Aging in place in a Wisconsin bathroom starts with the shower, because bathing, showering and getting out of the tub or shower were behind 37.3 percent of bathroom injuries in a CDC study. This guide covers the CDC fall figures, who these bathrooms are for across Wisconsin, the changes that matter most, the factors that shape the price, and the programs that may help pay for them.
Common enough that the CDC tracks them closely. Its falls data says "more than one out of four older people falls each year" and that falls among older adults lead to about 4.5 million emergency department visits a year. Not every fall happens in the bathroom, but the bathroom combines the conditions that make falls likely: wet, hard surfaces, a step over a tub wall or a curb, and a moment of balance on one foot.
A CDC report in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, published June 10, 2011, put numbers on it. An estimated 234,094 nonfatal bathroom injuries among people 15 and older were treated in U.S. emergency departments in 2008. Falls caused 81.1 percent of them. Bathing, showering and getting out of the tub or shower were behind 37.3 percent, and injury rates rose with age.
The lesson for a homeowner is practical. The shower entry is one of the riskiest spots in the room, so it is the first place to change.
Anyone who plans to stay in the house and has started to hesitate at the tub wall. Across the service area the typical call comes from a long time homeowner in Wausau, Oshkosh or Milwaukee who has owned the house for decades and wants the bathroom to cooperate, or from an adult child in Appleton or Green Bay arranging a safer shower for a parent. In Madison and Waukesha it is often a household planning ahead for a partner rather than reacting to a fall.
The signs are practical rather than statistical. Someone uses a cane or walker and the step over the tub wall is the hardest moment of the day. A caregiver needs room to help. Standing for a whole shower has become tiring, or a slip has already happened once. Any of those is reason enough to change the entry, and the sooner it is done the longer the person keeps the routine that keeps them independent.
For a family, the question that matters is personal. If someone in the house already hesitates at the tub wall, the bathroom is due for a change whatever anyone else's house looks like.
The four changes that make a shower safer, and the options behind each
| Change | What it does | Options |
|---|---|---|
| Low or no threshold entry | Removes most or all of the step into the shower | Samuel Mueller trimmable ultra low profile and no threshold bases; BathWraps® barrier free and Easy Step bases |
| Grab bars | A steady hand on the way in, while turning and on the way out | Customizable placement where the person actually reaches |
| Fold down seat | Lets someone wash sitting down and makes a handheld shower useful | Paired with a handheld shower on a slide bar |
| Slip resistant floor | Keeps footing on a wet surface | Samuel Mueller calls its floor the "most slip resistant flooring on the market" |
Source: American Shower Company safety options; Samuel Mueller and BathWraps® product facts
Four changes do most of the work. The first is the entry. A standard tub wall asks you to lift one leg over it while standing on a wet surface, and a low threshold or no threshold shower base removes most or all of that step. Samuel Mueller offers trimmable ultra low profile and no threshold bases, and BathWraps® offers barrier free and Easy Step bases, so either line can be fit to the existing opening.
The second is something to hold. Grab bars give a steady hand on the way in, while turning and on the way out, and they can be placed where the person who uses the shower actually reaches. The third is a fold down seat, which lets someone wash sitting down and makes a handheld shower head far more useful. The fourth is the floor. Samuel Mueller describes its shower floor as the "most slip resistant flooring on the market", a manufacturer claim worth feeling underfoot at a consultation.
Grab bars, slip resistant floors, fold down seats and ultra low or no threshold entry are all on the list of safety options. They can be combined to fit one person's needs rather than bought as a fixed package.
The price of a safer shower comes from a handful of factors rather than a single number. The first is the entry: an ultra low threshold base is the common choice, while a true no threshold entry needs more floor and drain work. The second is what the new shower replaces. Swapping an existing shower is simplest, and taking out a tub, especially a whirlpool or garden tub, adds removal and wall work.
The third is the safety package. Grab bars, a fold down seat and a handheld shower on a slide bar each add material and installation time, and they are planned around the person who will use them. The fourth is the system itself. Premium Samuel Mueller Systems and Signature BathWraps® Systems are both quality options for different needs and budgets, and both offer low entry bases.
For Wisconsin market typicals by scope, see the shower replacement cost guide and the cost index on this site. For your own bathroom, a free in home consultation gives an exact, personal price, accurate to the penny, with no hidden fees, so a family can budget for the real number instead of a range.
Plan it around the person, not the room. The best consultations include the person who will use the shower, because seat height, grab bar placement and which side the controls sit on depend on how they move. If a parent uses a cane or walker, ask them to show how they get in and out today; the hard moment is usually obvious right away.
Bring the family's practical questions too. Will anyone else use the shower? Is a handheld head needed so a caregiver can help? Should the door be glass, or would a curtain leave more room to assist? Does the current tub get used at all? These answers decide between a tub to shower conversion and a walk in shower, and between a low threshold and a no threshold base.
Families often arrange this together. Juli H. wrote in a Google review: "My new shower will be great for my Mom and for us!" That is the goal, a bathroom that works for an older parent without feeling clinical for everyone else. A live local person answers the phone, which makes it easier for an adult child to coordinate the visit.
Sometimes, but rarely for the whole project. Original Medicare covers durable medical equipment, and the covered items listed on Medicare.gov do not include showers, grab bars or shower seats; the Medicare guide on this site explains why and where Medicare Advantage plans may differ. In Wisconsin, the IRIS Medicaid program lists environmental accessibility adaptations, or home modifications, among its services for people who qualify, and the local aging and disability resource center is the place to ask about Family Care and IRIS.
