Veteran ADA Remodeling for the Home You Live In Now
Adapting a house after an injury, an illness or just years of wear is work our owners take personally. We change the home you already have so a veteran can get through the front door, into the shower and around the kitchen without asking for help.
Veteran BuiltCypress, Texas
An accessibility remodel starts with the person who lives there. We want to know how you move now, what is getting harder, if you use a cane, a walker or a wheelchair, and who helps you. Geoff has worked on ADA modifications for veterans with Wounded Warriors, the Semper Fi Fund, Combined Arms and Career Gear Houston, and the first visit is mostly questions. One plain fact up front: private homes are not bound by the ADA. The ADA standards are the yardstick we measure against because the numbers are well tested, and then we fit them to your body and your house.
The bathroom is usually first. Most Houston homes sit on a slab, so a true curbless roll-in shower means cutting and lowering the slab where the shower floor goes, moving the drain, and sloping the floor to a linear drain so the water stays where it belongs. We have torn out corner garden tubs to make room for exactly this conversion. Grab bars only hold when they are screwed into solid blocking, so we open the walls and add it, including where you may want a bar later. Vanities get knee clearance, toilets go to comfort height, and controls move to where a seated person can reach them.
Then the path through the house. The ADA standard asks for 32 inches of clear opening at a door, which many older interior doors miss. Offset hinges can gain a little, and reframing gains the rest. Thresholds come down, lever handles replace knobs, and an entry ramp is built no steeper than one inch of rise per foot, with rails and a level landing at the door. Veterans should also ask the VA about its home adaptation grants (SAH and SHA). We can build to the scope those programs require, and the approval decision sits with the VA.
Accessible changes have to work for the person living with them, not for a code book alone. Doorways, thresholds, shower entries, grab bar blocking and counter heights all get measured against how that person moves. In Houston homes on slabs, a roll-in shower usually means recessing the slab, which we plan for from the start.
If the house has no room on the ground floor for a bedroom and an accessible bath, reworking it may cost more than it solves, and a new accessible addition is often the better path.
When veteran ada remodeling makes sense
How we decide, written down so you can hold us to it.
- Getting in and out of the tub has become a risk, and a curbless shower with a bench and grab bars would let you bathe on your own again.
- A wheelchair or walker does not fit through the bathroom or bedroom doors, and the house is otherwise one you want to stay in.
- Steps at the front door or the garage entry are the hardest part of the day, and a ramp or a regraded entry would fix it.
And when it does not
- If the need is one grab bar by the toilet and a raised seat, that is a short visit, and we will not sell you a bathroom remodel to go with it.
- If no occupational therapist has looked at how you move, ask the VA or your doctor for one first, because their notes make our plan better and keep us from building for the wrong problem.
How we run it
- I
Questions first
We sit down with you, and with a caregiver or therapist if you have one, and walk the house the way you move through it.
- II
Measured plan
Door widths, turning space, shower size, grab bar spots and reach heights go on a drawing with a written scope, ready for a grant case manager if you have one.
- III
Build with you home
We set up a plan for bathing while the bathroom is out, protect the floors you travel on, and close off the work area every night.
- IV
Test it with you
Before we call it done, you try the shower, the doors, the bars and the ramp, and we adjust anything that does not fit the way you move.
What we ask before we price it
- Who will use the space, and what do they need help with today?
- Wheelchair, walker or cane, and how might that change?
- Is the VA or another program helping pay for the work?
- Which rooms matter most: bathroom, entry, bedroom or kitchen?
- Is the work needed before a hospital discharge or a move-in date?
Do homes have to meet the ADA?
No. The ADA covers businesses and public places, and private homes are not bound by it. We use the ADA standards as a guide because the clearances and heights are proven, then fit them to the person living in the house.
Can you put a roll-in shower in a house on a slab?
Yes. It means cutting out the slab where the shower goes, lowering and resloping it, and moving the drain so the floor runs to it with no curb. It is more work than a standard shower, and it is the right way to get a true zero-threshold entry.
Where should grab bars go?
Beside and behind the toilet, along the shower wall and at the shower entry are the usual spots, but your height and your stronger side matter more than any chart. We put wide solid blocking in the walls so a bar can move later without opening the wall again.
Will the VA pay for my remodel?
The VA runs home adaptation grants, the Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) and Special Home Adaptation (SHA) programs, for eligible veterans. Ask the VA directly about eligibility. We can build to the scope those programs require, and whether a grant is approved is up to the VA.
How wide do doorways need to be for a wheelchair?
The ADA standard calls for at least 32 inches of clear opening, measured with the door open. Many bedroom and bathroom doors in older homes come up short. Offset hinges sometimes gain enough, and when they do not, we reframe the opening.
Is there a discount for military on accessibility work?
There is a 10% discount for military and first responders, and Acorn Finance offers payment plans if you want to spread the cost out. Bring both up when we go over the written scope.
Who you are hiring
We are a service-disabled veteran-owned company based in Cypress, verified by the Texas Veterans Commission. The person who writes your scope is the person you call if something is not right.
Google reviewers have given us 5.0 across 19 reviews, and the word that keeps coming up is honest. We would rather talk you out of a job than sell you one you do not need.
Military families and first responders take 10% off, and financing is available through Acorn Finance with a no-obligation prequalification. Ask about either when you call.