

There is also a state tax credit. Maryland's Independent Living Tax Credit returns up to 50% of the cost of renovations that make a home more accessible, up to $5,000, for work on your own home, a family member's home or a rental property.²⁵ The renovations must be finished in the previous tax year and shown with receipts, invoices and before-and-after photos; applications open in January and close June 1, and the state can approve up to $1,000,000 in these credits a year.²⁵ Keep every invoice and take photos before the old tub comes out.

Veterans can 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.²⁶ In the rural parts of the county, USDA may help. USDA's Section 504 Home Repair program lends to low- and very-low-income homeowners to repair, improve or modernize their homes, and gives grants to elderly very-low-income homeowners to remove health and safety hazards.²⁷ To qualify you must own and live in the house, be unable to get affordable credit elsewhere and have a household income within the county limit, the home must be in an eligible rural area, and grant applicants must be 62 or older.²⁷ Money in these programs comes and goes, so get the terms in writing before you sign a contract that counts on it.

When you call the number on this page, a recorded line puts you through to one independent company that handles accessible bathroom remodels in the Hagerstown area. Talk with them about who will use the room, what needs to change and what it costs.

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Before signing anything or paying a deposit, look the company up yourself. Maryland's Home Improvement Commission licenses home improvement contractors and salespersons, and its License Search shows whether a license is current.²⁸ Check a Maryland license