Walk-in tub

I'll stay with my old hard-water-stained model that isn't very slippery anymore. Cost $0

Those nice clean and shiny tubs remind me of this old Thurber tale ;-)

Tom Gardner on Wed, 31 May 2017 15:10:07 -0400 typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

Main issue - you have to get in, then fill, then drain, then exit. That's a long time to sit, waiting.

One problem is that no matter who big the drain on the tub is , it often connects to a smaller drain pipe. SO after that first rush fills the pipe - then you have to wait for the drain to clear. YMMV.

-- pyotr filipivich "With Age comes Wisdom. Although far too often, Age travels alone."

One of my clients bought one. It took her from 10am to noon just to get out of bed, her back was so bad. She bought the $17,000 model with jacuzzi, music, lights, and shower combo. It helped her cope with massive pain, in addition to her pharmacy of strong painkillers. She felt it was worth it.

I'd bet that most people could get by just fine with a couple of grab rails over their tub. I installed many dozens during the decade I worked as a handyman.

Um, you're pissin' and moanin' about 5% of pocket change and are willing to spring $20k for a tub? OooooK. Fascinating budget plan you have there, Tawm.

What's really amazing is reading that there's an RCM "conservative" who can afford a deluxe tub. That's about as rare as an albino dodo bird. Unless Tom is talking about buying the tub the same way Wieber talked about buying $600 jeans...

More affordable than a walk-in tub... install a receiver hitch on the front of your car. Strap a self-lifting recliner chair onto one of these.

Lay back into the chair and get scrubbed and waxed at the same time your car gets washed.

Neon John on Thu, 01 Jun 2017 10:36:49 -0400 typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

Two minutes sounds fast - when you're kissing your wife. Sitting in a tub while it drains, knowing you're going to need to shower off the soap when done ... too long.

-- pyotr filipivich "With Age comes Wisdom. Although far too often, Age travels alone."

My simple answer is a Rubbermaid step stool as a shower seat and an extended sink spray replacing the shower head.

The stool is low enough to reach the spray head resting on the tub floor or my crossed feet. Unlike a bulky multinozzle shower spray the sink spray shuts off when released, saving hot water that would be wasted down the drain.

The sink spray hose extension is a replacement hose for the fancy units. The ones I bought have the straight version of pipe threads and seal well enough with TFE tape in a brass pipe coupler, which I padded with rubber hose to protect the walls. Even if they drip it's into the tub.

-jsw

My simple answer is a Rubbermaid step stool as a shower seat and an extended sink spray replacing the shower head.

The stool is low enough to reach the spray head resting on the tub floor or my crossed feet. Unlike a bulky multinozzle shower spray the sink spray shuts off when released, saving hot water that would be wasted down the drain.

The sink spray hose extension is a replacement hose for the fancy units. The ones I bought have the straight version of pipe threads and seal well enough with TFE tape in a brass pipe coupler, which I padded with rubber hose to protect the walls. Even if they drip it's into the tub.

-jsw ==========================================================

I haven't needed the shower seat yet, but I've narrowed my choices down to a couple that look like they will fit my tub and hold my weight for when the time comes. I installed a shower wand several years ago, and really loved it compared to the stationary shower head. However, the wand was low flow like most shower heads these days, so when it broke 3-4 years ago I got a "Camco 43712 RV Shower Head with On/Off Switch (Off-White)" from amazon for about $12 ($15 now) and I love it. It has two positions, regular shower and a pulse massage setting but I almost never use the pulse. However, it flows much more water than the low flow wand did, basically as much as the old high flow shower head I started with, which is great, and it has a slide valve so I can shut off the flow when I don't need it without disturbing the temperature setting. I figure I save about enough by turning the flow off to balance out the higher flow when on, and I'm much happier :-). It fits on the end of the old wand hose, and fits into the hose adaptor socket assembly that replaces a regular shower head so installation was trivial and it still works as a fixed shower head if you want that (you can buy all those pieces separately if you aren't starting with a dead wand like I was). I never thought about adapting a sink spray head to get the shutoff valve, that's a great idea. However, the RV wand delivers at least twice as much water as the sink spray in my kitchen sink, so I don't think I would be happy with the lower flow.

