Safe Step Walk-In Showers Reviews

The installers were supposed to do the work on the 1st of May, and they called on the day before and said they had to put it off a week, and it would be on the Friday. I said, “I don't think you can do it in one day. Are you going to work on Saturday? Because I am not going to have a mess at my house over the weekend.” He said, “Oh, I couldn't do it in one day.” So we left it that they would come out the next week on Friday. Then he called on Wednesday, and he said, “We're going to come tomorrow.” So I had to hurry and get all my stuff moved. They came out the next morning. The installation was fine, except about six in the evening, the guy cut his finger real bad. They had to leave in a big hurry and they left all this mess in here, which I expected because I didn't think they could get done in one day. But they came back on Friday and finished the job and left. It looks pretty good, except I'm a little concerned about a couple of places where the caulking is.

The caulking just disappears. You can see the bead of it coming down the wall, but you can't see it anymore. It doesn't look good. It's not a full bead all the way across like it should be. But other than that, we're happy with the Safe Step showers. I can get in and out by myself and there's bars to hold on to. It's much bigger than our other one was. It's cleaner and clearer and easier to get into.

The other issue is the water thing that turns the water hot and cold takes forever. When the water finally gets warm, you turn it up and it gets way too warm. That part doesn't work. Also, where the curtain comes down, the lip on the front of the base of the shower, it's not high enough. The curtain has magnets on it, but it doesn't stay unless you're really careful and watch the water 24/7 from coming out into the bathroom. It's not bad, but still, it should drain more in. If the step was just a little bit higher, the curtain would have more room at the bottom to where it wouldn't come out over the top of the thing.

I also had the guy come out. I can't bend over that well to wash my feet so he put a handle bar-like thing down low enough to where I could put my foot up on it and wash my feet. After I tried it, I thought, "That'll probably work." But it doesn't. I don't have a good balance. I had him come back out and take it back off and position it somewhere else in the shower to where it worked for me better.

Outside of those things, we're happy. I didn't go ahead and get the seat because it was too much. I couldn't see paying $800 for a fold-down seat. I bought a shower stool which we can use instead and it works. My wife and I are both handicapped. The reason we got rid of our tub was my wife could get in but she had to have help. I had to steady her so she could step up over the top of the tub. It's the same thing with me. My back is hurt too. Overall, we like the way our Safe Step walk-in tub looks. It's a good-looking thing. I like the room too. It's got a lot more room than the bathtub had.

It's easier to get in and out because you just got a small lip down there. But it's not a big enough one to keep the shower curtain in. The weights help but you have to be really careful because if you're not, you'll have to get ahold of it and pull it back over where it's supposed to be. Also, I saved Safe Step some money because the guy that worked on it said the little things that hold the soap and stuff were really small. They put on a couple of extra ones in there on each side. But he came up with an idea.

I had this white block on the walls for the covering. I told the guy I would like to keep those two. But it wasn't as good. It wasn't as nice as far as holding things. So the guy said, "Well, what I can do is, right down here, I can cut across here, cut around those and cut across and cut across, and leave those there." The deal was to enclose the whole shower, the top, and the sides. That was already done so that saved him from having to do that because he didn't have to put the whole wall. He still had to put a piece in there about four-foot from where he cut on down. It really doesn't match. It looks okay but it isn't quite the same whiteness as the other was. But I can live with that. Overall, it's all right and I'm satisfied.

The Safe Step shower that I had put in was their basic model. I had put in two metal grab bars and a foldable seat. Also, the shower was more flushed against the wall. So there's more room in it than there was in the original shower. I have a shower head that's removable so that I can use it to wash myself down, and there's a separate handle that I can put it in so that if I'm sitting, it'll be reachable. I shower almost every day. The grab bars are very helpful. It minimizes the risk of falling. My oldest daughter who's a physical therapist looked at it and she said that she liked it because it had all the safety features in.

The only negative thing about Safe Step is that every little bit that you wanna do is an upcharge. For example, I have basic white walls and floor. They'll say, one that looked like a subway tile, which is really a little bit of etching that they put in at the factory, wasn't allowed. So you had to go from the $11,000 model to the $16,000 model if you wanted any small upgrades to make it a little better. So they are steering towards an upcharge or more expensive unit. But everybody's like that. When I interviewed other people, it's just the norm of the business.

Several men showed up for the installation. They had one particular man whose name was Sergio, and he was awesome. I was very surprised about how well it was done. It's a one day install. They made sure everything is protected. Everything was sealed, so no water would get in. And they were out the door. They were done by decent hours so that we could have dinner.

The quality of the shower is phenomenal. My mom wasn't able to tell us where she wanted the grab bar, that they get us as part of the package, installed. So, I wanted her to get into the shower, get a feel and then let Safe Step know. Sergio said, "Not a problem. You call me whenever that happens. And I'll come back and I'll install it for you." I called him on a Friday and said, "We have the bar. Mom knows where it is. Does tomorrow work for you?" And he said, "Absolutely does." He came. He never asked for any money, made sure that it is exactly where we wanted it. And he left. It was phenomenal.

There were a couple of foundations that Safe Step said they've worked with over the years to come up with simple ways for people who cannot grab hold onto something and wash themselves. They came up with such unique ways to help out. It's a very positive experience I've had. It wasn't a wham-bam-thank-you-maam, "I'm in and out. I have the next job to go to."

The installers made a mistake when they first came in. They took everything out. It was good that they made the mistake because it would have caused problems in the long run. They took out the bathtub, the walls to make sure that gas lines would not get interfered with. Fortunately, everything was where it should be. When they went to check the drain, now, part of this was not their fault,

Whoever originally put in the drain put it in wrong and didn't screw it together. So, we would have had a whole major leak. But the installers said that the drain pipe had a crack in it. We never saw the crack. But they said they couldn't go any further until we got a plumber in there. We ended up getting all the plumbing redone, not just the drainage, but also all the stuff coming in, which was corroded. They were very nice about it and apologized. But I said, “It's good you did because we've now got new plumbing in the house.”

Their work ethics were very good. They were very professional. We bantered. I like to talk to the people that work for me. They screwed up again. And he admitted. He was very apologetic. They have three different kinds of showers. We ordered the middle range shower, which means you have to cut the holes a certain way. And he miscut. He cut it through the cheaper shower and looked at the paper, said, “Oh, no.” And he said, “What we can do is we can put the wall in and do it and then come back with the other wall and take the wall that we put in so you can use the shower.” I said, “Just do it. Just bring the wall back.” And they were able to fit me in two days later. So, I didn't have to wait a long time.

It is a huge investment. But I love the whole thing. I've been spending nights here. And the chair is wonderful to have for my mom to sit down. Because she had one of those chairs that you could remove and plastic. This folds down off the wall, so we don't have to lift it in and out. If I want more room in the shower for myself, I've got it. The hand bars are wonderful for her. She uses them all the time. The plumber that did the work was very impressed with their work.

But the guys that came to install were very polite and explained everything to us.

I've been meaning to call Safe Step and get them to call Eric and get him to call me because he did something in there and I agreed to it. And he told me some things that he found wrong under the house when he went back to turn my water on for the shower. My plumber came by and told me about it. He came in and said, "Do you know what he did? You know where he's got the faucet? Do you realize that's on the outside of the house? It's on insulation in the bathroom. But when it gets down to the foundation, it's gonna freeze down." Outside of that, I love my shower. My cats love it, too.