Walk in Tub or Accessible Shower?

28 Mar 2021 | No Comments | posted by editor | in BC Senior Safety Services Blog

For Bathers

Walk-in tubs work out really well for those who enjoy taking a bath for both personal hygiene and therapy. If you don’t want to give this up when it becomes increasing more difficult to lower yourself down and get back up using a standard bathtub. Then a Walk in tub may be the solution. Walk in tubs help thousands of people retain their bathing independence.

Warehouse Viewing If Your Able

We are available for home consultations but we also stock a large supply of different size tubs with various jetting options. Knowing a person’s height and weight helps when deciding what type and size of walk in tub is best. Seeing them in person is even better. If your able we encourage those considering walk in tubs make an appointment to visit our warehouse storage facility on Annacis Island Delta.

Fill Time – Its easy to accurately find out how long it will take to fill a walk in tub.

First you need to figure out the flow rate per minute your getting from your tub spout. Begin by getting your hands on a stop watch. Then run the hot water from your tub spout with as much volume as possible. Then add cold water until your at bath water temperature. Slide the largest graduated measuring bucket you can under the tub spout and time how long it takes to fill.  Here’s an example using a 4 US gallon pale.  (4 divided by 47 seconds fill time = .085 gallons per second X 60 seconds = 5.10 gallons per minute). The most common sizes of walk in tubs hold  45 – 65 US gallons, but there are larger models. Using the example above. If you were to fill a 45 gallon tub at a flow rate of 5.10 gallons per minute it works out to (45 gallons divided by 5.10 gallons per minutes = 8.82 minutes).  The average household flow rate from a tub spout is usually between 4-7 gallons per minute.

Flow rate is dependent on a number of factors. Your home’s water regulator setting. The size, type and age of your home’s water lines. If you use a tank less hot water heater. All these can effect flow rate per minute and it will vary from home to home.

Drain time

The time it takes to drain will be about the same as the tub you have now. Usually three minutes or less. If your tub takes longer than this its mostly due to the P-Trap being partially clogged. A simple fix.

 

Can you shower in a walk in tub?

It’s standard for a walk in tub to have a hand held shower for rinsing.

Or An Accessible Shower?

Replacing an existing standard bathtub with a fully accessible safety shower is recommended for those who prefer showering over bathing. It is also recommend for those who require caregiver assistance to help with daily hygiene.  It is easier and takes less time for a care giver to lend assistance with an accessible shower. Glass shower doors are attractive but can greatly restrict accessibility to lend assistance. It is recommended fully accessible showers be fitted with shower curtains not glass, especially when caregivers are needed.  Accessible shower bases have a large flat stable platform so users have more room and feel far more secure while sitting in shower chairs. Compared to having the chair legs teeter on a bathtubs narrow radius corners.

Plastic or Tile? 

Tile is is composed of naturally occurring materials and unlike plastic is 100% inert material meeting all the requirements to be used as clean fill. The natural use of tile is one of the biggest choices you can make toward reducing pollution in your home building and remodeling.

 

Plastic shower retrofits.

Tub to shower plastic retrofits kits come in 4 to 5 pieces.  One piece plastic shower stalls are way to large to maneuver through a finished home and fit into and existing tub cavity. These plastic acrylic, solid core or FRP(fiberglass reinforced plastic) kits are very popular with bathroom retrofit companies because the installations are quick and require far less skill, labor and materials.  However, the lower costs on labor and material won’t show up in the end price with them starting at around $9,000.00 plus, not much different than beautiful custom environmentally friendly tile.  Plastic retrofit products show reasonably well when installed properly but can be prone to leak risks as seen below.

Plastic sheets over old tile:

Simply fastening thin sheets of plastic over old tile and wall board to avoid the expense of removing and properly disposing of the material is being seen more frequently. Concealed old plumbing fixtures are often left in place and easily repaired problems never fixed. There might be a savings but consider this. It can still cost close to $8,000.00 or more. For just hundreds of dollars in material and a days labor!

