Between $2,800 and $26,500, and the spread is not about finish level. It is about how much of the room gets rebuilt.
Here are our published prices for Durham Region. Not starting-at figures, not a range designed to get us in the door.
| What gets done | Days on site | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Safety package — tub stays, two anchored grab bars, comfort-height toilet, non-slip floor treatment, rocker switches and a motion-sensor light | One day | $2,800 |
| Low-step walk-in shower — tub out, sealed one-piece shower floor into the same alcove, shallow step, bench, handheld on a rail, full grab bar package into solid blocking | Four days | $16,500 |
| Curbless walk-in shower — no step at all, drain relocated, floor structure opened and rebuilt, tiled and sloped to a linear drain | Seven days | $21,500 |
| Full accessible bathroom — the room to the studs, full wall tile, new vanity and lighting, wider door where framing allows, layout planned around turning space | Eight to ten days | $26,500 |
Every price covers a bathroom up to 40 square feet
That is the standard five by eight foot layout, which is what most homes in this region have. A larger ensuite is quoted separately after the assessment. We would rather tell you that here than surprise you later.
Why the jump from $2,800 to $16,500 is so big
Because they are different kinds of work, not different levels of the same work.
The safety package leaves the walls closed. Nothing is demolished, no trades beyond the one crew, no waterproofing, no tile. It is a day of skilled labour and a few hundred dollars of fixtures.
The moment the tub comes out you are into demolition, disposal, plumbing rough-in, electrical, waterproofing membrane, backer board, tile, glass, and three trades booked to named hours. The difference is not margin. It is a genuinely different job.
What sits outside the price
Four things, and any contractor who does not name them has not looked properly.
Widening the door. A framing change, priced separately because the cost swings on what is in the wall.
Asbestos removal. Testing is included on pre-1990 homes and we pay the lab. If it comes back positive, abatement is a licensed trade and a separate cost. Most tests come back negative.
Rotten subfloor. Twenty years of a weeping valve lives at the tub apron. We probe for it at the assessment while you watch, so it is priced before we start rather than discovered on day two.
Galvanized supply pipe. If the run needs replacing, that is plumbing beyond the bathroom.
What comes back
The Home Accessibility Tax Credit returns 15% on up to $20,000 of eligible work — up to $3,000 — with no income test, where the person living there is 65 or older or eligible for the Disability Tax Credit. On a $16,500 conversion that is roughly $2,475 back.
Which brings a low-step walk-in shower to about $14,000 net for most families. The funding page covers what else exists and who each program is actually for.
Why we publish this at all
Because you are going to get three quotes and 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. A $7,000 liner fitted over the existing tub and a $21,500 rebuilt floor structure can both be honest prices.
Which of the four does her bathroom need?
Six questions, two minutes, no charge. It tells you which option fits, roughly what it costs, and what might get in the way.