Walk-In Showers in Toms River's 1970s Bathrooms
We find out what the floor and the drain under your Toms River bathroom allow before anyone promises a curbless shower, then line up a registered contractor and, if the piping moves, a licensed plumber.
Accessible Bathrooms quote in Toms River
Tell us which part of the house has become hard and who it is for. That is usually enough for us to tell you which trade the job needs, whether the town has to see it first, and who, if anyone, might help pay.
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Low threshold or flush entry in a Toms River bathroom
A low-threshold shower that uses the existing drain can keep the job mostly within one trade. A flush entry often needs the drain lowered or moved, and relocating drain, waste or supply piping falls outside ordinary maintenance under the state code, so it needs a permit and a licensed plumber named on it. Ask each Toms River quote to say which of the two it is pricing.
What the floor is built on
Have the contractor look at the structure under the bathroom before a curbless design is drawn. It sets how far a shower floor can drop.
Whether the drain stays or moves
Moving it is a plumbing alteration with a permit. Keeping it usually means a small lip rather than none.
Whether a low lip is acceptable
The Access Board's roll-in shower reference allows a threshold up to half an inch if it is beveled. For some users that is entirely workable.
Toms River's building decades and the plumbing rule
The ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates show 53.7% of Toms River's 46,504 housing units were built before 1980, 17.0% before 1960 and 2.6% in 1939 or earlier. The largest single building decade is 1970 to 1979, with 18.6% of units.
Source: United States Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, table B25034, accessed 2026-09-22
ACS 2020-2024 5-year median year structure built, by municipality: Monroe Township 1995, Toms River 1978, Manchester Township 1979, Freehold Township 1984, Middletown 1970, Edison 1975, Old Bridge 1972, Bridgewater 1981, Parsippany-Troy Hills 1969, Morristown 1970, Wayne 1967, Paramus 1963, Ridgewood 1950, Fair Lawn 1953, Livingston 1962, Cranford 1951; New Jersey overall 1970.
Source: United States Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, table B25035, all New Jersey county subdivisions, accessed 2026-09-22
N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.7(b) states that ordinary maintenance does not include cutting away any loadbearing wall or partition, removing or cutting any structural beam or bearing support, any work affecting structural or fire safety, or the addition, alteration, replacement or relocation of any water supply, sewer, drainage, gas, soil, waste, vent or similar piping, or of electrical wiring.
Source: New Jersey Administrative Code as published by the New Jersey Office of Administrative Law, via New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, accessed 2026-09-22
The Access Board's guide to ADA bathing rooms says a roll-in shower threshold of up to 1/2 inch is permitted if properly beveled, and notes that trench drains and other designs allowing a flush transition are preferable. Where a roll-in shower has no seat, grab bars are required on three walls, and shower controls must be at least 1 1/2 inches above the grab bar.
Source: U.S. Access Board, Guide to the ADA Accessibility Standards, Chapter 6: Bathing Rooms, accessed 2026-09-22
What accessible bathrooms involves in Toms River
What sits under a Toms River bathroom floor
The median Toms River home was built in 1978, and the township's single biggest building decade is the 1970s. A bathroom from that era works for someone who can step into a tub, and most accessibility plans start by getting rid of that step. Whether a truly flush entry is realistic depends on what sits under the floor and where the drain runs, which is exactly what a contractor should check before quoting one.
Want the tub wall gone?
Tell us about your Toms River bathroom and who uses it. We will say whether you are looking at a low lip or a flush floor.
Toms River walk-in shower questions
Can any Toms River bathroom take a curbless shower?
Not without checking. A flush entry needs room to slope the floor to a drain, and in a 1970s house the structure and the drain position decide that. A contractor should look before promising it, and a moved drain means a plumbing permit.
Is a small lip at the shower entrance a problem?
Often not. The Access Board's reference for roll-in showers accepts a threshold up to half an inch if it is beveled, and the ADA does not govern a private home in any case. The person using the shower, with their walker or chair, is the real test.
Describe the Toms River bathroom
Tub or shower, which floor it is on, and what is hard about it now. We will line up the trades the job needs.