Showering is personal preference, but you might find that the diverter valve is limiting the flow in the kitchen. My shower sprays 1.5 gallons per minute at 40PSI.

I originally installed the spray hose on a Y fitting to wash the dog, who would stand still for a tub bath as long as she could keep her face outside the curtain. She was an intelligent and mostly cooperative Golden Retriever who was easy to teach to shake the water off only on command, in the tub and then outdoors. It was funny to watch peoples' reactions when they asked her to "shake", expecting a raised paw.

-jsw

I have a shower wand, too. The low flow fix is easy. You can either remove the little PVC washer with the small hole in it, or drill it out larger. I did the former for my shower and the latter for my aerators in the sinks. I don't waste water (shutoff valve on wand and I know how to regulate the flow in the kitchen to quickly fill the sink or gently wash my hands) and am on a well, so it would have been free anyway. There really isn't a shutoff valve on the wand, but in between settings (rain or hard spray) the head shuts off the water, so it works as a valve, saving water while I soap up and shampoo. My Air Force dad taught me about GI showers early on, and it stuck with me.

You'd be surprised how many people aren't aware how simple it is to increase the flow of water, Carl.

Har! Especially when she was wet, huh? And as they're blinking the water out of their eyes, she's all friendly and wants to shake hands now, too, huh?

I have been using the "water-pik" hand held shower massage for over forty years. Several years ago I had a lower leg/foot cast; the day it came off, I made a seat - 2x4 s notched to rest on the top surface of the tub, corners chamfered to clear the shower slidding doors and 1x2s to form a seat, all made of white cedar and held together with brass screws. After I no longer needed it a relative with knee replacements admired it so I sent it home with him; then discovered I had nothing to stand on when working above the tub so duplicated my seat in 2x4 s and 1/2" plywood. After a recent hospitalization I am determined to go back to my cedar one.

Neon John on Thu, 01 Jun 2017 19:01:11 -0400 typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

Yep.

Some people love them, some people like Marmite on their sandwiches.

People ask for opinions - that's mine. I have others if you'd like to heart them. Also mine - for the most part.

-- pyotr filipivich "With Age comes Wisdom. Although far too often, Age travels alone."

Two minutes sounds fast - when you're kissing your wife. Sitting in a tub while it drains, knowing you're going to need to shower off the soap when done ... too long.

You know what the solution is, Pyotr? YOU should not buy one. But for those of us with back, hip and/or knee problems that makes getting into a regular tub painful or dangerous, this thing is just what the doctor ordered. See, now wasn't that easy?

Yep.

Some people love them, some people like Marmite on their sandwiches.

People ask for opinions - that's mine. I have others if you'd like to heart them. Also mine - for the most part. -- pyotr filipivich "With Age comes Wisdom. Although far too often, Age travels alone."

Ayup. Cedar is good stuff, it's light, it has a long life around water, and smells good wet or dry. It's hard to beat.

At least I have my priorities straight!

Can't get a front hitch so I'd have to back in...the way you do at the bath house.

At an early age I learned to back away from excess food, so now in retirement my joints are thanking me. Bonus, I can still do the high kick it takes to get on my bike with a top case. I'll be thinking of you next time I see the giant price tag on a walk-in tub, and whenever some lardo is using his old-lady-grabber to pluck merchandise into the basket of his mobility scooter.

I got those coin wrappers, so shoot me your address and I'll mail 'em out to you. 50 or 100 of each, penny, nickel, dime, quattah?

You bend over and back into the bath house? Whatever floats yer boat.

I bought one of the little hitch receivers but haven't yet modified my Tundra skid plate to fit it in. One of these days, though... I'm up to 60sf of open space in the shop now. (No, total, in 3 places.)