Safe Step Walk-In Showers Reviews

It was a frustrating experience to get to completion, but I am most satisfied with the completed result. Because the first that talked to me told me some stuff said he would call me and be back the next week. But I never heard from him. He quit and nobody picked up my job from his stuff. I called the second time and said, "This guy said I could do something with the VA and I need to turn into the VA to see if I can do this." "Oh, okay." So, they got somebody else out here to do the measurements and and it got turned in. I was approved reasonably quickly.

The day when the installer was supposed to come, he got sick. So, Safe Step called me and said, "We're sorry, but our person is sick." Nobody could have done anything about the guy who got sick. So, they had to reschedule me again. Finally, on that last time, the guy showed up and did an excellent job. It took me from June the 6th when I first got involved until October 15th when they finished the installation.

The installers had to take out the old cement drain and relocate for the position of the new drain because the shower that would go in would have a longer base than the one that they would take out. And they had to do all the stuff for the plumbing to get that up into the studs. They measured everything out and put blocks where they would put braces. And they got everything braced where they had to put in the ceiling. Also, they had to readjust where things were on a wall that was there.

The installer worked with his helper the first day when they put up all the sheets of stuff to make the walls. And the next day, he came back and did all of the detail work. And he had to do a bit of putting in a piece of sheet rock in an area where it was left because he worked in a 60-inch space. But I had a pipe that took up five inches of that. So, they could only put in a 48-inch shower so he could throw in a piece of sheet. The second day, he came back. He did all the stuff, got everything caulked. The second day was easier and he didn't need a helper. But he was very meticulous. He did an excellent job. I was amazed that one young man did it because it looked so good. I like its size and that it can now be used. That was a good thing that they approved that I could increase the size of it. I was able to update the rest of the bathroom as well. It fits the space much nicer.

They started bringing their equipment in, and worked on taking the tub out. They moved back and forth, took stuff in and out. When they got down to the part where they started putting it together, they started bringing the equipment in. I didn't wanna get in their way so I stayed in the living room while they brought the shower in piece by piece.

One asked me if I wanted to take a look at how it looked so far. I went back there and saw it was taking shape. So, I went out. And it took them the whole day to finish it. When they got to completion, he said, "Would you like to take a look at it now?" So, I went back there. I was amazed how good it looked. I told the man, "That is nice." He asked, "You like it?" I said, "Yeah, I like it." He said, "I'm glad you like it now." So, they went on and told me that he were finished. Everything that they ripped up, they took out. After the installation, they vacuumed up all the debris which they took and hauled off. Once they came out, I said, "You guys heading back to North Carolina now? He said, "Yeah." I said, "Have a safe trip." And I thanked them for the shower.

I was the first one to take a shower after they finished. Because I asked the installer, "When could I use it?" And he said, "Tomorrow." At first, there was a minor problem where I couldn't get the hot water mixed with the cold water because it was scalding hot. So, after I finished showering, I called Safe Step and asked them if they could send the installers back out, because there was a small problem where I couldn't get cold water to come in and mix with the hot water. And they had a few problem as far as getting the installer to come out. But he finally did.

It wasn't the same guy. It was a guy named Joe. And he has something to do in the office there. He said, "Someone will be there even if I have to come myself." So, he came out and corrected that. I took another shower and had a wonderful experience. The water was good and the spray was fine. It's making a bit of impact. I was unable to take showers because my legs wouldn't allow me to get over the bathtub level. My skin was drying out because all I could do is go into the bathroom and use the sink to wash up. So, I had some spots on my leg where I had been injured playing softball. I couldn't keep it moist with water because I couldn't shower. And it was far for me to reach down there with my hands to do it. I could walk right in and turn the water on, and stand up under the shower with a washcloth and scrub myself down. And that takes care of some of the dead skin.

In the meantime, my husband looked in the bathroom and saw this long scratch in my wall, on the opposite side of the toilet. It wasn't a big gouge, but it was deep enough that it had to have some type of fixing. It had to have some kind of a putty or something to fix it. Also, we didn't know how to match the color of the wall. I called the guy on his cell phone and he called back. He said, "When my brother comes out, we could get the paint matched. He can get that fixed up for you." It made it sound like it was no problem.

The next day, we woke up and smelled this horrible sewer smell. We went in and used the toilet to flush it. We heard these loud gurgling sounds. I was not only angry that he put a hole on the wall near the fuse box and had this big scratch on the wall, but we also had this smell and gurgling noise. When I called down to the main office, I spoke to a lady thinking she was the one I needed to speak to. I vented with her first. The she said, "I need to pass you over to the manager." I had to go through it again. When I was speaking to the manager, she was at a point where she didn't wanna let me speak. I've been in customer service. I used to train operators on the phone for answering services. The very best thing to do is allow the person to vent, let them say everything they want, then diffuse the situation. She wasn't doing that. As I was raising my voice and trying to get my point across, she was raising her voice at the same time.

At one point, I told her, "Please let me vent out everything I wanna say and then respond to me." She wouldn't let me do that. She kept interrupting me and telling we they were handling it. Three times, as we were talking back and forth, we got disconnected and I'd call her back. It would go to voicemail. She was avoiding the call. I waited a little bit and called back again. Finally, she answered. She said she had reached to the older brother and he was gonna be calling me back. A little bit later, he called me back and told me, "All you have to do is have you or your husband run water. They didn't finish running water into your system to test it and allow that hatch to close. The hatch is open right now and that's why you're getting the odor and the gurgling." As soon as he told us that, my husband went into the bathroom, ran water in the shower, and that thing closed. There was no more smell or gurgling.

But overall, we're happy with the shower. It's beautiful. The old showerhead was very stiff and you couldn't move it. This showerhead is very flexible. It's so much easier 'cause I have trouble with my hands with neuropathy. The settings on it are easy to get to. I just wish the whole thing wasn't so expensive. When it came out to 11,500, that was double what I was anticipating.

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 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.

We opted for the glass doors, which was extra. I realize I have an old house and they said my walls were really crooked, which I didn't think they were that off. I'm not really happy with the way they close. There's like a quarter to a half-inch gap on one side. It touches at the bottom, but it doesn't touch at the top. Also, I had this tile board stuff halfway up on my walls, and if they would have cut that out, which I wouldn't have cared, I think it would have fit a little better. Maybe I should have said something to them while they were installing.