Safe Step Walk-in Tubs

The installation was exactly like TJ said it would be. The crew came on time, which was a big deal to me. They looked at what needed to be done and made some suggestions about the floor. We just bought this house and they found some black mold behind the tub. They were gonna have to take care of that to put up a false wall there. We went extra and got it and got another floor. I'm glad we did that.

The crew told me what time they would be finished and they finished at that time. They came at 8:00 and were done by early afternoon. Even with adding and putting down the floor, they were done in four hours. They were talking about the toilet and we asked them to replace those. They went round the street and got toilets and did that for the other bathroom and this one. Even with that run to Home Depot, they weren't here for more than six hours. They were really fast.

I like the music in my walk-in tub. When you turn on your tub, it announces that the Safe Step is ready and ready to pair with your device. I pair it with my device and I can choose my music before I get into the bathtub. When it pairs, it just picks the music up. You can set the volume on the phone. I leave my phone in the bathroom across from me. I'm funny about electrical appliances and water.

I feel a lot better with my walk-in tub. I like the lights and the microbubble feature is really helpful. My husband had some distortions with the rash stuff and it's really helped him. I had a little discoloration, but not a lot. I had a foot that was giving me a big problem. There's the bidet too, which I never had a bidet before. These things make you feel luxurious. We prepared for our water bill to be really high but it has not gone up significantly.

I take a Safe Step bath three times a week and I really like it. The draining feature is really good. It drains fast. The water never gets cold. It's like a spaceship and so it has temperature control so your water stays the same temperature. It's a spa. It has a heated seat too that you turn on. You just turn on your music, you sit down, and you're heated. When you hit your water feature, you get a back massage with the water. You can do your feet and your back or just your feet or your back. It has a thing for you to turn there.

It has a timer on there and that's good for people who are maybe unable to maybe have caregivers. The nice thing is if you want to stay in there a little longer, all you have to do is reset it. You can stay in there as long as you want. It's a good system. This walk-in tub is worth it. I'm not swelling anymore. I would suggest Safe Step from the standpoint of economy. It's a great upgrade to your home and it adds value.

The only thing is I've got to find a place to get in another Safe Step towel. My husband didn't get one. We have one that we'll use around the holidays. People come over to look at the house, and I go, “Let me show you my new toy.” People go, “Wow!” Most of my friends don't have space. They're getting sold on the showers.

My prediction for walk-in showers is it’s short-lived because you're talking to people right now who are 50 to 65 and still pretty mobile. I tried to look at our house in 10 to 20 years. I do not suggest those showers because who's gonna help you walk in it? A lot of the stuff that TJ pointed out was tested by the Arthritis Foundation. I have arthritis. There's a non-slip surfacing on the bottom of our walk-in tub. There are handrails inside the tub because those do not do me any good outside of the tub if I need to stand up or I need to get out. Those are things that are important.

The other thing that I'm concerned with is I wanted to put some things on the walls for my mom to put her shampoo and stuff in. I selected a heavy-duty sticker that goes on to it and then they hook in. I was cleaning the spot where I wanted it to be, and it feels gritty like sandpaper. It's everywhere except in the tub itself. The outside and the inside of the tub are smooth, but anything above the top of the actual tub is not. They said to clean the pipes out with a cup of bleach, a tub of water and dishwasher. I tried some bleach on it. That didn't touch it. It doesn't say in the book to try vinegar, but our salesman said it works better than the bleach. I tried vinegar on it. It didn't touch it.

I tried some Dawn and a cloth, and that didn't touch it. The only place it was smooth is where I started to put the sticker on and pulled it off, and that pulled the grit off. So, I called the company today, and they were supposed to get back with me in five to seven business days. It'll be, unfortunately, the same guys that came out. We have used the tub being very careful about it. So, we have used it. When I called the company, they said, "Well, did you step in it right away?" I'm said, "No. They said, wait 24 hours." We actually waited almost 36 hours. So, we waited longer than we were required to. We've been very careful with it. There have been a few things mom complained about, but they were because she didn't understand something.