Bathroom Renovations

When renovating bathrooms and replacing a tub with an accessible shower the demolition in most cases involves the removal of a tiled tub surround. Even after decades of use the tile is in good condition and except for perhaps the color or style being dated it looks like new! We can’t say the same for the plastic showers we’ve ripped out, there faded, scratched and tired looking.

Contact us for more information on our custom built, safe, accessible tiled showers.

604-940-8814

Are walk in tubs Made In Canada?

7 Mar 2021 | No Comments | posted by editor | in BC Senior Safety Services Blog

NO

There are no factories making walk in tubs in Canada, never have been. CBSA has always given walk in tubs a favorable tariff classification and they are duty free to import. All walk in tubs sold in Canada are imported. There is some manufacturing of walk tubs in the UK and USA but most of the supply of sanitaryware like toilets, bathtubs, shower stalls, sinks, faucets, etc., including walk in tubs. Is made and imported from China.

Made in Canada claims can easily be fact checked. The country of origin of a product and can often be retrieved using Import Genuis. https://www.importgenius.com/ Simply type a brand name, company name, or product name into the search window correctly. Its surprising what you can learn. 

For those with older tubs looking for parts.

Walk in tubs were first manufactured in the UK by https://www.gainsboroughbaths.com/  and http://www.wibco.com/. Their products were sold for decades in Canada by the franchises Premier Care and Seabridge Bathing.  Seabridge Bathing closed their doors in 2013. Premier Care in 2016. Their manufacturers are still in business today. For those looking for parts. 

My Walk-In Tub Purchase: By Howard Stearns

7 Apr 2015 | No Comments | posted by editor | in BC Senior Safety Services Blog

There comes a time when many senior citizens realize just how dangerous it is getting in and out of a standard bathtub, and we often hear about their accidents. That situation arose for me lately and I started to investigate the whole walk in tub business. It seems that every time you turn the television or radio on you see ads for them. I began a research program and found some vast differences in quality and price. Read more..

About Limited Lifetime Warranties on Walk-in tubs

2 Apr 2015 | No Comments | posted by editor | in BC Senior Safety Services Blog

What is the value of a lifetime warranty?

The standard manufacture warranty on a walk-in tub is two years. However, certain items like pumps, door seals or the tub structure may be extended past this period. To justify higher prices and remain competitive some brands are pushing Limited Lifetime Warranties. Something you didn’t see prior to 2013-14.

Accessible bathroom modifications and the purchase of items such as chair lifts, hand rails, etc., for the most are done late in life. Often much later. Take this into consideration when putting a value on a limited lifetime warranty. When is comes to the cost of walk in tubs, keep it reasonable. Look on Craigs List and you’ll see used tubs that once sold for $15-20,000 plus, selling for just a fraction on this.

Tile vs Plastic & Costs for Accessible Shower Applications

7 Mar 2013 | No Comments | posted by editor | in BC Senior Safety Services Blog

Tile is a friendlier choice for the environment and has been used for thousands of years for good reason!

Thousands of people young and old visit public rec centres on a daily basis.  Tile is used throughout these buildings including the public showers.  Why?  We all know tile can be manufactured to be as slippery as ice when it’s wet, but it can also be made specifically for safety, totally non-skid and very durable for use in showers and wet conditions.

Covering up existing tile with thin glued on gel coat or acrylic sheets offered by one day bathroom renovation wonder companies is not a good plan. It will only cheapen and devalue your bathroom and may cover up an otherwise very simple repair.  It will also make future removal of the existing tile very difficult and time consuming.  Cutting out tile and existing wall board is very fast when cutting along the grout lines with a Sawzall removing the tile and gypsum in large pieces.  But when the tile is covered up with plastic these grout lines can’t be seen.  Since the saw blade can’t cut through tile, the plastic sheet has to be pulled off first. The strong adhesive used to attach the paneling makes it extremely difficult and time consuming to do this.

