Well what a surprise! No floor drains in the USA! A ‘floor waste gully’ is not a requirement of the Building Code of Australia for a single house (it’s a requirement for all other buildings), but it is a requirement in the Plumbing Code of Australia’s regulations in some states. We did a major reno that included 2 bathrooms, a separate toilet and a laundry, and each one has a floor drain as well as shower drains. It was never suggested that there was an option, and engineer husband has never seen a recent house that doesn’t have it as standard. Some fittings have an ‘in built over-flow protection’ (eg a hole in the back of the basin), but there is always a risk of something failing resulting in a flooded bathroom, hence the floor drain. Thanks for the interesting discussion over breakfast about plumbing systems!
We have a step in tub and DW loves it. To help with the draining wait, I have started to run the hand held shower on a low gentle spray and rinse her as it rapidly drains. This keeps her warm and gets rid of the waste that would cling to her body. I have also given her a large bath towel to wrap herself in while it drains. Then I help dry her hair. She does not use the other shower these days, thank goodness. The only real problem we have is she is very cautious when stepping out. She does have a problem stepping down very fr. So I made a small platform for her step onto that is about half the distance from tub to floor. This helps her a lot. Then I scoot it over in front of the toilet and that helps her also since she is short (under five feet tall). Shop around and look at pictures a lot and write down questions and concerns.
Fill and drain time is something you need to consider, but there are several on the forum who have informed us that this shouldn't be a concern as long as care is taken to ensure there is a good fast drainage system.... many absolutely love their walk in baths. If you are interested in simple cleanliness and aren't necessarily a fan of long soaks in hot water there are several low or no threshold shower units available that would be simpler and cheaper. If you go the shower route choose one without the built in bench, in my opinion these are no substitute for a good, sturdy adjustable bath/shower chair. And don't forget the grab bars.
Most bathrooms have a central floor drain, so if you remove towels etc and put a blocker at the doorway, you can treat the whole thing as a ‘wet room’. Then use a shower chair and a flexible ‘shower hose’ from the basin. You can get cheap rubber shower spray hoses that will push-fit over a mixer tap. They are not as good as a properly installed one, but would be easy to experiment with. If you wanted to plumb in a proper one, it would almost certainly be a cheaper mod than installing a walk-in tub.
My dad has a lot of friends in his “old people group” as he calls it. Several of them have had the walk in tub installed and hated it. They have it sit in it unclothed and wait for it to fill and after bathing have to sit and wait for it to drain. That’s very cold for most seniors to endure. I haven’t researched it but have heard a bit that there may be newer models that fill and rain more quickly making it better, but there’s still that to consider
Then I help dry her hair.
She does not use the other shower these days, thank goodness.
The only real problem we have is she is very cautious when stepping out. She does have a problem stepping down very fr. So I made a small platform for her step onto that is about half the distance from tub to floor. This helps her a lot.
Then I scoot it over in front of the toilet and that helps her also since she is short (under five feet tall).
Shop around and look at pictures a lot and write down questions and concerns.