Do you hav a local architect designing the house with you?

I would choose option 3 because you have a large place to turn any direction if you ever need a wheel chair.

I suspect that you will need a door to your shower if you don't want water going out.

I am not sure if the yellow squares are tall cabinets but I would certainly have a longer vanity. I suspect you won't need 2 tall cabinets that big.

I think you need to talk with professionals. There might be things you can plan ahead if you really want your bathroom to be fully functional for a handicap person. It might be that you don't need to do it now but if you need it later, the changes to your bathroom will be minimized.

@Mark Bischak, Architect yes we are working with a retired Architect.

@suzanne_m I'm concerned about splash, DH says it will be built as a wet room. Yes, they are tall cabinets and we based storage on what we currently have. I also think we should talk to a bathroom designer. Thank you.

There is a member here who designed a wonderful bathroom for her needs, and it's beautiful. Does anyone remember her user name?

Have your architect come up with the designs. Meanwhile you should study Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements for residential bathroom (and other areas) design.

The "4 ideas we've come up with" are terrible.

In thatamount of space for wheelchair/ADA use I suggest going to one sink. It will free up space needed for the wheelchair and to get rid of the neoangle shower.

I agree that talking with your architect and a bathroom designer would be beneficial. I would also reconsider the pocket door. While it’s a space saver, it could become a significant challenge if you develop a disability or lose full range of motion of your hands over time. Just something to think about.

I don't think any of them are very good actually. Since the house is being designed for you for aging and bathing a necessity, I would devote more room to this room and make sure it is right. Curbless shower is a great thing, but it must be designed that way from the start with respect to floor system, floor joists, etc.

Might want to look at this: https://www.harborcitysupply.com/blog/ada-design-solutions-for-bathrooms-with-shower-compartments/

I'd say Figure 29 would have the least amount of splash everywhere and create less water on the floor for someone else to slip on. If the door was moved some there then you could put the towel warmer on the same wall as the door.

@bpath Thank you, If you think of her name please add to comments. Part of my problem is I want the functionality in the event we need it but I don't want it to look institutional, if that make sense!

@mainenell We will be taking out a sink, good call. Thank You.

@Ashley A Good point. We might need to go with it anyway... at the point we would need an ADA bathroom we would also be needing help. LTC insurance kicks in!

@doc5md Definitely want to get it right, this is a new build, build on slab so this will all be taking into consideration with our builder.

@lyfia Thank you for the link, great information.

@Mark Bischak, Architect everything is discussed with Architect.

Thanks everyone for your thoughtful comments.

The woman who created the lovely ADA bathroom is Nancy in Mich, at least I think that's who you mean. Here is one of the threads:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5437746/bathroom-reveal-ada-shower-with-custom-vanity-in-small-bathroom#n=41

@mountain_mist Thanks! It is lovely.

We are doing a zero threshold shower in a slab as we speak - it's tricky to get this right on the pour because you need to do a 1 -1.5" recess in the finished floor height - it's harder than you think! My team had to rig up a form that pressed down into the concrete and the floor guys had to float / trowel around it.

It might be easier to just design the wet room and put a drain in the middle.

@just_janni good information, thank you. Is this in a new build or a remodel?

New build.

CEM TOSA, we are in the process of building a home with a roll-in shower in the master bath and another off the 1st Floor Study. If you are building from scratch, I would not use any of your 4 plans. All of the rooms are a bit too small to have a sufficient wheelchair turn-around radius where needed and a roll-in shower that keeps the water from becoming a slip and fall hazard. A bathroom for wheelchair use and a roll-in shower with proper drainage needs special planning by someone who really knows what they are doing. This site won’t load my photos of our layouts now ... I’ll try again soon.

If you are building for possible wheelchair use, you need a minimum 5’ turn radius — best to have this both out of the shower and in the shower.

We put 3’ empty area next to toilet... this allows wheelchair to back up here and person can slide from wheelchair to toilet.

We are having hook ups for bidets.

Turn on/off for shower accessible from standing outside shower (where you won’t get wet). Water from shower head reaches far enough from wall to reach person sitting in wheelchair but does not aim out of shower enclosure.

Enough room in shower and etc areas for aide to help (if aide becomes necessary). Anti-scald shower. Even better...pre-temp setting.

we are putting glass doors on showers now with opening large enough for wheelchair but designed so they can be removed later if we find they get in the way.

storage place for shower wheelchair when not in use if you want it out of sight

walls have to be specially studded for grab bars. Plan for grab bars now. I found that Gatco has nice designs and pricing. There are sites on line that show various placements for grab bars and different kinds.

Vanity Mirror should be low enough for person sitting in wheelchair to use it..

36” high vanity (general height now) May be too high (we are using an American Standard sink that drops into and extends past countertop so you have to also take sink into account when determining vanity height) — also make sure there is enough knee clearance.

Some pedestal sinks work well for wheelchair user. We have vanity upstairs and pedestal downstairs. Make sure user can reach to spit in sink after brushing teeth!

Door into bathroom a minimum of 36” — pocket door.

comfort height toilet.

Our layouts have been modified a bit since these drawings were done but they will give you an idea...

