Senior Living & Accessible

Built to the clearances, not to a catalogue size

Flush-entry shower bases recessed to meet the roll-in threshold limit, ramping lavatories that keep knee clearance under a 34″ rim, and grout-free surrounds a caregiver can actually keep clean. Configured to the room you have.

The specification case

The curb is the hazard, and the grout is the maintenance

In senior living the two failures are specific and physical: residents trip on the shower curb, and caregivers cannot keep grout clean. A made-to-measure solid surface pan removes the first by being recessed into the floor, and the panels remove the second by having no grout at all.

Where the incumbent fails
What solid surface does instead
Tiled shower with a curb
The curb is a trip hazard and a barrier to a wheelchair or a shower chair; IPC requires a 2″ to 9″ curb on a conventional receptor.
A flush or recessed pan fabricated to the opening, with an integrated ramp, so the entry can meet the roll-in threshold limit.
Grouted surrounds in resident bathrooms
Grout is porous and it is the caregiver, not the manufacturer, who has to keep it clean.
Grout-free panels cut to the opening. Wiped down, not scrubbed.
Standard-depth lavatory bowls
A deep bowl eats the knee clearance, so the rim ends up above 34″ or the clearance fails.
A ramping bowl — shallow and sloped — keeps the rim within reach range while leaving knee and toe clearance underneath.
Exposed supply and waste pipes
Bare pipes under a lavatory are a contact-burn and abrasion hazard.
§606.5 requires them insulated or otherwise configured — we detail the apron and clearance around that requirement.
Fibreglass and acrylic units
Catalogue sizes rarely fit an existing room, and they crack.
Cut to the room you actually have, in a material that is repaired rather than replaced.
The numbers that drive the detail

What the standards actually require

These are the dimensions our shower bases and lavatory tops are configured around. They come from the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design and ICC A117.1 — check them against your project's adopted code, which may differ.

½″
Maximum threshold height in a roll-in shower. Above ¼″ it must be bevelled at 1:2 maximum.
ADA §608.7
30″ × 60″
Minimum standard roll-in shower. The alternate roll-in is 36″ × 60″ with a 36″ entry.
ADA §608.2
34″
Maximum height of a lavatory rim or counter surface above the finished floor.
ADA §606.3
27″
Minimum knee clearance at the front of the lavatory, with toe clearance below.
ADA §306
17–19″
Shower seat height above the finished floor, where a folding seat is required.
ADA §610.3
Insulated
Exposed hot water and drain pipes must be insulated or otherwise configured against contact.
ADA §606.5
Why this matters for the pan. Getting to a ½″ maximum threshold almost always means recessing the base into the floor structure rather than setting it on top. That is a fabrication decision, not a catalogue choice — which is why we build the base to the opening and the finished floor height you give us.
What we fabricate for this sector

The components we fabricate for accessible and senior living projects

Configured to the room and to the clearances, then delivered with a dimensioned spec sheet the installer can set out from.

Documented, not asserted

Certifications a specifier can check

Every claim below traces to a standards body or to DuPont's own published technical bulletins. Where something is a manufacturer statement rather than a certification, we say so.

NSF/ANSI 51 — Food Equipment Materials
Certified for all food types, Food Zone (the strictest level). Approval effective 24 June 1994 for every Corian® color.
DuPont K-30196 · listed at nsf.org
ASTM E84 / UL 723 — Class A
Flame Spread Index <25, Smoke Developed Index <25, tested by Underwriters Laboratories. Class A interior finish under IBC Section 803.
DuPont K-26829
GREENGUARD Gold
UL 2818 certification for low chemical emissions, tested to CDPH Standard Method. Evaluated under GREENGUARD since 2006.
UL / GREENGUARD registry
Specified under CSI
06 61 16 Solid Surfacing Fabrications for shower bases, wall panels, niches, sills, thresholds and wall caps; 12 36 61 for countertops and integrated sinks.
MasterFormat
On hygiene claims. Corian® solid surface is non-porous and homogeneous, and is fabricated with inconspicuous, grout-free seams. DuPont's published position is that when properly cleaned, the material does not promote the growth of mold, mildew and bacteria. We keep that qualifier deliberately: unqualified “antimicrobial” language is a public-health claim regulated by the EPA under FIFRA, and Corian® is not an EPA-registered antimicrobial product. We would rather be accurate than loud.
Built in this sector

Accessible and senior living work

We are being straight here: published Corian® case studies in senior living are thinner than in healthcare and hospitality, and the sector is largely served by cast-polymer and catalogue-pan makers. That is precisely the gap a made-to-measure fabricator fills.

Project photo
Roll-in shower conversions
Existing curbed enclosures replaced with a recessed pan built to the opening, so the threshold comes down to the roll-in limit without moving the drain.
Configure a shower base to your opening
Project photo
Assisted living bathroom refits
Grout-free surrounds and a ramping lavatory specified together, so one color runs from the vanity through to the shower.
Configure a ramping sink
Project photo
Aging in place, private residence
A single barrier-free bathroom built to the room rather than to a stock pan size.
Talk to us about a project
Questions we get

Specification FAQ

Can you build a genuinely zero-threshold shower base?

We can build a base detailed to sit flush with the finished floor, which is what a curbless or roll-in shower needs. Whether it lands at zero or at the ½″ maximum depends on your floor build-up and whether the pan can be recessed into the structure. Send us the floor section and we will tell you what is achievable.

Does a solid surface pan meet ADA on its own?

No product meets ADA on its own — compliance is a property of the installed assembly. What we can do is fabricate to the dimensions the standard sets: the threshold height and bevel, the clear floor area, the drain position, and the slip-resistant floor texture. The final determination sits with your design team and the authority having jurisdiction.

What is a ramping sink and why does it help?

It is a shallow bowl with a sloped floor rather than a deep basin. A deep bowl pushes either the rim above the 34″ maximum or the knee clearance below the 27″ minimum. A shallow sloped bowl keeps both within range while still holding water and draining properly.

Is the shower floor slip-resistant?

The pan floor is finished with a texture rather than left polished. Tell us the setting — assisted living, memory care, behavioral health — and we will match the texture to how the room is actually used and cleaned.

Can grab bars be mounted through the panels?

Grab bars must anchor into blocking or backing in the wall, not into the panel alone. We coordinate panel layout and wall caps with your backing locations so the fixings land where the structure is.

Build the bathroom around the resident

Configure a flush-entry base, a ramping lavatory and grout-free panels to the room you have, and get a dimensioned spec sheet to set out from.

Start configuring →
Questions

Senior living — frequently asked

Why solid surface for senior living?

It is seamless and easy to keep clean, with integrated bowls and grout-free curbless showers, and edges can be rounded for resident safety.

Are rounded edges safer for residents?

Radius and bullnose edges remove the sharp arris that causes injuries in falls; the configurator applies them to the edges you choose.

Can shower systems be curbless?

Yes — shower bases with a curbless entry, wall panels and niches, with blocking planned where grab bars go.

Is it ADA compliant for accessible units?

Heights and clearances are set to your ADA drawings; the lavatory rim or counter is typically 34″ maximum.