Aging in place remodeling: what to change first

The short answer

AARP's 2024 Home and Community Preferences Survey found that 75 percent of adults 50 and older want to stay in their current homes as they age, and 73 percent want to stay in their communities. Remodeling is how many of them make that possible. The best places to start are the ones where falls and strain happen: the bathroom, the entry, the doorways and the floors.

This guide is a planning list, not a medical or legal guide. It is built on what is published and on plain building sense. It leaves out any number we could not verify.

Start with the bathroom

The bathroom is where most aging-in-place plans begin. A walk-in shower with no tall wall to step over is the first change many families make. A curbless version has no step at all. Grab bars and a seat go with it. See walk-in shower vs bathtub to think it through.

Published national figures from This Old House's 2026 tub-to-shower guide put a curbless shower at $8,000 to $15,000, grab bars at $150 to $500 each installed, and a fold-down shower seat at $300 to $800. These are not Florida prices and not Hildebrand quotes. For the full-bathroom picture, Zonda's Cost vs Value report (South Atlantic region, 2025) lists a universal design bath remodel at a $41,203 job cost with 61.5 percent recouped at resale.

Plan the walls first. Grab bars need solid backing, which is far easier to add before the wall is closed. See our universal design bathroom cost guide.

Doorways, hallways and turning room

Doors and halls decide whether a walker or a wheelchair can get through. The ADA's 2010 Standards give clear numbers that many homeowners use as a design guide: a door opening with at least 32 inches of clear width, walking surfaces at least 36 inches wide, and a turning space at least 60 inches across. Whether the ADA applies to private homes is not something we verified, so treat these as guidelines, not house rules. Our guide on accessible bathroom dimensions goes through them.

We could not find a verified cost for widening a doorway. It depends on what is inside the wall, so it is quoted after a visit.

Entries, floors and the rest of the house

Walk your home the way a person with a cane would. Look at the steps at each entry, the thresholds between rooms, the floor surface in the bathroom and kitchen, and the light on the way to the bathroom at night. We do not have a verified standard for these, so the list below is practical, not code:

• Entries: is there a step you would rather not take with groceries or a walker?
• Thresholds: are there ridges between rooms that a foot or a wheel can catch?
• Floors: would the bathroom floor be slippery when wet? Ask for samples and test them with a damp hand.
• Light: is the path to the bathroom clear and lit at night?
• Reach: can you reach the things you use daily without a step stool?

Flooring is one of our services, and we can talk through options at the visit.

Plan in stages

You do not have to do everything at once. A common order is the bathroom first, then the entry and doorways, then the floors and kitchen. If a bigger remodel is coming anyway, build the changes into it, because a wall is cheaper to open once.

The National Association of Home Builders runs the Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) program, with courses called CAPS I, II and III, for builders who learn home modifications for older adults. Hildebrand does not claim that credential. We say so because you should ask any contractor what experience they have with this kind of work and ask to see it.

Who to bring into the planning

The best plan starts with the person who will use the house. Ask them what is hard today: getting out of the tub, the step at the back door, reaching the top shelf. If there is a medical need, ask their doctor or a therapist what to plan for, because what helps one person may not help another.

Then bring the plan to us. We can tell you what is possible in your walls and floors and put it in writing. We are builders, not medical professionals, and we do not give medical advice.

How Hildebrand handles aging-in-place work

Hildebrand does bathroom remodels with walk-in showers and tub-to-shower conversions, plus flooring and whole-home renovations. We are a family-owned Florida Certified Building Contractor (license CBC1257253, licensed since 2009). One licensed contractor runs the whole job, and plumbing and electrical are done by licensed trade partners that we manage and coordinate.

Your first step is a free in-home consultation and written estimate, no trip fee. We walk through the house with you, listen to what is hard now and what you want to plan for, and quote the work in writing after the visit. Every required permit is pulled and Florida Building Code inspections are met. See our bathroom remodels and flooring pages.

Questions homeowners ask