Aging Safely Baths Explains Curbed vs. Barrier-Free Showers for Households Replacing a Bathtub

DENVER, Colo., October 9, 2026 — Aging Safely Baths, an authorized Bestbath dealer that has supplied accessible bathing products since 2012, has published guidance for households replacing a bathtub with a shower. The guidance covers the choice between a low-curb shower and a true barrier-free, zero-threshold shower. It explains what each requires underneath the floor and who each one suits.

Replacing a tub with a shower is one of the most common accessibility projects in the home. The company says the decision is often made on looks, when the deciding factors are how the person bathing gets in and what the floor will allow.

A low curb is fine for someone who walks in steadily. A wheelchair or a rolling shower chair needs no curb at all, and that is a floor question before it is a product question. Find out what your floor will let you do, then pick the shower.

Zach Wennstedt, founder of Aging Safely Baths.

When a low curb works

A curbed shower with a low threshold suits people who walk on their own or with a cane, especially with a grab bar at the entry. It usually installs without structural work. It can often go into the footprint the old tub occupied, which keeps cost and disruption down.

When to go barrier-free

A barrier-free shower suits anyone using a wheelchair, a walker or a rolling shower chair, or anyone whose mobility is expected to change. It removes the step entirely. It also brings the most structural work:

• The pan has to sit at or below the floor. That is what makes the entry truly level.
• Wood-framed floors usually need the subfloor modified to recess the pan.
• Slab-on-grade floors can require cutting the slab.
• Water containment shifts from the curb to the floor slope and the drain, so the layout matters more.

What to plan at the same time

Whichever shower is chosen, the company advises installing wall blocking for grab bars while the walls are open. It also recommends a fold-down seat or room for a shower chair and controls reachable from a seated position. Those choices cost little during the project and a great deal afterward.

Availability

Aging Safely Baths supplies the Bestbath range, including barrier-free and curbed showers, shower pans, Crestline wall systems, tub-shower combinations and walk-in tubs. Quotes are available at agingsafelybaths.com or 1-800-481-8638.

This is general product and construction guidance, not medical advice or a specification for any particular installation.

About Aging Safely Baths

Aging Safely Baths has supplied and installed walk-in tubs, barrier-free showers and accessible bathing products since 2012. It is an authorized Bestbath dealer and also carries ANZZI walk-in tubs. The company is based in Denver and serves households nationwide.