Doing a proper job by removing the existing tile and gypsum and replacing it with a new surface of choice is not complicated nor will it take much longer or cost more to complete. The walls when stripped down to the framing gives the installers the opportunity for inspection, add additional framing for safety grips and folding shower seats. You’ll have the option to install new modern thermostatic, anti-scald pressure balanced faucets and inspect the plumbing. New mold proof shower backer board products are available to replace outdated products. Whether you decide on tile or go with a plastic shower surround don’t allow a company to cut corners.

When we renovate bathrooms and remove  an existing tub and replace it with a walk-in tub or shower the vast majority of the demolitions involve the removal of tiled tub surrounds.  Even after decades of use the tile is in good condition and in many cases except for the style being dated it looks like new.

We can’t say the same for many of the plastic showers we’ve removed, even though they haven’t been in use for near as long.  The majority of accessible plastic showers sold are constructed of gel coat fiberglass. After several years of regular use the gel coat can dull, begin to show signs of wear and because of the porous nature of gel coat, stains will start to show that are very difficult, or can’t be removed.  Unless you’ve been a fiberglass boat owner most people are unaware and are not properly informed by retailers on the maintenance schedule or specialty waxes and cleaning products required to maintain a gel coat finish found on accessible showers or safety tubs…read more.

Below is a three year old gel coat fiberglass walk in tub with green stains forming even after repeated attempts to remove them with recommended non abrasive bathroom cleaning products

The advantages and beauty of tile for accessible shower applications:

   

A really attractive professionally installed built in tiled shower offers far more value, it’s stronger, has safer footing and it will last many times longer, all the while retaining its beauty. It’s so much easier to clean than plastic because it’s not sensitive to cleaning products or prone to chemical reactions.. It is for these reasons, and more, why tiled showers are always used for commercial high use applications, never plastic!

There is more plastic showers sold by companies installing accessible showers because quite simply there far more profitable.  A plastic shower takes far less time and skill level to install and requires less material costs and site preparation.  This is their main selling feature, but you won’t likely see it reflected in the installed price with them costing thousands of dollars more than there really worth. Depending on the company price can range from $7,000.00 by one day glue on wonder companies up to over $12,000.00 or more for a complete tear out and an additional day’s labor.

The time and cost to construct a well-built, beautiful custom tiled shower will vary. Often people will use this time to change the flooring, replace the vanity, mirrors, lighting, and install a new comfort toilet completing the transformation. This work can take up to five days to complete, and the investment will be somewhere between the above two figures.  Built-in tiled accessible showers are unquestionably a better value, however there not sold through large corporations or distributors and commission sales people, there built by local skilled trade persons who enjoy the work and take pride in creating them.  Read more on our tiled showers.

Will the installation of a walk-in tub effect the re-sale of you’re home?

27 Sep 2012 | No Comments | posted by editor | in BC Senior Safety Services Blog

 

This question is asked occasionally but rarely is it asked by someone who really needs a walk-in tub!  Why?

Most of us wouldn’t wake up one morning, see an advertisement for a walk-in tub and go out and buy one, but it might get you thinking about it!  Have you ever taken a slight slip in the tub or tripped on a stair and kept yourself from falling and possibly being injured? Young or old we’ve all experienced this, but the older we get the risk of injury greatly increases because of slowing reflexes and weakening stabilization muscles.

Maybe a slight mishap happens during one’s daily bathing routine or the news of friend falling and being injured starts one to thinking about a safer bathing alternative as well as other changes that may be needed. Hopefully these early warning signs won’t be ignored and measures will be taken towards preventing avoidable unnecessary accidents that could permanently change a person’s lifestyle.

Walk-in tubs help people stay safe and offer them a higher level of independence and comfort. The question on whether a walk-in tub will affect the re-sale of a person’s home is largely a matter of opinion. It could be argued that because there is a growing aging population a walk-in tub could be seen to be a selling advantage but it very unlikely it would affect the value one’s property.  In Vancouver and the surrounding areas home prices are very high and continue to climb as they are in many places throughout the province and country.  If you were to look at your last tax assessment you’ll see the assessed value of the land in relation to the assessed value of the buildings are probably separated by a very wide margin. It’s doubtful a walk-in tub would make any measurable difference.

