Does anyone out there have experience with Walk-in tubs?

I was just at a garage sale where someone was trying to recoup a fraction of the $4000 they spent on a walk-in tub for their mother.
Even if you have the funds readily available to make the investment, sort out the answers to a few questions first:

- If you're buying the tub because your elder isn't showering/bathing, are you certain that the tub is the reason? Old people stop bathing for lots of reasons and a safe way to enter the tub probably won't get them back on track with hygiene.

- The walk-in tub, even if used regularly, may only get used for a short period of time and it will be a negative if still in place when you sell the house. The folks who had one at the garage sale hadn't wanted to remove it, but the buyer of their mom's home stipulated it as a condition of the sale.

However, if your elder truly does love baths and is taking them now, but you'd like them to be safer, and you can afford it, they're great. The garage sale lady said she'd bathed in the walk-in herself and it worked really well.

An alternative would be to spend the money on a care aide to come in once or twice a week to help with bathing. There may be resistance at first, but if you persist and make them try it, often they enjoy it. Be sure to get an aide who's comfortable with bathing. That might cost $25 or so an hour, but $4000 would buy a lot of hours.

As per my design, we hired a handy-man who came in and cut a square out of the side of the tub and made a frame to cover the sharp edges then sealed everything. He left about 2 inches of the side at the bottom to contain water and with safety railings and a shower chair, my elderly mother could step in and take a shower sitting down using a hand-held shower. It all cost less than a $100 - this was after we found out how expensive those walk-in tubs are, and even after several people said it couldn't be done. It could be done and a family friend came to look at the finished project so he could fix his elderly mother's tub the same way. And he did it. It's certainly a cheap alternative to the expensive tub or having to put in a shower.

Dear IsntEasy,
Wow! Thank you so much for your explanation! We have had 3 tub salesmen here at my mom's place and $5,000 would be a welcomed amount to pay! When they all get to the price of the "thing" the prices are like $17,000 to $20,000!!!! I am NOT joking, embellishing, being sarcastic, or anything. This is the plain and HONEST truth! I could buy myself a NEW CAR for that money!!! I agree with you 100%. Thank you for such a well thought-out answer. The tub companies I have had to the house so far are Jacuzzi, Premeire, safe Step and I am expecting two more. I do NOT want to go the Home Depot/Lowes route and but the tub on my own ... American Standard.... and then pay for carpentray, electrician, and plumber....

I want to repeat to you that the quotes I have received SO FAR are between 15 and 20 THOUSAND DOLLARS!!! WTF????!!!

My mom is ninety and she wants to bathe alone and has an attitude of....I've been doing this on my own for 80 years.... I don't NEED anyone!!!
The occupational therapsit came and and had a bird watchig her show how she did it each bath! It included her using an 8 inch high stool.... if that gives you an idea of how dangerous it is on how she gets in and out of the tub!

You are soooooooooooooooo right. $15,000 to $20,000 can but A LOT of help here at her home. we obviously have a lot of talking/leaning/listening to do. I welcome any other comments/opinions from people who are checking this out like I am!
Kathy from West Hartford

i offered to modify my mothers shower and or tub several times till she finally leveled with me that she had an aversion to being soaking wet. so yea , id be careful spending a lot of money on something the elder might resist..

i had a buddy when i was a teen who walked in and passed out in a tub. it wasnt his house, it belonged to the city police chief.
he was dragged to jail by his long , luxurious , hippy hair..
true story..

I just realized I sounded like a commercial for this product lol.. I promise I am not affiliated in any way. We went through the same thing trying to decide if we should get the walk in tub since my mom prefers baths. She lives alone right now (not sure how much longer unfortunately) and it has worked really well.

Walk-in tubs are extremely expensive, will be used for a relatively short time, and make a house tougher to sell.

If, given all that, you really want one, I would first make very certain that you are getting the tub for the right reason. I've known more than one family who put in the tub because their parent wasn't bathing (and saying that it was because they couldn't comfortably get in and out of the tub), then, once it was installed, still didn't bathe because many elderly prefer not to (for lots of reasons that are off-topic here).

I have also known families who have installed them and then, weeks later, their parent had a health issue that caused them to move to a SNF or AL. If someone is at the point where they cannot get in and out of a tub, they may also be at the point where they won't be living in the house much longer.

I've also known people who have still slipped in the bathroom, even with the better accessiblilty of the walk-in tub. It's still wet and slippery. Getting a bath in a regular tub with someone to help you in and out is still way safer than a walk-in.

We found a shower bench that fit the bathtub and got a handheld shower that was easy enough to install ourselves. If the bathroom is chilly, I'd recommend getting a space heater and warming the room up first. There are much cheaper options than getting a walk-in bathtub. Good luck to you!

Bath Fitter does a great job, done in a day and prices vary according to the materials you select. You can easily spend $5K, and probably more.

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