A walk-in tub is not a fixture you buy and carry in. It is a plumbing, drain, and floor job with a sales contract wrapped around it, and the order of the work decides whether the tub holds water and whether the room still works after the crew leaves. Read this in the order the job runs, because most of the expensive problems come from skipping a step early.

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Step 1: Survey the room before you pick a model

Ask the installer to survey the bathroom in person, or ask whoever will sign off the work to do it. Have them write down the existing tub's footprint, the drain location, the supply lines, and the framing under the tub. Ask whether the floor will carry a filled tub. A full tub is heavy, and an old subfloor may need reinforcement before anything else happens. Ask whether the unit needs its own outlet and whether that outlet must be ground-fault protected. Jetted models often need one, and a licensed electrician should check it. If the survey was done from photos and a phone call, you are being quoted a guess.

Step 2: Find out who pulls the permit

Plumbing and electrical work done as part of a tub replacement usually needs a permit from the city or county where the house sits. Missouri does not license most general contractors statewide, so the credential you can check is often a local registration or a plumber's or electrician's license, and the rules differ by jurisdiction. Call your city or county building department and ask two questions: does this job need a permit, and who must pull it. Then ask the installer to show you the permit number before work starts. A job with no permit may have to be opened up later, when you sell the house or ask a buyer or lender to rely on the work.

Step 3: Read the contract lines, not the brochure

Before you sign, check that each of these lines is in writing:

Removal and disposal of the old tub, listed as its own line
Plumbing, drain, and electrical work, listed apart from the tub price
Any floor repair or framing, with who decides when it is needed and how it will be priced
The permit fee and who pays it
The warranty on the tub, the seals, the door, and the labor, with who handles a claim
The start date, and what happens if the crew moves it
The payment schedule, including how much is due before any work begins

Ask for the warranty as a document, not a sentence in a sales email. If you cannot tell who holds the paper, you do not have the warranty. If a term is unclear or the two sides disagree about what the contract says, that is where a lawyer takes over.

Step 4: Install day, in order

Expect the work to run in this sequence: old tub out, floor and framing checked or repaired, drain and supply set, tub leveled and secured, electrical connected by the licensed trade, then walls and threshold finished. Before the crew closes any wall, ask them to show you the drain and overflow connections. Ask where the water shutoff for the tub is, and make sure someone in the house knows how to use it.

Step 5: Run the acceptance test yourself

Do not sign the completion form until you have run the tub, or had someone you trust run it, while the crew is still on site. Fill it to the water line and check every joint, the drain, and the overflow for drips. Close the door and check that the seal holds and the door opens and closes without catching. If the model has jets, run them. Test the seat and the grab bars, and check the step. Drain the tub and compare how long it takes with what the installer told you. Write down what you found and have the crew fix it before they leave. The completion form is a receipt for the work, not a receipt for the promise.

Who pays

Medicare generally does not pay for a bathroom remodel, and a walk-in tub is usually treated as a home improvement. Read the Medicare pages listed on the Sources page. If you have a Medicare Advantage plan, ask the plan directly what it covers, and get the answer in writing. Some Missouri Medicaid waiver programs list home modifications among their services. Ask the program's case manager whether a bathroom modification is on the service list and whether approval must come before the work starts. Ask your local Area Agency on Aging about bathroom changes and grant programs, and check the Local Help With Paying for Care page for St. Louis options. Do not assume a grant or waiver pays just because the room is a bathroom. Get the answer before you sign anything with the installer.

Where the help stops

Whether this tub suits the person who will use it is a question for the physician or therapist who knows that person's needs, not for the installer's sales visit. Whether the contract is fair, whether a term binds you, and how to handle a dispute over the work belong to a lawyer. For the questions in between, such as which permit applies or which line on the quote is missing, take the written survey, the contract, and the permit number to the building department and to the Area Agency on Aging before you pay the deposit. For the full reading order on this desk, see Start Here: The Order to Read.

The Tub Swap Is a Plumbing Job: Survey the Drain, the Floor, and the Permit Before the Crew Pulls the Old Tub