Overall, I love the tub. The microbubble therapy is wonderful. All the bubbles make you feel like your legs just wanna float to the top. The rainfall shower thing feels so amazing. Having the handheld as well makes it nice and easy for my mom and me. I'm more apt to shower than I am to take the baths just because I'm always in a hurry. If I'm taking a bath, and my mom would fall, I can't make the water drain any faster than it'll drain, and you can't open the door. There's a lock on it, but the water pressure is pushing outwards. So, pulling the door inward to open would be difficult, but I also love that aspect of it because the water pressure is helping hold the door close making it less likely to leak.

The product is a $20,000 investment, but it gives my mom back her independence. She can get in the tub when she wants to. The light, the ability to do the aromatherapy, and the jets are wonderful. The fact that you can fill it up as full as you can and soak down in reminds me of the old clawfoot tub we had when I was a kid. It's amazing.

As far as the company, they answered the phone when I called. I wasn't having to leave a message and have somebody call back. They were courteous and were more than willing to help me. Somebody is supposed to call me and get this scheduled to fix within the next seven business days. So, I'm really happy with that. Everything that I wasn't happy with is probably a matter of better training their people to have the customer first and come up with a solution or maybe training the consumer of, "Hey, you're gonna feel like this is rough.” It's just to me, if it's rough, it may hold bacteria and stains.

It was pretty difficult for me to get from the printed information all I needed to know to operate it. So, it's been a struggle to work through it these last two weeks. I kept pushing buttons until I found out what works. I read and reread the directions. It caused me to study the directions very detailed and that's probably good for me to do. But it would be most helpful if I saw a demonstration. The first thing I discovered was that I did not have an adequate hot water tank. So, we had to take out the hot water tank and put it in a new hot water tank to satisfy the needs of my Safe Step. It was pretty easy to go back and see what each knob was for later. Safe Step did a good job in the depiction of those things in the material. But you have to study about it.

I was very upset about not having a good indoctrination into the features of it. I told this to Chris, and the project chairman, a lady by the name of Morgan, but she was not in the office. But over a two-day period, I'd have four calls asking if she called me back so I could make these comments. I called back two days later, which was the week of the Fourth of July, so I knew everybody was moving around and having their parties and picnics. But I didn't get any callbacks when I left messages at all.

I called the maintenance department. I did not get a name from the lady that was there, but she promised to have someone call me back as soon as possible, which I assumed to be in a few hours, but I've never heard from her. I've gradually learned to operate the Safe Step. I'm 95 and I've had to work it through by myself. I love my Safe Step. It's a wonderful piece of equipment. It's hard to get in and out of somewhat, but it does a great job and I hope I'll get better acquainted with it as time goes on.

One of the reasons I put in the step-in tub is it became uncomfortable to stand in my shower and scrub without a handle at my age. I'm not stable. I went with a Safe Step so that I could sit down and wash my body without having to worry about falling. I'm a pretty big person and my first realization is how small the tub is. So, I have to be very careful getting in and out.

The door is delicate, but working around the door to get in is a challenge. Also, they didn't put the drain in the right place. If the drain had been forward and away from the door, instead of right where you have to step in, it would have been much better. It's right under your feet where you sit. You have to be mindful of that all the time. If it was in the middle of the front, your feet would not step on it regularly. When I stand up to get out, I have to separate my legs and get in an awkward position so I can open that door. Also, it would be a little better if you could open the door and stand in front of it when you're drying down with your towel. As it is now, you have to stand awkwardly.

The tub is very expensive. So, you should think it would be a little more foolproof. Sometimes the bells and whistles are a little heavy. The music and the light colors don't mean a whole lot to me. But the movement of the water does. The convenience of having the little handheld shower is wonderful. Overall, I'm very satisfied with the concept and I'm sure that I have the right tub.

