Financial help with walk in shower

lessonlearned

maninthestreet wrote: »

All showers are 'walk in', aren't they?

I agree with Margaret Clare, most ordinary shower cubicles have a small step. A proper walk in shower is more like a wet room arrangement.

in addition to grab rails, special non slip bases or flooring will be needed, plus most will also have some form of seat.

The other thing to remember is that there might come a time when the bathroom or shower room will need to accommodate either a wheelchair or some form of walking aid such as a walking frame, possibly with room for a carer too, grab rails by the loo etc.

It's not just a case of whipping out the bath and popping in a step in shower.

margaretclare

Hotels are getting the idea nowadays!

DH and I have stayed in quite a lot of different hotels. We've gone on to hotels rather than B&Bs as our mobility declined. We always ask for a walk-in shower. Where you find a newly-built or newly-modernised hotel, it's always available. Some of them have all that you'd need in a proper wet-room as lessonlearned has described, but they don't look 'clinical' or 'institutional'. Premier Inn, Holiday Inn or Novotel for example, have taken on board the modern idea of 'better facilities for the disabled'.

It's not just a case of whipping out the bath and popping in a step in shower.

No, indeed. That was what we did originally in the late 90s. I fell out of it on one occasion, couldn't get up and was found sitting on the bath mat hanging on to the loo when DH got home. Fortunately I didn't do any damage, didn't hit myself on any hard surfaces. But...

When DH was so ill in 2008/9 I had to get the whole bathroom re-done. Fortunately the man 2 doors down had just re-done an en suite shower room in his house, I saw it and said 'I want that instead of our present bathroom'! And he did it. He couldn't do a wet-room/level floor without ripping out all the wooden floor and it would have been a much bigger job taking up time that we hadn't got. So we now have a bigger shower cubicle with curved doors and just a very small step into it. And grab-handles. The trick is to go in forwards and come out backwards using both hands. There's a technique to it! It's not the same as using a bath.

SevenOfNine

Might a walk-in bath be worth considering, still not cheap though. Definitely not recommending the link, just to see what's out there!
http://www.mobilitydepot.co.uk/Walk%20In%20Baths/walk-in-baths.htm

A friend has one with some grab rails, though there is still a 'step' in (& resembles the one called 'Arizona' in the link) - just a 'basic' one with a thermostatic shower.

carefullycautious

SevenOfNine wrote: »

Might a walk-in bath be worth considering, still not cheap though. Definitely not recommending the link, just to see what's out there!
http://www.mobilitydepot.co.uk/Walk%20In%20Baths/walk-in-baths.htm

A friend has one with some grab rails, though there is still a 'step' in (& resembles the one called 'Arizona' in the link) - just a 'basic' one with a thermostatic shower.

The problem with these is that the elderly person has to sit and wait while the bath fills up and also wait while it drains. They become chilled very quickly and OTs don't tend to recommend this

margaretclare

I can't imagine sitting naked in an empty cabinet waiting for it to fill up with water. First your toes get wet, then your ankles, then the water gradually climbs to your knees, eventually you get it neck-deep...and how do you make sure the temperature is just as you like it? And the reverse process coming out. It would take ages. A shower, once you're in it, can be very quick. Many people nowadays like a shower because it saves so much water, which you have to pay for.

SevenOfNine

Good points! :think:

How you fill it then open the door to get in didn't even occur to me, Personally I wouldn't want to sit in a bath while it's filling so you'd still have to clamber in. Wouldn't much like sitting all wet while it empties in order to get out either.

What's the point of having one? Scrub my suggestion OP, I'm off to ask my friend why she has one of these. :huh:

Savvy_Sue

SevenOfNine wrote: »

Good points! :think:

How you fill it then open the door to get in didn't even occur to me, Personally I wouldn't want to sit in a bath while it's filling so you'd still have to clamber in. Wouldn't much like sitting all wet while it empties in order to get out either.

What's the point of having one? Scrub my suggestion OP, I'm off to ask my friend why she has one of these. :huh:

:rotfl: I have seen one where there was an over-bath shower in the walk-in bath. So you could 'walk in' and close the door to use the shower, OR close the door, fill the bath and climb in if you were going to take a bath.

But there was still a 'lip' to the walk-in element.