It’s your home, the one you want to remain safe in for as long as possible, and ultimately it’s your decision!

Bath fill time

27 Sep 2012 | No Comments | posted by editor | in BC Senior Safety Services Blog

Will 3/4″ bath fill taps fill up a bath any faster?  Absolutely, as long as the water lines in your home are 3/4,” which is likely not the case. Almost all homes will have 1/2″ water lines in residential construction. You may find 3/4 ” water lines in multi housing like apartment buildings but it  is reduced to 1/2″ and 3/8″ before the faucets. Claims made by walk in tub companies that their tubs will fill faster are very misleading.  Walk-in tubs with similar dimensions will take the same amount of time to fill. In the average home a tub’s flow rate will be 4 – 7 gallons per minute.

What determines the fill time more than taps, is a home’s water pressure and bather size.

Water pressure is controlled by a regulator and can be set to raise or lower a homes pressure, but other variables can effect water pressure like the type of water lines used. Copper fittings are soldered to the outside diameter of copper piping maintaining better water flow where plastic fittings are connected using the inside diameter of pipe reducing flow.

It is important when buying a walk-in tub to get the right size for your body.  A very small person in a bath too big, will wait longer for the tub to fill, compared to a much larger person using the same size tub.  This is due to the amount of water a bather’s body displaces.

Depending on the tub and bather size and a homes water pressure, fill time will vary.  To know how long it will take to fill a tub.  Take a pail, place it under your tub’s spout and record the time it takes to fill.  Divide the gallons by the seconds it took to fill the bucket then times 60. This will give you the flow rate per minute.  Example: Using a four US gallon pale. It took 45 seconds running bath water temperature to fill up. Four divided by 45 gallons is .088 gallons per second. Times .088 by 60 = is 5.28 gallons per minute flow rate.

For an approximation of the amount of water your body will displace and the amount of water you will need, use one gallon of water for every ten pounds of body weight. For instance if the tub you are  considering has the capacity to hold 60 gallons of water and you weigh 150 pounds, then your body will displace approximately 15 gallons of water and you’ll need about 45 gallons to fill the tub to its limit.

Walk-in Tub Drain Time

Walk-in tubs faucet selection

27 Sep 2012 | No Comments | posted by editor | in BC Senior Safety Services Blog

 

Walk-in tub Faucet Selection

 

5pc three-valve faucet on a walk-in tub(really easy to use)

Really look at faucet design and quality when buying your walk-in tub. Right selection in faucets can make a huge difference. Most difficulty is attributed to divert-er valves. This valve transfers water from the faucet spout over to a shower wand. The shower wand may be built into a walk-in tub or attached to a adjustable shower riser.While there may seem to be a wide variety of shower divert-er valves, there are only 3 main types:

Three-Valve Divert-er

This type of divert-er, is located between taps on a two-tap faucet and can bring water to both the shower and tub. The hot and cold water taps are turned on to mix the water to the correct temperature. Usually, turning the divert-er clockwise 180 degrees allows the properly mixed water to flow out through the shower head. Turning the divert-er counter-clockwise will return the water flow to the tub.

Two-Valve Divert-er

As in a 3-valve divert-er, a bather runs water through the tub spout until it is blended to the desired temperature. The divert-er, with 2 valves each in the shape of an L, pushes the water upward to a shower arm and out the shower head. This 2-valve divert-er can be located in the center of a faucet that adjusts temperature with a single dial turned to the left for hot water and to the right for cold, or it can be set between the taps of a two-tap faucet.

Tee Divert-er

The tee divert-er is a single-valve located behind the faucet spout. The bather runs the water to the temperature he or she prefers, and then pulls up the pull arm behind the spout. The water then comes out the shower head.

Which to Choose

A 5pc three-valve divert-er faucet set, and the 4pc tee divert-er faucet set are ones most found on walk-in tubs. The 5pc three-valve is more user friendly of the two. The advantage of a 5pc three-valve is ease of use, particularly when the bather is older and has weaker finger strength.

