You are not remodeling for the fun of choosing tile. You need a bathroom your parent can enter, use and leave with the help they actually have.

Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.

That purpose can disappear between the estimate and the contract. The estimate says accessible shower. The contract says install shower base. The salesperson says the bathroom will be usable every evening. The paperwork says nothing about when the toilet, water or doorway will be available.

Do not sign because everyone is waiting for you. Take the contract to the room. Read each line while looking at what your parent needs to do there.

Start with the task the room must support

Write one plain sentence at the top of your copy: “This project must allow my parent to get from the hallway to the toilet and shower using their usual mobility equipment, with the amount of help normally available.”

Then ask the contractor to show you where the contract covers each part of that sentence. Check the finished doorway width, thresholds, turning space, fixture locations, floor transitions and route into the room. If your parent uses a walker, wheelchair, shower chair or another device, use its actual measurements. “Accessible” is not a measurement.

If the contractor recommends a layout or product for a specific use, ask for that recommendation in writing. The Federal Trade Commission guidance collected on the Sources page tells consumers to put promises made during conversations into the written agreement. A promise you remember is harder to use than a sentence both sides signed.

Make the scope name what will be installed

A product photo attached to a quote is not a complete scope. For every important item, look for the manufacturer, model or measurable specification, color or finish where it matters, quantity and installation location.

The contract should also say what is being removed, who disposes of it and what happens to the wall, floor or plumbing exposed during removal. Ask whether patching, painting, trim, waterproofing and final cleanup are included. Those small words decide whether you receive a finished room or a collection of separate tasks.

If the contractor cannot name a product yet, the contract can describe how it will be selected and approved. Do not leave a blank line that someone else can fill later.

Write down what happens while the room is out of service

Your caregiving problem begins before the finished room exists. Ask which fixtures will be unavailable, when water may be shut off and whether the toilet can be used at the end of each work period. Ask who tells you when that plan changes.

If this is the only usable bathroom, the answer matters as much as the final design. Put the agreed sequence in the contract or an attached work schedule. If the contractor will provide a temporary setup, name exactly what will be provided, where it will go, who will maintain it and when it will be removed.

A completion estimate is not the same as a daily access plan. You need both.

Find the permit owner before work begins

Ask whether the project requires building, plumbing, electrical or other permits. Rules depend on the property and the work. St. Louis guidance, listed with other public references on the Sources page, says structural changes and major alterations generally require a building permit, with separate permits applicable to some plumbing, mechanical and electrical work.

The contract should identify who determines which permits are required, who applies for them, whose name appears on them, who schedules inspections and who corrects work that does not pass. Do not accept “permits if needed” without an owner for that decision.

Ask for the permit number and final inspection record for your project file. If the contractor says no permit is required, ask for that answer in writing and confirm it with the local permitting office yourself.

Separate the product warranty from the labor warranty

The shower base may have a manufacturer warranty. The contractor may offer a separate promise about installation labor. They are not automatically the same coverage.

For each warranty, check:

  • Who receives a claim.
  • What parts, labor and related damage are covered.
  • What is excluded.
  • Whether registration is required.
  • What maintenance you must document.
  • Whether another installer can perform repairs without ending coverage.
  • Whether coverage transfers if the home is sold.
  • What the company may choose to do, such as repair or replacement.

The Federal Trade Commission warranty guidance on the Sources page advises reading the coverage, exclusions and claim process before buying. It also distinguishes a warranty included with a product from a separately sold service contract. Ask which document you are being shown.

Save the actual warranty, not just the brochure. Put it with the signed contract, receipt, product information and photographs of model and serial labels.

Do not let a change order become a hallway conversation

Old houses produce surprises. That does not mean every surprise should become an open-ended instruction to keep going.

The contract should state that changes require a written change order before the changed work begins, except when immediate action is necessary to leave the home secure or prevent active damage. Each change order should describe the condition found, the work being added or removed, the effect on payment, the effect on the schedule and who approved it.

Decide who has authority to approve changes. If your sibling, parent or another relative cannot add work, tell the contractor in writing. “Mom said yes while I was out” should not become the approval process.

Match payments to work you can verify

Look for payment stages tied to visible milestones, not merely the passage of time. A milestone might be demolition completed and debris removed, plumbing work inspected, specified fixtures installed, or final corrections completed.

Ask what documentation comes with each request for payment. Compare the request with the contract, approved change orders and work in the room. Missouri consumer guidance collected on the Sources page recommends written estimates and agreements that identify the job, completion terms and payment expectations.

Keep your parent’s money, your money and any family contribution traceable. Record who paid, from which account, for which invoice. If you are using your own funds, write down whether the payment is a gift, a loan or an expense you expect someone to repay. The contractor’s receipt does not settle that family question for you.

Define what “finished” means

“Substantial completion” may not mean the same thing as ready for your parent to use. Add a final walkthrough and correction list to the process.

During the walkthrough, operate every door, faucet, control and drain. Check the actual mobility route. Look for exposed edges, loose fixtures, unfinished surfaces, remaining debris and damage outside the work area. Confirm that the water, toilet, lighting and ventilation work as the contract describes.

Before closing the project file, collect the final invoice, approved change orders, permit and inspection records, product manuals, warranty documents, claim contacts and photographs of concealed work the contractor agreed to document.

Your permission slip

You are allowed to slow down a signing meeting. You are allowed to ask what a word means. You are allowed to cross out a blank, request an attachment and take the unsigned contract away to read it.

You are also allowed to compare contracts by more than the total. Compare the usable-room promise, interruption plan, permit responsibility, change-order rule, payment milestones, warranty process and definition of completion.

The point is not perfect paperwork. The point is a room that works, and a written path when it does not.