The Five Biggest Mistakes When Buying A Walk-in Bathtub

1. The first mistake is a common mistake. Never get just one quote. Never accept just one source of information. That means shop around. If you call store A, have them come and show you their products and give you their pricing. After store A gives you their estimate, and sometimes a very pushy sign now gimmick, tell them, "thank you very much, but we are still shopping for the best price." Most people understand this part of the process even the salesperson. If they don’t understand that, you do not want their products in your home. They’re looking out for themselves and don’t have your best interest in mind at all. Call around. Search the internet. Try large companies and give the smaller companies a try too. It can be stressful, but in the long run you will know that you have gotten the best deal you could find.

Never ever make your decision to buy with the salesperson in your home. That is the most important issue and you must communicate that with the salesperson so there is no confusion. If you don't say that upfront, once you let a big company with an aggressive sales representative in, no other company will get a chance to give you a price. They won't leave until either you throw them out, or they sell you the tub. They will try every trick in the book to get you to sign a contract that day. They all will claim to have the best tub on the market. They will also all claim that you can’t get their pricing anywhere. Do not listen to it. Make your decision after they have gone. You will see a company’s true colors if you do not sign their contract that day. Here’s an industry secret, once the salesperson cannot get a signature on his contract, the next oldest trick in the book is to have a so called manager or somebody else call and try to save the sale for the salesperson. Don’t listen to them either. You need to make your own mind up after you have seen other products and other prices for similar products. There are no shortage of home improvement companies now these days. If one cannot understand that you might want to look at all your options, they are not somebody you want to deal with. Sales is a tough job but that is not you, the consumer's problem. 

Finally, keep in mind when choosing a company, the ones that have the celebrity spokesperson and the ad on TV every 15 minutes spends 10s of millions on advertising and they have to recover that advertising money somehow. They get that money back by building that into their pricing so give the company who doesn’t advertise on TV a chance.

2. This mistake may surprise you completely. It's whether or not a walk-in bathtub is even right for you in the first place. People make this mistake often due to salespeople not giving them the correct information and misleading people that anyone can just walk right in their tub.

A “Walk-in” tub, as the name implies, requires you to be able to walk. In fact, you need to be able to walk fairly steadily and stably, as many walk-in tubs still have a step you must raise your feet over while you’re entering and exiting. If you have trouble walking steadily and standing back up from a sitting position by yourself then a walk-in shower is a far better option for you. We’d like to point out that Senior Safe Solutions of PA’s walk-in tub does have the smallest step in the industry. All other tubs on the market have higher steps than Senior Safe’s due to their framed design. To see the difference between framed and frame-less tubs please view the video at the bottom of the page. Senior Safe Solutions of PA, as our name implies, places your safety as the most important issue for us. We would not try and sell you a walk-in bathtub if you cannot use it safely.

3. Assuming that large home improvement companies are looking out for your interests. Walk-in bathtubs are becoming more and more common. More and more companies are starting to take advantage of seniors. You should expect a trained professional will study your situation, choose a design with options based upon your needs, and then professionally install and certify the work. There are a lot of steps that go into the process. The company you choose should have your safety and needs first and foremost instead of their sales commissions. Senior Safe Solutions of PA does not have sales commissions. Your safety and needs are job one with us.

4. One of the biggest mistakes many internet shoppers make is to forget to make a diligent search on the internet for feedback on businesses who install walk-in bathtubs. There are several well known companies who have several complaints filed against them. You should take the time to familiarize yourself with consumer websites such as: www.complaints.com and www.bbb.org.

Search complaints.com and BBB.org for the business that you are interested in contacting. Make sure you check them out before you contact any business. Just type in the business’ name and read every complaint you can find. Do not take any one complaint lightly. If there are several pertaining to the same topic you should avoid all contact with that business. At the same time do understand that home improvement companies do have a higher amount of complaints than any other type of business. The number one reason for that is salespeople do not always communicate properly the process of installation and what can and will happen. If the complaints are about salespeople not being respectful, you do not want that company coming to your home. Every person should be treated with respect and especially in their own homes. If companies are willing to hire people who are not respectful of their clients in their own homes you do not want to deal with that company.

5. The worst mistake is believing a salesperson when he or she says; you’re receiving the best product and the best price. A salesperson that works for a commission, and most do, will say or do anything they can to get you to buy that day. They lose money on their commission if they don’t leave your home with a contract so understand that telling lies is not a far stretch for salespeople who work on commission.

