Accessible bathrooms in New York City

NYC Aging's Older Adult Home Modification Program sends a licensed occupational therapist to assess an eligible older adult's home, then installs no-cost changes such as grab bars, handrails, raised toilet seats, shower chairs and non-slip flooring through a licensed contractor.¹³ That covers the smaller changes, and it starts with a therapist's home visit rather than a contractor's estimate.

HPD's HomeFix program offers owners of one- to four-unit homes low- or no-interest, potentially forgivable loans for repairs, including energy efficiency and accessibility improvements.¹⁴ Through the Senior Citizen Home Assistance Program, run with the Parodneck Foundation, owner-occupants who are at least 60 and have owned a one- to four-family home for at least two years can get repair loans of up to $40,000 for a one-family home, or $30,000 per unit for two to four units.¹⁵

New York State's Access to Home program pays for accessibility modifications, such as ramps, lifts, handrails, doorway widening and roll-in showers, in the primary homes of low- and moderate-income people with disabilities, generally with household income at or below 80 percent of area median income.¹⁶ Homeowners can't apply to the state directly for Access to Home; the money flows through municipalities and nonprofits selected as local program administrators.¹⁶ The state's RESTORE program helps homeowners sixty and older pay for emergency repairs and code violations that threaten their health and safety.¹⁷

The Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities lists Rebuilding Together NYC, which provides financial assistance to homeowners or renters who need accessibility modifications, among its housing resources.¹⁸ A veteran may be able to add the VA's own grant. 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

More than one in four adults 65 and older fall each year.²⁰ Under the ADA standards a doorway needs a clear width of at least 32 inches, measured between the face of the door and the stop with the door open 90 degrees.⁸ Older bathroom doors here are often narrower, and widening one in a masonry building can mean cutting into a wall that carries pipes or is shared with a neighbor.

Under New York City's Housing Maintenance Code, the walls of every bathroom and toilet compartment must be plastered, tiled or covered with similar approved material, and the floor must be waterproofed to at least six inches up the wall except at the doors.²¹ A curbless floor still has to meet that, so ask how the waterproofing will be carried across the whole room rather than just the shower.

In residential units covered by the ADA standards, a transfer shower may go without a seat as long as the walls are reinforced so one can be installed later.⁸ 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.²² NYC Aging's program builds that kind of assessment in from the start.

Prewar and postwar bathrooms in the city were usually tiled over a deep mortar bed. Taking that bed out is often what lets a new shower floor sit flush with the rest of the room, and it also exposes the drain and the old supply piping. The EPA notes that lead can collect inside galvanized pipe and later reach drinking water, and that solder made before 1986 contained high levels of lead.²³

The EPA lists vinyl floor tile, vinyl sheet backing and flooring adhesives among products that may contain asbestos, which is released mainly when the material is disturbed.²⁴ The EPA advises having an accredited asbestos professional inspect before a remodel that could disturb suspect materials, and not sanding or power-stripping suspect flooring yourself.²⁵ HPD says that in a New York City building built before 1978, lead-safe work practices should be used for any repair or renovation that disturbs 2 square feet or more of paint in a room, 10 percent or more of a small component, or involves removing windows, whether or not children live there.²⁶

Calling the number on this page puts you through, on a recorded line, to one independent company that handles accessible bathroom remodels in the New York City area. The layout, fixtures and price are worked out between you and that company.

We're paid by that company for the call, so connecting costs you nothing, and we don't follow up by phone or text. How we make money

Check the company's DCWP license before you sign anything. DCWP's online Search Business tool shows whether a business or individual holds a DCWP license, without logging in, and can be searched by name or DCWP license number.²⁷ Check a New York license

Every New York home improvement contract, and every amendment, must be in writing and signed by all parties, and must give the contractor's name, address, phone number and license number if one applies, the approximate start and substantial completion dates, and a description of the work and materials, including make and model, with the agreed price.²⁸ If a city or state program is paying part of the bill, keep one written scope that the program and the company both work from.