We did away with the idea of putting heated floors in. It was complicated enough to have roll-in showers and match the height of the tile in the bathroom with adjoining wood floors without the added complexity of an additional underlayment. The bump out next to the toilet is recessed into the Master closet. It will be shelves for Towels etc. The master vanity has one bank of drawers closest to the entrance. We added a full height wall at the end of the vanity. Although this will make the room seem smaller, it protects the wood vanity from wheelchair bumps (easier to paint the wall than the vanity) and provides a little more privacy for the toilet area. Also provides a clean stopping place for the vanity mirror. The shower drains AWAY from the shower entrance towards the short shower wall.

we we also did away with heated tile here. This bath will get a pedestal sink. Until we need to use the space between the sink and toilet for wheelchair transfer, I can use it for a little floor cabinet like they sell at Pottery Barn. Sorry this photo is missing a couple walls, they got cut off when I posted. The wall opposite the sink and toilet would go at least five feet from the edge of the toilet so there is a 5’ turn around radius taking into account towel bars, grab bars, etc. Here, the shower drains away from the shower entrance.

@mtpo Excellent information. Thank you. Back to the drawing board on this master bath.

@Rachel I understand the reasoning to do the smaller mosaic tile on the floor for safety, slippage. How do you find that is for cleaning? Would a larger tile (less grout lines) with a texture be an option. I appreciate someone with actual life experience weighing in. Thank you.

A smaller tile is preferred on floors because they are less apt to crack due to improper support from irregular distribution of mortar and foot or wheel traffic.

@CEM TOSA I have somebody clean my house every other week, so I am not the person doing the work however, the floor looks very good though it is only about 1.5 years old. Also, I used a chocolate brown 2" hex on the floor with a silver/gray grout to match the marble-look shower walls. So the grout is light and it still looks fresh and clean. The other advantage of using a smaller tile is that they are easier to manipulate in accomplishing the correct slope to the drain. The one thing I did not do well in this bath is that there is only about 4' to maneuver the wheelchair. It is still useable but not ideal, so in the new home, we've allowed for 5' per the ADA recommendations. I'm happy to answer any questions you have and if you'd like I' can post a few photographs later.

@Rachel smaller tile is that they are easier to manipulate in accomplishing the correct slope to the drain. Yes, makes sense. I currently have black hex in my shower and am having a hard time keeping it looking fresh. Stopped using store bought bar soap to prevent soap scum build up. Cleaning person is on the radar for new home!

@CEM TOSA the brown hex I have has some variation in it, which I'm sure has some camoflauge qualities . . . always a good thing. Hubby says that the slope in the shower is terrific, so I think shedding the water and getting it to the drain quickly has helped keep the tile and grout clean.

CEM Tosa, This is the latest thing I asked my builder about... given the small (5’) turning radius in the bathroom, it dawned on me today that when my DH backs up in his wheelchair, there’s a high likelihood he’ll back into the wall opposite his vanity. We thought about whether to bring the floor tile up the wall a bit or put a extra high baseboard or wood trim there (not like in the photo— that was a practice bump in our current DR just to figure out the height of where the wheel would hit the wall). We figured it would be easier to clean the semi-gloss paint on wood trim or clean the tile than repair the drywall. No matter how many things we think of, they’ll be more that we miss. BTW — my research said use porcelain tile for the floor (not ceramic) as it is generally stronger than ceramic. And ditto re: what Berlinrl and Mark B. said about using small tile in the shower area. Today, the tile company tracked down a tile I like that comes in many sizes... from 2 feet x 1 foot down to 2 “ squares. It is porcelain but looks like slate. It also seems less slippery than many other tiles we saw. Even if you get porcelain, make sure it is strong enough to support the weight it will need to support.

Another thing...get an extra long hose for your hand held shower spray so you can use it to help clean the whole shower. It also gives more flexibility to where the user sits in the shower.

@mpto as I remember you will have an elevator in your new build, correct? Have you decided how you are going to finish the inside? I'm concerned with the wheelchair bumping also. Not sure if I should upgrade and do wood inside, or perhaps your deep moulding is a good option. It hurts to think about the damage a wheelchair can cause in a brand new home!

@berlinrl, I‘m so glad you reminded me about the elevator... I had it on my list to discuss with the builder today and then forgot all about it! 🤭

The builder showed me an elevator he did for someone else and I told him to copy it. The owner had upgraded the elevator interior to match her foyer... drywall with the wood trim. Just by coincidence, her house was very similar to mine. I hadn’t thought about the wheelchair bumping into walls then. The elevator is not installed yet, so I can still make a change. BTW, the owner of the house was so gracious and her house was so beautiful. We’ve since become very good friends!

In our first floor study bath, we put shiplap on the wall behind the pedestal sink and toilet— it goes up to about 5 feet.. It was installed when I went to the house today! Today, we decided to shiplap the opposite wall 3’ high, to deal with the wheelchair. In the master bath, we decided to add extra trim - in addition to the normal baseboard. Next time I go to the house, if it’s done, I’ll take photos and post them.

Have you had any problems with the wheelchair on wood floors. My DH got a motorized wheelchair — it repositions him etc — allows him to stand in it. It weighs a lot (at least 200 pounds) and he weighs a lot. He’ll only use it on the main floor (the elevator has a 500 pound limit and I don’t want to get near the limit). I’m thinking of engineered 7” white oak. .. I liked one product from a local mill that would be finished by my builder on site and one floor that is pre-finished by Shaw. The Shaw Floor has an aluminum oxide top coat. The flooring consultant was concerned about putting that much weight on the Shaw floor and was concerned about the finish holding up. She told me she contacted Shaw to see if they would stand behind their product for such use. I understand it is really a problem to re-finish a floor with an aluminum oxide top coat. If I get the locally milled floors and have the builder put a strong Bona finish on them, I guess they can be sanded and refinished if they get scratched up.

@mtpo Oh, so much information here! I am going to start a new thread for this discussion so we don't go too far off topic.