One of the biggest lies told is that steel framed tubs are the best on the market. That is simply not true. When a steel frame tub is installed it is adjusted on each end of the frame with a wrench to even out the tub and get the door to seal. What happens is that once the installers leave, you start using the bath. From you using the bath, as it is intended to be used, the frame and tub start to expand and move causing the door to start to leak. The doors on steel frame tubs are notorious for leaking. The last thing you want in your life is a tub with 60-80 gallons of water in it to leak.

We have a video which explains the differences between steel framed tubs and our frame-less design with a Kevlar door. Our bathtub is certified made in the USA and carries a bumper to bumper lifetime warranty. Everything on our tub is covered for life. Please watch the video. 

Roll in showers: Do your homework, they're not all the same.

First off let's talk about Senior Safe Solution's shower for a minute.

People in the industry are quoted as saying, "As far as quality goes, I've never seen anything like it." That was from an installer who has seen years and years of jobs and many many roll in showers.

He's right, there is nothing like Senior Safe's roll in shower at all on the market. In terms of quality there isn't one shower system in the Pittsburgh area that can come close to the structural design and quality of our shower

When you take a look at our walk in or roll in showers side by side to the competition's the difference in quality becomes obvious.  All of our competitors' showers except ours is constructed with a base and 3 separate walls that require backing to be installed first, then glue, and then caulking. They require backing because by themselves they are not strong enough to withstand any kind of force and will crack or break.

Our system is a base and then one solid piece to form the walls. When we say solid that means, nobody's product can even come close to it and that is not an exaggeration. It doesn't require the backing and glue the others do. Our showers don't even have half of the amount of caulking used on the competitors. In fact our competitors showers will have caulking along all 3 pieces of their wall where as we only have one solid piece eliminating the seems of 3 walls caulked together. Design, form and function are clearly noticeable when you compare a roll in shower from another company to ours.

Senior Safe Solutions is professional and attentive concerning your needs. We're safety specialist, not salesmen who don't get paid unless they sell something. We want you to be our customer but we want you to understand that our products are superior first and that you're really getting your money's worth with us.

Now let's talk a little bit about salesmen. Senior Safe Solutions of PA was founded on the notion that elderly people are getting ripped off with poor quality products and ridiculous prices. We know from first hand experience and set out to change that with our company. That is why we only offer the highest quality products whether it be walk in bathtubs, roll in showers, or stair lifts. Safety, ease of use, quality, craftsmanship, reliability and longevity are our first concerns, not profits. We've managed to keep our costs down by eliminating sales commissions.  Our competition doesn't like to hear that and they are taking notice when we state that, you can be certain of it. It's good, we hope they do change and begin to care more about their customers than their profits.

The problem with companies today is that salesman work mainly only on commission which leaves the customer at a disadvantage. The salesman has to make as much as possible to make money for himself first. His first concern is his money, not your safety or how long his products will last, he just wants a sale and doesn't care how he gets it. We firmly believe that is wrong. We believe that is a big problem in business today and needs to be changed.

We don't have sales commissions and we do not pressure like so many other companies do. We want your business and we want you to look at other companies' people and their products because you will see then how good we really are. Don't fall for gimmicks. We're honest. Shop around. Call everyone you can find and tell them you are just shopping for prices.

You'll see who truly cares about your safety and who cares about their profits really fast when you refuse to buy the day they come to your house. That is because if that salesman doesn't leave with a signed contract he loses money. That system is set up to disadvantage the customer and we do not think it is right at all to put anyone at a disadvantage.

We can work with you on budget and we will be completely honest about it. We will do it to get closer to a company if they are for some reason cheaper than us and that is your main decision to choose them. We won't lie about it. We can't do every job for free but we do care if you are getting a good deal and if you are happy and safer after dealing with us. Please don't fall victim to hard sale tactics that should be long gone in today's society. There is nothing worse than finding out later you could have gotten a better walk in tub or roll in shower for a heck of a lot less than you just paid. We're not as large as some of these national franchise companies but where we lose in size we make up for in honesty, integrity, and customer service.

Visit us online today www.seniorsafepa.com or find us on Facebook or Google+

The Health Benefits of Senior Safe Solutions's Walk In Bathtub

Our walk-in bathtubs are designed for seniors with limited mobility and on a broader scale for those who want a spa-like experience but have limited space.

