In the news recently was a story of a woman who spent $12,000 :shock: on her walk-in tub and somehow slipped and got herself wedged and stuck in it. She tried to pull the chain connected to the plug so she could drain the tub, but the chain broke. Her daughter found her unconscious 30 hours later. She had "significant damage" to her skin from sitting in it so long. The woman spent 4 days in the hospital and 3 months in a nursing home. She's suing the tub manufacturer.

I also replaced my tub w/a walk in shower when it became too difficult to lift my legs over the side of a tub. It has a built in seat in one end & my grandson put up grab bars on the walls.

I had considered those walk in tubs, but thought about having to sit in it till the water drains & also they looked pretty small (I love the "space" mine has). BUT they are MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE than the walk in shower w/seat.

Good luck in your decision.

Thank you for this post.. I have read those answers.

It is so enticing.. and the cost is high.. but have considered it against a hot tub..

to sit and wait for this to drain would defeat my muscles needs.. cannot imagin that.

Will keep my bath tub walk in shower size and be happy after reading your post..

thank you so much.

Ell

We thought of getting one too, but then our plummer said to remember that you must sit in there ( naked) till it fills up and the sit there again ( naked ) till drains out! We decided not to get one.

We installed the Kohler version of the walk-in tub for our daughter when we built our house. Fifteen years ago, Kohler was the only brand we could find. It is standard tub size. She has cerebral palsy and it was the best answer for her to independently get in and out of. She also likes to soak in warm water to loosen tight muscles.

Her tub has a gasket seal that activates with electricity when the door is opened. You get into the empty tub before filling and wait for the water to drain before you can get out. Our electricity went out one day when she was in it and the tub leaked.

We must have had the only one of these tubs in our area for a few years. The plumbing distributor didn't have one on display, so they called to see if they could send potential clients over to see it several times. Both ladies, who had arthritis, were so eager to try it out because they wanted to soak. However, they both found that the seat was too low for them to stand up.

If you have assistance in the house, you could install a doorbell or intercom to summon help if something happened.

I had looked at them but decided I didn't want to sit in it while the water drained. I had a company called ReBath come in and pulled my old tub & made it into a very large shower with grab bars & a seat for bad days. Love it, was worth the 5K.

I never thought about it having to drain before getting out. Thanks.

I have a friend who has had to have her knees replaced (and ankle surgery). She loves hers.

I also think the wait for the water to drain would be chilly; however, if you can have a small electric heater in the bathroom, that would probably take care of the chill problem.

I spoke to a rep for a company that sells and installs the tubs, One can use the shower spray while the tub is draining, it is a fast drain. No need to sit and be chilly as you can use the spray while tub is filling also.
I learned a lot with this sales presentation.
With a walk in shower, you can't soak like you can in the tub.
I want a tub with jets

I myself think they would be great. then I had a friend tell me, o you going to sit there while it drains, how long does it take to fill? Blah blah!!!!