Walk In Tubs & Roll In Showers in Rhode Island, Installed in a Day

Rhode Island homes and the bathrooms in them

Rhode Island has some of the oldest housing in America: triple-deckers, capes and colonials from the 1890s to the 1950s with narrow stairways, small second-floor bathrooms, cast-iron drains and plaster walls. Tubs are often original cast iron weighing 300 pounds, and doorways can be under 28 inches.

That matters because a walk in tub is chosen for the room as much as the bather. A standard 60 inch alcove takes the Hydro Dimensions 3060, Meditub 3060 or Ella Ultimate as a drop-in replacement, with factory extension panels closing any gap. A cramped bath with a 45 to 53 inch space takes the HD 2645 or Ella Mobile. A bathroom that will be used from a wheelchair is often better served by a Bestbath 60 x 30 roll in shower than by any tub, and we will say so on the first call.

Weather, water and skin

Humid summers and cold, wet winters keep bathrooms damp, and older homes with poor ventilation grow mildew in tile grout. A walk in tub with a wall surround or a one-piece shower cuts grout to nearly nothing. Because so many bathrooms are upstairs, we measure the stairs and turns first and choose a tub that goes up in one piece or a multi-piece shower that does not.

Providence Water from the Scituate Reservoir is soft, so scale is rarely an issue. Older homes may have galvanized supplies with low pressure; a fast-fill faucet still helps, and we check pressure before recommending a jetted tub.

Permits and code in Rhode Island

Rhode Island uses the Rhode Island State Building Code (IRC-based) statewide, and every city and town issues its own permits. Providence, Warwick and Cranston require a plumbing permit for a tub replacement and an electrical permit for a new circuit; inspections are usually next-day.

Either way, our crews pull what is required, install to the manufacturer's spec, and leave the paperwork with you. Our showers are ADA and ANSI A117.1 code-compliant models when that is what the job calls for, and every install is fill-tested with the door closed before we leave.

Paying for it in Rhode Island

The Rhode Island Global Consumer Choice waiver and the Office of Healthy Aging fund home modifications for eligible seniors; the Point (401-462-4444) is the single statewide aging and disability resource line.

Veterans: the VA HISA grant pays up to $6,800 (service-connected) or $2,000 toward a walk in tub or roll in shower, filed through Providence VA Medical Center or the Middletown (Newport) and New Bedford-area community clinics. Build the itemized estimate the reviewer wants in four minutes with our planner. Everyone else: monthly financing, senior and veteran discounts on every order, and an itemized written price with no high-pressure sales pitch. Medicare rarely pays, and we say so up front.

Install day in Rhode Island, hour by hour

The crew arrives with the tub, the wall system and every fitting on the truck. Old tub out and hauled away, subfloor checked, drain and supplies roughed in, tub set dead level on its feet, connected, filled with the door closed for twenty minutes, walls and trim finished, then a walkthrough with the bather so the door latch, drain lever and controls are second nature before we leave. Full install-day guide →

Rhode Island by the numbers

Rhode Island has the highest share of pre-1940 homes in the country, and almost every bathroom we see was built before anyone thought about aging in place. Bathroom injuries send more than 230,000 Americans to the emergency room each year according to the CDC, and a large share happen climbing over a tub wall. A 3 to 7 inch threshold, a built-in seat and a grab bar are designed to reduce that risk when the tub is installed and used properly.