Veterans may qualify for the VA's HISA grant, with a lifetime limit of $6,800 for a service connected disability and $2,000 for other disabilities, and the application requires a prescription from a VA physician. Separately, IRS Publication 502 lets the cost of bathroom modifications made for a disabled condition, such as support bars and grab bars, count in full as a medical expense, deductible only above 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income on Schedule A.
For the rest, interest free financing options are available for those who qualify.
Start with the surface and the air. Both system lines use nonporous, antimicrobial wall panels with no real grout lines, which stay cleaner with less scrubbing, which matters when bending and kneeling to clean are getting harder. The EPA's guidance on mold and moisture recommends running the bathroom fan or opening the window when showering and keeping indoor humidity below 60 percent, ideally 30 to 50 percent.
Then look after the hardware. Check that grab bars stay solid, that the seat is secure and that the handheld hose has not kinked. The Forever Valve is built to resist calcium buildup, which helps in Wisconsin's hard water cities, and it sits in a leak proof sealed work box behind the wall.
Finally, use the guarantees. The Lifetime Warranty and Workmanship Guarantee pairs the manufacturer's lifetime product warranty with American Shower Company's workmanship guarantee on the installation, and the satisfaction guarantee means an installer is sent back for even a small issue. A loose bar or a sticky control is exactly the kind of small issue to call about early, before it becomes a reason to avoid the shower.
Sources: CDC, Older Adult Falls facts and MMWR, June 10, 2011; EPA, A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture and Your Home; Wisconsin Shower and Bath cost index on this site, for planning ranges; IRS Publication 502, Medical and Dental Expenses.
For most people it is the shower entry. In a CDC study of bathroom injuries, bathing, showering and getting out of the tub or shower accounted for 37.3 percent, and stepping over a tub wall is part of that motion. A low or no threshold shower base removes the step, and grab bars and a seat make the rest of the routine steadier for the person using it every day.
Grab bars, fold down seats, slip resistant floors and ultra low or no threshold entry are all on the safety options list, and they can be part of a shower replacement, a tub to shower conversion or a walk in shower with either system line. Each one is a factor in the price, along with the entry height and what the shower replaces. The shower replacement cost guide explains those factors, and the exact price is set at a free in home consultation, accurate to the penny.
Usually not under Original Medicare, which covers durable medical equipment rather than changes to the house; the covered items listed on Medicare.gov do not include showers, grab bars or shower seats. Medicare Advantage plans vary, so check your plan's Evidence of Coverage. Wisconsin's IRIS program, the VA HISA grant and IRS Publication 502 are worth checking, and the Medicare guide on this site walks through each one.
When the step over the tub wall has become the hardest part of the day, or a slip has already happened once. Other signs are a cane or walker parked outside the bathroom door, a caregiver who needs room to help, or a parent who has quietly started washing less often. Low threshold showers, grab bars and seats come up in many consultations across Wisconsin, especially with long time homeowners in Wausau and Oshkosh, and the earlier the change is made the longer someone keeps the routine that keeps them independent.
Many installs are completed in as little as one day, and most tub to shower conversions are one day jobs, which matters when an older homeowner has only one bathroom. Bigger scopes, such as removing a whirlpool for a walk in shower, can take a full day or more. The exact schedule and price are set at a free consultation, and the price is accurate to the penny.
It involves fitting the shower to how the person moves: an entry they can shuffle or roll over, a fold down seat at the right height, grab bars where they reach, a handheld shower and a floor with grip. The free in home consultation includes measuring the room and talking with the person who will use it, because a walker user needs a wider opening than someone who only needs a lower step. Both system lines offer low entry bases: Samuel Mueller ultra low profile and no threshold bases, and BathWraps® barrier free and Easy Step bases. The price depends on the entry height, the safety package and what the shower replaces, and the shower replacement cost guide explains those factors. Most go into the old tub or shower footprint, often in one day. Veterans can ask about the VA HISA grant, with a lifetime limit of $6,800 for a service connected condition.
For most Wisconsin homes, the single best update is replacing a high sided tub with a low or no threshold shower that has grab bars and a slip resistant floor. The need is common across the service area, where many long time homeowners in Green Bay, Waukesha and Milwaukee want to stay in their houses as they age, and the step over a tub wall is the hardest part of the day for anyone with a mobility limit. Both system lines offer low entry options: Premium Samuel Mueller Systems with ultra low profile and no threshold bases, and Signature BathWraps® Systems with barrier free and Easy Step bases. Samuel Mueller rates its shower floors the most slip resistant on the market. A fold down seat and a handheld shower on a slide bar round out the change.
Start at the tub or shower, because that is where most bathroom injuries happen. A CDC study in the June 10, 2011 MMWR estimated 234,094 nonfatal bathroom injuries among people 15 and older in 2008, with 81.1 percent caused by falls and 37.3 percent happening while bathing, showering or getting out of the tub or shower. The CDC also reports that more than one out of four older people falls each year. The first changes are a lower entry, grab bars where hands naturally reach and a floor with grip. The price depends on the entry height, the safety package and what the shower replaces; the shower replacement cost guide explains those factors, and a free in home consultation gives an exact price. IRS Publication 502 lets disability related bathroom changes count as medical expenses.
A free in home consultation shows both system lines in your own bathroom and gives you an exact, personal price, accurate to the penny. Many installs are finished in as little as one day, backed by a Lifetime Warranty and Workmanship Guarantee.
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