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Need a safe bathing solution. Walking tub or roll in shower. Space is so narrow.

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Yes, the one we put in for Mom was walk in. If you have enough room, have a sliding door or door. My bathroom was too small to do this. The contractor suggested I not put in a bench. He had complaints that people could reach their back to wash it. Too close to the wall. Mom used a shower chair. Of course have bars, one on the wall and one to hold onto getting in and out of the shower. Hand held shower head with long hose. I also have a regular shower head. Found a part that holds the handle and you can adjust to use the shower head or handheld.

Now my contractor was going to put 2 shelves in each corner, I said no. I was afraid if my Mom fell she would hit her head on the shelves. I did have two put in the corner next to the shower heads.
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Zany, I would vote for a walk-in shower instead of a walk-in tub. Mainly for re-sale value.

If the house is being sold later down the road, you may need to remove the walk-in tub and replace it with a standard tub or walk-in shower. Unless the house is already in a 55+ community.
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Sorry, I misread, mine was a walk in shower. I have heard that people get cold while water running out of the walk in tub.
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Tothill Mar 2019
Friends had a walk in tub installed and she was cold as it filled as well as while it drained. It turned out to not be a good idea.
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JoAnn,

My mom fell backwards into tub after using the toilet. She turned around. Have no idea why, fell back into tub, hit head on faucet. Blood shows up so vividly on Snow White hair!

I had been telling her she needed a bedside commode for awhile. She resisted. I think she was embarrassed about it. After that fall she agreed to let me place a bedside commode in her room.
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For my dad we had the tub cut out do he could walk in without stepping over the tub side. If you go to www.cleancutbath.com you can search for a company in your area. It worked well for my dad, cost was very reasonable, looked good, done in a morning. And you can keep the cut out to be reinstalled later And I second the nix on built on shower benches. A friend who is a geriatric physical therapist says an adjustable, portable shower chair is much better and safer.
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Jkm,

Oh wow, I have to look into that. Would help a lot! With mom’s Parkinson’s she struggles getting her leg over.
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My MIL had a walk-in tub and a space heater next to it. It's very important to keep the room warm and keep a warm towel or bath blanket on the person as the tub fills and drains. Now we have a walk-in shower for my FIL and a bathing chair made of durable mesh and PVC pipe with removable commode that works much, much better than did the tub. The chair is dried off after he's dressed and placed next to his bed for use as a commode.
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I could never understand why anyone would put one in but one of the ladies who used to be a regular on the forum loved hers and convinced me that they can be a wonderful option for some people - she mentioned that installing a larger drain meant that it took no time at all to empty and that the ability to soak aching joints in warm water was something no shower can duplicate.
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We had a step in tub installed. Wife loved it. Expensive but was worth it. As she got further along the dementia journey I had to help her and finally we had a CNA come in to bath her, etc. The assistant loves them. She stayed dry.
If and when I/we decide to sell, I won't care about losing a few thousand dollars since carpeting will need to be replaced as well. I am not replacing the the tub.
That is their problem.
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I was speaking with a plumber and we started talking about walk-in tubs and walk-in showers. He votes for walk-in/roll-in showers.

The plumber said his company had to clean up water messes when a person, who has dementia, forgets that the tub is full and they open the door. Swoosh, out comes a ton of water. Oops.

Food for thought.
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