When I see these commercials I think that the value of The House just decreased if planning to sell it in the future. It really doesn't appeal to me from a decorating stand point either. It looks like it would take up half of our bathroom not to mention the water it would take to get it waist high. What are your thoughts?
My parents had one installed in their master bath when they renovated. My paternal grandparents also have one in their retirement-living community home. They are useful accommodations if you can't lift your leg to get in the tub but want a bath. Shower seats are all well and good but baths can help sore muscles a lot. Also, my grandparent's old home used to have a combo bath/shower. Even though my grandmother always showered and got a shower seat as she got older, there came a point where even that wasn't enough help. From the standpoint of using one as a healthy adult. It's nice to be able to fill a tub that deep...but it's also perfectly possible to use it with less water. I think, especially if it's in a ground floor bathroom, it could be a selling point for an older or physically disabled person. I can see it being a drawback if the buyer has young kids though.
I can see the benefits of walk-in tubs for a lot of people, but most of us don't have a need for them, and they're quite tacky looking to the average person. I wouldn't install one unless I or someone else in the household had a physical ailment. I'm sure individuals with a variety of ailments love these types of bathtubs, though. I haven't seen a home equipped with one in the last few years, but I'm sure there are thousands of them around in homes across the country.
I wouldn't install one personally at my own place, but my mom who is in her 70's has expressed interest in getting one at my parents house. I would love for her to have one at their house, regardless of how it would affect the re-sale value. I think her comfort and well being in her later years are more important than any potential loss in value of the home. They spent a good portion of their lives paying off that house (and putting a roof over my head), it's only fitting they get to do with it as they please. I suppose another way of looking at it, is that it could also possibly be a selling point if someone else who is disabled or elderly ends up buying the house when you sell it. I can't imagine it being that big of a deal to remove it and replace it with a standard tub, which the buyers may have planned on doing anyhow. But for someone who could use a tub like that, the home would be even more "move in ready" for them.
They look wonderful for those unable to safely step into a standard tub, but I really wonder how long the seal is really going to last. It seems like something that would become a liability in a couple of years, because if it broke, it could be a huge flooding problem, and an older person would have great difficulty getting it cleaned up before the water seeped into all kinds of places, possibly ruining the downstairs ceiling, destroying carpets, and causing a mold problem that can't be solved but by major remodeling.