Senior Safe Solution’s walk-in bathtubs are taller than the average bath tub (containing about 2½ feet of water on average), have a slip-resistant floor, a built-in seat, grab bars, a hand-held shower head and a watertight Kevlar door (very important), other walk in baths fail and neglect to correct the number one flaw with their tub, and that is the door leaks. You can walk right into our tub rather than stepping over the side. Our step-up is as little as an inch. Other step-ups range in height from 2½ inches to 12 inches.

Senior Safe Solution’s walk-in bathtubs feature hydrotherapy massage settings. Hydrotherapy increases blood circulation. The American Medical Association (AMA) reports that 35 minute hydrotherapy sessions in hydrotherapy bathtubs to be as good as a two mile walk – and a lot more relaxing if you think about it. Hydrate and repair skin, all while chronic aches and pains are relieved. For more information view this video and visit www.seniorsafepa.com

Why you should be careful when you chose the lift you will have for the rest of your life.

The reason you chose a stair lift is to make your life easy. Don't make things even more complicated by choosing a chair lift that will quit on you.

Our lifts are the best in the industry, requiring hardly any maintenance. When you chose our lifts you choose a stress free lift. We have American made and American engineered chair lifts that are miles ahead of the competition. Other lifts can literally leave you hanging because they require constant maintenance and adjusting.

Take the worrying out of your already stressful time of going up the stairs completely. When you add a senior safe lift you add tremendous value to your home.

Walk in baths made in the USA

American made products are truly hard to find these days. That's why Senior Safe Solutions is so proud to tell you that our walk in bathtubs are not only made in the USA but they are also certified to be made with American parts as well as the manufacturing.

It means more to you than just knowing your new walk in bath will be of the utmost quality there is in the world. It means that you're not supporting an unknown nation, you're supporting American workers and American companies.

Every Senior Safe walk in tub is designed to be far more superior than any other walk in tub on the market. To back that up your new walk in bathtub will have a lifetime warranty. You only have to purchase once. It's guaranteed for life.

That's right. A Lifetime guarantee on everything. Your Senior Safe bath will be covered on all parts and labor for as long as you own it. With such outstanding quality you will love the comfort and independence that your walk in bathtub gives you for as long as you have it.

Don't settle for anything less. Get the certified made in the USA Senior Safe walk-in bathtub when you decide to reclaim your bathing independence. It's guaranteed for life not to quit on you.

Our new website is now online. Please visit www.seniorsafepa.com. We also have a new youtube channel here.

New website is coming!

Good news. Our plans are to have the brand new website up and running this week. We are very excited. Stay tuned. Make sure to bookmark it. Senior Safe Solutions of PA

Purchasing a Walk-in Tub can be a very confusing process for you or your loved ones.  With the ongoing growth of the 65+ population coupled with the decreasing nursing home population, it is no secret that The Greatest Generation and The Boomers are committed to Aging in Place.  Aging in Place is very simply the ability to live in one’s own home – wherever that might be – for as long as is confidently and comfortably possible.

A Walk-In Tub can be described as any bath tub containing a door that opens and closes allowing for easy entry and exit. But, unlike a walk-in shower, you can fill it with water and soak in it. They typically range in price from $1700 to over $30,000 depending on the features you choose, whether or not you have it professionally installed, and most importantly, the quality of the product you choose.  Making a decision based on price only, rather than evaluating your personal situation can often lead to the purchase of a Walk-In Tub that does not meet your needs.  Since you already own a bath tub that does not meet your needs, purchasing another one would be a poor use of money rather than an investment in Aging in Place.
Although the price of a Walk-In Tub can be expensive, the cost of a fall is almost always more expensive.  When you consider that most people arrive at nursing homes as a result of a fall, and a high percentage of those falls occur in the bath tub, a walk-in tub is less than just weeks in a nursing home.  But again, in order for a Walk-in tub to truly be an investment, it is imperative that it meets your needs.

