Aging in Place Bathroom Design in Rancho Cordova, CA
Aging in place bathroom design in Rancho Cordova is most valuable in the newer Sunrise Douglas homes, where the space already exists.
What is different about aging in place bathroom design in Rancho Cordova
Homeowners in Anatolia, Sunridge Park and the other post-2005 Rancho Cordova communities usually have something their west-side neighbors do not: a primary bathroom with genuine square footage. That is a real opportunity, because designing for the long term in a large bathroom rarely requires giving anything up. A curbless shower, a 36-inch door opening, blocking behind every likely bar location and a vanity with knee clearance under one side all fit comfortably in these floor plans without making the room look adapted. Homeowners in their forties and fifties in these newer neighborhoods are often surprised that future-proofing costs so little when it is designed in from the start rather than added to a finished room later.
Rancho Cordova housing at a glance
Rancho Cordova is really two housing markets in one city. The western core went up in the 1950s and 60s to house Aerojet and Mather Field workers. The Sunrise Douglas side, including Anatolia and Sunridge Park, is almost entirely post-2005 construction.
Typical stock: 1950s and 60s workforce ranch homes on the west side, and post-2005 master-planned homes with larger primary bathrooms on the east. Where we work: The original Aerojet-era neighborhoods near Folsom Boulevard, plus the newer Anatolia, Sunridge Park and Stone Creek communities toward Sunrise Douglas.
Sacramento Elite Bath Remodeling works throughout Rancho Cordova and the wider Sacramento County area. For the full picture of what we do locally, see bathroom remodeling in Rancho Cordova.
The Rancho Cordova factor we plan around
Rancho Cordova is two housing markets wearing one city name. An Aerojet-era home usually needs the bathroom genuinely reconfigured to gain usable clear floor space, which brings framing, plumbing and permit scope with it. A 2007 Anatolia home usually already has the square footage and needs the shower rebuilt and the walls reinforced. The second is considerably faster and cheaper, and knowing which you have is the first thing we establish.
What aging in place bathroom design includes
The full scope is covered on our aging in place bathroom design page. In Rancho Cordova the parts that matter most are:
- Blocking behind every wall that might need it. Plywood backing installed while the walls are open, everywhere a grab bar could eventually go. This is the cheapest and highest-value thing on this list by a wide margin.
- A low or zero threshold shower from the start. Threshold height is set when the shower is built. Changing it later means rebuilding the shower, and in a slab home it means cutting concrete.
- Door openings at 32 inches clear or wider. Reframing a door is disruptive later and trivial during a remodel. Pocket and barn doors also free up the swing space that a walker needs.
- A vanity that can lose its cabinet later. Specify a vanity where one side can be opened up for knee clearance without replacing the countertop or moving the plumbing.
For the complete breakdown, including options, pricing ranges and our step-by-step process, see the main Aging in Place Bathroom Design page.
At a glance
- Best time to do it
- During a remodel you were already planning
- Blocking cost now
- A minor line item while walls are open
- Blocking cost later
- Requires removing finished tile, replacing waterproofing and re-tiling
- Door target
- 32 in. clear minimum, 36 in. preferred where framing allows
- Threshold decision
- Effectively permanent once the shower is built
- Permit required
- Same as any remodel: yes if plumbing, framing or electrical changes
Figures are typical for the Sacramento area and are here so you can plan. They are not a quote. We price your actual bathroom after seeing it.
Why Rancho Cordova homeowners choose us
We plan for what most people actually want
AARP's 2024 Home and Community Preferences Survey found 75% of adults aged 50 and older want to stay in their current home as they age, well above the 60% figure for adults aged 18 to 49. Designing a bathroom that only works while you are fully mobile means planning for an outcome most homeowners say they do not want.
The blocking costs little now and a great deal later
Adding plywood backing behind the tile during an open-wall remodel is a minor line item on the quote. Retrofitting it afterward means removing finished tile, replacing waterproofing and re-tiling, which can cost many times more and puts the bathroom out of service a second time. This is the clearest example of a decision that should not be deferred.
We know Rancho Cordova specifically
Rancho Cordova is two housing markets wearing one city name.
Aging in Place Bathroom Design in Rancho Cordova: FAQs
Our Anatolia home is fairly new. Is it too early to think about aging in place?
It is exactly the right time. Everything that makes a bathroom work later is dramatically cheaper to build during a remodel you are already doing than to add afterward. In a larger newer bathroom you can include all of it without the room reading as adapted.
Will aging in place features hurt resale value in Rancho Cordova?
Done well, no. Curbless showers, better lighting and wider doorways are widely read as premium contemporary design rather than medical features. The elements that can look clinical, such as institutional stainless bars, are exactly the ones we avoid.
Aging in Place Bathroom Design in Rancho Cordova?
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