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