An honest comparison
There are five different kinds of company you could hire, and they do genuinely different things. Three of them are a better choice than us for certain situations. Here is which is which, so you stop comparing quotes that were never comparing the same job.
Read this bit first
Most quotes you have been given are not for the same work.
A $7,000 number and a $21,500 number can both be honest. One is a liner fitted over the existing tub in a day. The other is the floor structure opened up and rebuilt so there is nothing to step over. Neither company is lying to you.
So the question is not who is cheapest. It is which kind of work does her bathroom actually need, and that depends almost entirely on how she moves and how long you are solving for.
The five options
What each type of company actually does.
Option 1
One-day liner specialists
Bath Fitter, Bath Planet, Re-Bath and similar. Bath Fitter has locations covering Oshawa and Scarborough.
Rather than removing the tub, a custom-made acrylic liner is fitted directly over the existing one, or the tub wall is replaced with a low-threshold shower base and acrylic wall panels. Bath Fitter describe their process as installing over the existing fixture without demolition, typically in a single day.
Genuinely better than us when
✓There is one bathroom and losing it for four days is impossible
✓The problem is a high step and a slippery surface, nothing structural
✓She is steady on her feet and the need is not expected to increase
✓Budget is the binding constraint
✓Speed matters more than anything else
Where it runs out
×The walls are not opened, so solid blocking cannot be added behind them
×A curbless entry is not possible without opening the floor structure
×The room layout, door width and turning space stay exactly as they are
×Anything found behind the old surface stays behind the new one
Choose this if the bathroom works and the tub does not. It is a genuinely good product for that job, and if that is your situation you should call them rather than us.
Option 2
Walk-in tub specialists
Safe Step, Safety Bath, Walk In Tubs Ontario and similar. Safety Bath is Canadian, founded in 1992, and CSA certified.
A bathtub with a watertight door in the side. She opens the door, steps over a low sill, sits down, and the tub fills around her. Most of these companies use their own certified installers covering the plumbing and electrical, so no other trades are involved.
Genuinely better than us when
✓Bathing matters to her and a shower would be a loss
✓Warm water immersion has been recommended for arthritis or circulation
✓She can comfortably lower herself onto a seat and stand back up
✓There is a second bathroom with a shower in it
Where it runs out
×She sits inside while it fills and again while it drains, wet and cold
×A carer cannot easily reach past the door to help
×It stops working entirely the day she cannot lower onto the seat
×The door seal is a permanent maintenance item
Choose this if the thing she is losing is baths, not washing. We do not install walk-in tubs and would point you here rather than talk you out of it. The longer comparison is here.
Option 3
Bathtub cutout conversions
Specialist retrofitters who modify the existing tub rather than replace it.
A section of the tub wall is cut away and sealed to create a low walk-through opening. Some offer a removable cap so the tub can still hold water for a soak or for visiting grandchildren.
Genuinely better than us when
✓The budget is a few thousand dollars, not fifteen
✓The only problem is the height of the tub wall
✓Someone else in the house still wants a bath
✓It is a stopgap while a bigger decision is made
Where it runs out
×She is still stepping into a tub, just a lower one
×No seat, no proper grab bar anchoring, no drainage change
×It does not help a walker and does nothing for a wheelchair
×Resale value of the bathroom is generally reduced
Choose this if money is tight and the alternative is doing nothing for another year. Doing something small now beats doing something perfect never.
Option 4
General renovation contractors
Any competent local builder who does bathrooms among other work.
A full bathroom remodel, built to whatever is specified. Many are excellent tradespeople and will produce a beautiful room.
Genuinely better than us when
✓You are remodelling the whole bathroom for reasons beyond accessibility
✓You already have someone you trust who has worked in the house before
✓The design is unusual and needs bespoke thinking
Where it runs out
×Accessibility detail is easy to get wrong if you do not do it every week
×Blocking heights, clearances and valve positions are frequently missed
×Timelines usually run to weeks rather than days
×Few will build to an occupational therapist’s specification without prompting
Choose this if the project is bigger than accessibility, and give them the OT report in writing rather than assuming.
Option 5
Accessibility-specialist design-build
What we do.
The tub comes out and the room is rebuilt around how she actually moves. Solid blocking in all three wet walls, thermostatic valve, bench, handheld on a rail, and a low-step or curbless entry depending on what the floor structure allows. Fixed price agreed before work starts and a completion date with money behind it.
Better than the others when
✓You are solving for the next ten years, not the next one
✓A walker or wheelchair is involved, or is coming
✓An occupational therapist has written a specification
✓You want one company carrying the whole job and the warranty
✓The door, the layout or the floor structure needs to change
Where we are the wrong call
×You need it done tomorrow. We are typically three to five weeks out
×The budget is under $2,800
×There is one bathroom and the job needs seven days
×You want a price over the phone with nobody measuring
×You are outside Durham Region and Toronto
Choose this if the bathroom has to work for a long time and get built once. Our four prices are published here.
The short version
If you only read one thing on this page.
| Her situation | Who to call first |
|---|---|
| Steady on her feet, just can’t manage the tub wall | A one-day liner specialist |
| One bathroom, cannot lose it for four days | A one-day liner specialist |
| Loves a bath and would grieve losing it | A walk-in tub specialist |
| Budget is a few thousand and it is this or nothing | A bathtub cutout conversion |
| Using a walker now, or likely to be soon | An accessibility specialist |
| Wheelchair, or a progressive diagnosis | An accessibility specialist |
| An OT has written a recommendation | An accessibility specialist |
| Remodelling the whole room anyway | A general contractor, with the OT report in hand |
Three of those eight point somewhere other than us. That is not modesty. A family who hires the wrong kind of company for their situation ends up unhappy, and we would rather not be the reason.
Whoever you call
Six questions worth asking all of them.
These separate a company that does accessibility work from one that does bathrooms and mentions accessibility.
Why we published this
Because you were going to find out anyway.
You are going to get three quotes. Two of them will be for a completely different job to ours and you will have no way of knowing that from the numbers alone.
We would rather explain the difference and lose the ones where somebody else is the better answer, than win a job we were never the right company for.
