Renovation guide · Bathrooms
Planning an accessible bathroom for ageing in place
A bathroom that works at 80 is mostly decided at 60: what’s behind the walls, how you step into the shower and how hot the water can get.
6 min readUpdated By SS Carpentry and Renovations
Key takeaways
- Falls are the leading cause of injury hospitalizations for Canadians over 65, and about half happen at home.
- Ontario’s Building Code asks for wall reinforcement in a house’s main bathroom, so grab bars can be added later. If yours has none, add it while the walls are open.
- A curbless shower at least 1,525 mm square, with a linear drain, works for the most people.
- Shower and tub water is capped at 49°C by the valve, even though an electric tank stores it at 60°C or more.
Why plan a bathroom for later?
Because falls happen at home, and the bathroom is one of the likeliest places. The Public Health Agency of Canada reports that falls are the leading cause of injury hospitalizations among Canadians 65 and older, about 87% of them, and that about half of those falls happen at home. CMHC’s accessibility guide calls the bathroom the site of many accidents and falls, and the bathtub one of the most common places to fall in a house.
Most of what makes a bathroom safe later is easy while the walls and floor are open, and hard once they’re finished: blocking in a wall before it’s tiled, a shower floor framed without a step, a door wide enough for a walker. That’s why it belongs in the plan of any bathroom renovation, not only one for someone who needs it today.
What does the Building Code already ask for?
Less than you might think, plus one thing most people don’t know about. The Code’s barrier-free design rules don’t apply to detached, semi-detached and row houses. But it does set two rules for houses that matter here:
| Article | What it requires |
|---|---|
| 9.5.2.4 | Where the main bathroom is framed with wood or steel studs, reinforcement in the walls so grab bars can be added later, beside and behind the toilet, in the shower and at the tub. |
| 7.2.10.7 | Water from a shower head or into a tub no hotter than 49°C, through a pressure-balanced or thermostatic valve that also limits sudden temperature swings. |
The second matters more than it sounds. The Code sets an electric water heater to store water at 60°C or more. The valve at the shower is what brings that down to 49°C, and it also limits sudden swings in temperature: thermal shock, in the Code’s words.
What goes behind the walls?
A grab bar is only as strong as what it’s screwed into. CMHC says grab bars must go into studs or reinforced walls, and cites a standard of at least 133 kg of support; the Code’s figure is 1.3 kN. Not drywall alone.
- 1: Reinforcement in the wall: the Code asks for it in a house’s main bathroom, so grab bars can be added later
- 2: L-shaped bar, each leg 750 mm, the horizontal part 750 mm above the floor
- 3: The vertical part 150 mm in front of the toilet
- 4: Bars 30 to 40 mm thick, 38 to 50 mm off the wall, fixed to hold 1.3 kN (about 130 kg)
CMHC’s simplest answer is ¾″ plywood on every bathroom wall, floor to ceiling in the shower. Then the bars can go wherever the person using them needs them, now or in ten years, without opening a tiled wall. It’s the same idea as the ¾″ Baltic birch backing we fix to the studs behind a wall-mounted TV.
Curbless shower or tub?
For the most people, a curbless shower. CMHC calls a custom, wheel-in shower the design that suits the most users, at least 1,525 × 1,525 mm (60 × 60″). A typical prefabricated stall is 915 × 1,525 mm with a curb, and even a 25 mm curb means most wheelchair users have to transfer in.
- A linear drain to one side lets the floor slope one way, evenly, which is easier to move on in a wheelchair.
- Controls no higher than 1,220 mm and a hand-held shower on a hose at least 1,525 mm long.
- A collapsible water dam at the entrance: 25 mm high, flattens when stepped on or rolled over.
A curbless floor still needs its waterproofing done right; our guide to waterproofing a shower covers it. Keeping a tub? CMHC lists a cut-out in the side of an existing tub as an inexpensive way to make it safer, and notes that in a walk-in tub you stay inside while it fills and drains.
How much room does it need?
- A: Clear space to turn around: at least 1,525 × 1,525 mm (60 × 60″), more for a power chair or scooter
- B: Curbless shower, at least 1,525 × 1,525 mm, with a linear drain to one side
- C: Toilet centred 455 to 485 mm (18 to 19″) from the side wall, with grab bars beside and behind it
- D: Vanity with knee space underneath: 760 mm high, 785 mm wide, 610 mm deep
- E: Door with at least 860 mm (34″) of clear width when open; a pocket door keeps the swing out of the room
- F: ¾″ plywood backing on the walls, so grab bars can go wherever they’re needed
| What | CMHC guidance |
|---|---|
| Turning space | At least 1,525 × 1,525 mm (60 × 60″); 1,830 × 1,830 mm for a power chair or scooter |
| At each fixture | A clear space of 760 × 1,220 mm (30 × 48″) in front of or beside it |
| Door | At least 860 mm (34″) clear when open, usually a 915 mm door; a pocket or sliding door where a swing won’t fit |
| Toilet | Centred 455 to 485 mm from the side wall; seat 405 to 455 mm high |
| Sink | Knee space 760 mm high, 785 wide and 610 deep, hot pipes insulated or moved back; a single-lever faucet |
What helps without a full renovation?
- A raised toilet seat. CMHC calls it a cost-effective fix that needs no renovation work.
- Grab bars into studs. Where there’s no reinforcement, a stud is the fixing point; the position follows the stud, not the person.
- A hand-held shower and a lever faucet. CMHC recommends both for flexibility and ease of use.
- A lever on the door. CMHC suggests lever handles for everyone, from arthritic hands to full arms.
Is there money for it, and does it need a permit?
The federal Home Accessibility Tax Credit covers up to $20,000 a year of eligible work for someone 65 or older, or eligible for the disability tax credit. The City of Ottawa’s Ontario Renovates programme also funds accessibility changes for lower-income households; our guide to renovation tax credits and rebates in Ottawa has who qualifies and how to apply.
Moving the toilet or the shower drain is a plumbing alteration, which needs a building permit; replacing fixtures where they are is the City’s exception. Our guide to which renovation work needs a permit in Ottawa has the City’s lists.
A bathroom typically takes 3 to 4 weeks on site with us. If you’re planning a bathroom renovation as part of renovating a home in Ottawa for the years ahead, say so at the estimate, and the blocking goes in while the walls are open.
Guidance only, not a design or code ruling. An occupational therapist can assess the needs of the person who’ll use the bathroom; the Ontario Building Code and each product’s instructions set what the work must meet.