Start with the room you actually have. Many of Victoria's older homes, from James Bay cottages to the heritage streets of Rockland, were built with small, closed-in bathrooms and original plumbing. Opening one up for a roll-in shower can mean rerouting drains and reinforcing the floor, so you want an installer who's comfortable working in older construction and will look under the surface before quoting. In a Songhees or downtown condo, the questions shift to strata approval, waterproofing over living space below, and getting materials up in a lift. Ask how they've handled both.
On the design itself, we lean toward a true roll-in (zero-threshold) shower when the floor and drainage allow it. It's the most future-proof choice, easy for a walker or wheelchair, and it reads as a clean modern bathroom rather than a medical retrofit. The trade-off is honest: it's more work and more cost up front because it usually means lowering the floor and rebuilding the drain slope. If the structure fights back, a low-curb shower with a fold-down seat and a hand-held, anti-scald control is a very good second choice and far less disruptive.
Whoever you hire, prioritize senior and accessibility experience over the lowest bid. You want someone who plans grab bar placement into the framing, not as an afterthought, and who's licensed and insured for plumbing and waterproofing work. Ask about the warranty on both the labour and the waterproofing, and how quickly they respond if a seal fails, because on the coast, moisture is the thing that eventually tests every shower. Our advice: choose the installer who slows down to measure your parent's reach and transfer, even if they're not the fastest to book. You may wait a little longer, but a shower fitted to the person is the one that keeps them safe for years.