For example, let’s compare two different companies to install a Walk-In Tub. Company A is $10,000 and Company B is $13,000.  The usual reaction would be to choose Company A because you think you are saving $3,000, and they both have a door.  However if the threshold height on Company A’s Tub is 6 inches and Company B’s is 2 inches, and you can’t pick your foot up over 6” or won’t be able to in a year or two, you have not saved $3,000 at all.  What you have done is wasted $10,000 to replace your existing tub that does not meet your needs, with another tub that does not meet your needs.  What you thought was savvy shopping has just turned into a poor use of money.  This is why you should carefully consider your needs and health concerns, or those of your loved ones before you worry about the price.  The long term cost is the real number to consider. Here is a list of the most important features to evaluate when considering a Walk-in Tub:

1)    Is it a framed or a frameless Walk-in Tub?  While the wide array of brand names can truly be overwhelming, there are only two designs on the market today; framed and frameless walk-in tubs.  Framed tubs are built on a steel frame.  The bottom of the tub is suspended off of the floor and these tubs typically have a 6” to 12” entry threshold.  Frameless tubs are designed with an extra strength mold that does not require a steel frame, and the bottom of the tub is not suspended in the air.  The typical entry threshold of a frameless walk-in tub is 1” to 3”.
  Because the typical Walk-in tub holds 600-800 lbs. of water plus you, you really need to consider if you think it is wise to suspend that weight in the air with nothing but air under the bottom of the tub, or whether you want the floor of the tub on the ground, where the bottom is reinforced by your floor.

2)  Is it acrylic or fiberglass?  Most walk-in tubs are no longer made of acrylic because gel coat fiberglass is simply much stronger.  Even though any fiberglass tub is stronger than acrylic, you should still consider the quality of the fiberglass that goes into your tub.  The Chinese fiberglass has a very poor track record and reputation while Marine Grade Gel Coat fiberglass is the best.  The poorer quality fiberglass in a framed walk-in tub will almost certainly lead to spider cracking in the floor area, and then leak.

3)  Is it a hydrotherapy tub?  Some walk-in tubs are what are termed “soaker” tubs.  This means that they have no air or water jets and it is just a tub with a door.  Some tubs have air jets only.  While the bubbles are very relaxing, and some air jet tubs are advertised as hydrotherapy tubs, the only way you have true hydrotherapy is if both air and water jets are present.  It is the movement of the water that creates the amazing health benefits these tubs are renowned for.  According to the AMA, a 35 minute hydrotherapy  bathgives you the cardio equivalent of a two mile walk.  Hydrotherapy has also been proven to relieve arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, depression, insomnia, the symptoms of diabetes, MS, MD, and many more.  It also helps white blood count and helps to regenerate injured tissue.  To go to the expense of a soaker tub and not spend a little extra to receive the benefits of a hydrotherapy tub is something you will have to weigh based on your health objectives.  Also, if you choose a hydrotherapy tub, make sure it is self-purging and has an ozonator so that you do not have to worry about bacteria growing in the lines.

4)  What is the drain time?  The frameless tubs have a much faster natural drain time than the framed tubs because they do not change the drain height of your existing tub.  Some framed tubs take as long as 15 minutes to drain.  The frameless tubs drain in about two minutes.  This is important to consider because you can’t open the door and get out of the tub until all the water is drained.  Some companies with slow drain times will offer a “minute valve”.  This is an extra pump that installs under the tub and requires electrical power.  If it fails, it is difficult to drain the tub and get out.  In most cases, your tub will need to be removed from the opening to service or replace a failed minute valve.

5)   The warranty – warranties on walk-in tubs range from 6 months to lifetime on all parts.  The most important warranty is the door seal.  As we mentioned earlier, there is 600-800lbs of water and that creates a lot of dispersion.  This dispersion puts a lot of pressure on the door and mold, and if you choose a poor quality tub, this can lead to door leaks.  If the door leaks, you can’t use the tub so make sure the door seal has a lifetime warranty.  It is also very important to consider a United States manufacturer.  Good luck getting a part from China if you experience a problem.

6)  Do you need installation?  A walk-in tub requires carpentry, plumbing, electrical, and sometimes more.  It is far easier and more cost effective to have one company install and service your tub rather than try to hire all of these different contractors to handle your installation.  You do not want to end up in a situation where three or four contactors are either blaming each other or telling you it is a manufacturer’s problem and the manufacturer is in China.  Make sure the company is licensed and insured and check references.
Once you have carefully considered all of these features and benefits and identified tubs that truly meets your needs, it is time to find the best price.  Good luck, and enjoy your Walk-in tub.