In the end, I did something that he advised me not to do. I put in an electric gas hot water heater. For the most part, it was not big enough. He told me it wouldn't work and everybody else tried to tell me it would. If I would have listened to him, I've been better off. We get by with it. We use mostly the shower part and the hot water heater has no problem keeping up with the shower. It's when we use the tub part that it doesn't keep up.

That aside, the installers were very polite and nice. I had a few issues due to the way things were when they tore everything out and when they put them back. But they were very cooperative and they did things that they didn't have to do. They did them because I asked them to. They took the shower out. Where it was, it was a bigger spot than what they are gonna cover back up. I had a piece that was going to show that had glue on it. I asked them if they could tear that off because I had a piece that they could put up there. That's what they did.

They did excellent work. I didn't have all my flooring done so they left the flooring. There was a piece in front of the tub that they couldn't cover because I have to put my flooring down and finish it out. The shower was there so I couldn't do anything until they got the shower out. They left me a piece to put in front of the tub so I could finish that up. I asked them if they could leave that for me. I was very pleased with their work.

The only problem I have is the tub is a little small for me. I’m 6’1”, 220. When they brought the tub in to do the installation, they didn't let me get inside of it. I looked at it and I was thinking, “Oh, **.” But I thought, “Okay.” I got it mostly for my wife. She’s on oxygen 24/7. She has a hard time getting around. When she takes a shower, she would get too short of breath. I did the tub for her so it could be more convenient, less stressful, and where she could more or less enjoy it.

Safe Step is fine. I have some friends who are as big or bigger than me. I would tell them, “Use your own judgment.” Anybody that's been here has looked at our tub and thinks it's really nice. I've gotten in it and I take a shower, which is fine. I've taken two baths with it and it works out because you slow the water down a little bit and the hot water will keep up. You just can't have it on full blast. If you cut the water down a little bit, it could keep up. After you get so full with it, take the shower part and just fill it up with the shower part.

I was telling a friend of mine about my experience when I got stuck in the bathtub. I got in the bathtub and I couldn't get out and when I couldn't sit myself over to get out of the bathtub, I said that I will never get down in this bathtub again. And I bought a Safe Step Walk-in Tub after that. Because I was not going to get stuck in the tub and have to call 911 and have them come and get me out of the bathtub. I've told all of my friends to get the walk-in tub now instead of later because even if you end up having home help or long-term health care, and somebody has to come and bathe you, it is easier to be bathed in a walk-in tub than it is in the traditional tub.

Everything went well with the installation team. But I tell everyone that the price that you see on there is just a starting price. You never know whether you're going to need a bigger hot water tank or whether you need your pipes redone, which I had to because they were rusting from the inside. I have two daughters and I love them immensely. But I didn't work all of these years to save money and have a good retirement and investment fund to save it and leave it for them. So, I am using the money that I worked for to make life good for me. I retired already but I'm doing everything to stay in my home.

Quality of life is very big for me. I finally met the man of my life and we loved one another for almost 25 years. After he died and I was in that tub and I couldn't get out, I had a panic attack and hyperventilated, and I thought of how I could get out of this tub. Something told me that one extra day is not promised to us and it's okay to spend our money on ourselves to make sure that we live a good life in our later years. I'm only 66 years old but I want to get to that point like my mother who is 92 years old. She still stands up and takes a shower. She gets in that bathtub. I offered her a walk-in tub, but she told me no. If she ever tells me she wants one, I'm gonna drop the money and get her one.

I've had the walk-in tub for a while and I just added the shower package to it. I just had that little handheld thing and it was just something to rinse off after I've washed up. So I called Safe Step and the guy said that they already got my measurements and could send the shower package out. So, we had someone come and add the shower package to my walk-in tub and I love it, and it's great. Even though I'm just your average person living in the average type house, in the average neighborhood, I got a spa back there. I got blue lights, aromatherapy, the bubbles, the lights inside that change colors and I even put an extra light in my bathroom. I told people I can just get in the walk-in tub and get out in five minutes.