It has its own separate faucet to divert the water from the spout to the shower wand and is very user friendly, requiring no effort at all to use. A tee divert-er, found on a 4pc faucet set can be very difficult to use, especially for older woman who have developed arthritis in the hands and fingers. When the valveis under water pressure, the pulling up action on a Tee Divert-er can be so difficult, ladies can resort to using some kind of utensil, like a wooden spoon, to try and pry the valve up so they can use the shower wand. Men, who are more likely to haves stronger hands and fingers, fair better.

Surprisingly, some very well recognized walk-in tub companies continue using Tee Diverter type faucets, despite customer complaints!

Affordable Walk-in Tubs 

 

 

 

Walk-in tub jets

27 Sep 2012 | No Comments | posted by editor | in BC Senior Safety Services Blog

Walk-in tubs come as soaker models, air jet therapy models, or hydrotherapy jet (water jets.) models they also come with a combination of air and water jets.

Soakers are just like a regular tub that doesn’t have jets, you simply fill the tub to the desired depth and bathe.

Walk-in tubs with air jets are tubs equipped with a small electric motor that blows air drawing only about 3.6 amp. This blower delivers air through small air hoses to as many as 16 small jets placed throughout the tub.  When the air passes through the jet it is broken up into smaller air streams creating smaller bubbles.  The air is released into the tub and agitates the water assisting in cleaning.  It’s like being in a washing machine for the body and can lend a helping hand to a person who is mobility challenged and perhaps has difficulty reaching hard to get body parts. This blower motor can be heated but contrary to what some companies will lead you to believe, it will not maintain water temperature. It doesn’t enough power for this.  That being said, the benefits of air jets make them worth having.  Air jets are also offered in combination with Hydrotherapy jets and in-line heaters.

Water jets or Hydrotherapy Jets, as they are referred to, take bathing to the next level! Powered by a whisper quiet electric water pump drawing about 8 to 9 amp. The bath water is drawn from the bottom of the tub, circulated through the water pump and out through the massage jets. The tub can also be equipped with a stainless steel in-Line. These heaters draw about 13.5 amp and they are will maintain bath water temperature.

A separate stainless steel in-line heater is the only way to maintain bath water temperature for as long as required! Heated water is directed out massage jets located in areas of the tub where they offer the most benefit, focusing on the lower back, legs and feet. Each jet’s water flow is adjustable from 0 – 100% flow and can be directed to pinpoint just the right spot.  These jets also have an aerator (mixing air with the water) which gives a soothing relaxing sensation and helps increase circulation.

The health benefits of hydrotherapy are undisputed and is used regularly by physiotherapists.  When a individual becomes less mobile, circulation becomes an issue. Being able to relax, stretch, and have your muscles massaged in a warm heated bath offers many health benefits. Air jet therapy, was the first jet option offered on walk-in tubs, but today almost all manufactures have reinvested and retooled so they can they meet the growing demand for the optional hydrotherapy whirlpool water massage  jets.  Whirlpool baths have a long history having been on the market since the late 1950′s. They continue to be very popular and sold worldwide by leading bath and sanitary manufacturers, with excellent credentials.  By following a simple maintenance schedule, hydrotherapy water jets are very easy to clean.…read more.

If a walk-in tub has electrical components, you will require GFI’s (ground fault interrupters) to be installed. If the tub only has a small blower motor used for air jet therapy it can be plugged into a GFI receptacle, and because the blower motor doesn’t draw much power, this circuit can usually be borrowed from an existing circuit in the bathroom. If the tub has a water pump or in addition has a separate in-line heater, then one or two 15 amp GFI’s will need to be installed into your electrical panel. You’re not saving labor costs to install one GFI as opposed to installing two GFI’s because the time it takes to fish one or two lengths of wire to the electrical panel is the same.  The additional costs would only be the second GFI and the wire. Most existing electrical panels will have room for a couple more breakers, but if they are all used up then a small sub panel will need to be installed for them.

Always consult and employ a licensed electrician when installing a jetted walk-in bathtub.