A Walk in Bath or Shower or Wet Room

A Walk in Bath or Shower or Wet Room : An accessible bathroom for the people with mobility issues is the most loved possession in a house or any public restroom. When it comes to design such a bathroom, there can be a confusion about the best option among the three – a walk in bath or shower or wet room.

Though all three are focused to provide an easy access to the disabled people, each has their own advantages and limitations. Which option is best for you and your mobility restricted relative or friend, depends upon many factors, including mobility levels at present and in the future), suitability of the bathroom and, of course, the budget.

An insight into these three options will give you better-thinking perspective and help you choose the one that would be best suitable for your circumstances.

Walk-In Baths

Walk-in baths are replacements for lying down bathtubs, having an easy access with a side door.

The people with restrictive mobility find it easy to step into a bathtub rather than having to balance on one leg whilst trying to lift the other over the side of the traditional bathtub. They come with following disabled-friendly features:

Slip-resistant surface
Thermostatic controls for having a balanced water temperature.
Low entry doors
Can also provide Spa therapy and Chromotherapy

The market is flooded with walk-in baths with different designs and door accessibility. Some are doubled door, while some others are more compact to suit the smaller bathrooms.

Walk-in baths still have a step (though it is at a much lower level) which is not suitable if you have a person with the great level of immobility. He/she might not gain the confidence in using it all by itself. This means, you have to go for either a walk-in shower or wet shower option.

You can also click here to understand more about the walk-in showers and walk-in baths from a bath specialist company.

Walk-in Showers

Shower area is more accessible to people with limited mobility and it makes them more independent. Also, people with greater intensity of disability prefer to have walk-in showers over walk-in baths since they do not like to go through a trouble of stepping into the bathtub. Now the only factor which is to be considered is the design of the bathroom. You need to see if your bathroom it is shaped appropriately for the installation of the shower area.

This kind of step-free or reduced step is an easier access option than a walk-in bath or a standard bath. There is also no risk of tripping involved in such bathing option.

Grab rails placed at the convenient spots within the shower enclosure helps in providing a firm handhold while entering and exiting the shower. The companies also provide a shower seat within the walk-in showers, which provides an extra help to the disabled people. There are multiple options for the shower doors as well- double sided, slide doors, pivot doors.

Wet Rooms

A wet room is typically a larger shower area than the walk-in showers with an ease of taking a wheelchair into the bath. There is a half shower screen installed and if required, the shower doors can be done away altogether. This removes the obstruction and provides free entry and exit in the shower.

To prevent the bathroom floor from getting wet, shower curtain can be installed. Like walk-in showers, the wet rooms are also equipped with a foldable seat and grab rails. The floor is, of course, covered with anti-slip flooring.

Since all the three options are for disabled people, they are bespoke bathing products. The expert consultants from renowned bath solution providers can understand all your requirements for a walk-in bath, showers or wet baths. Usually, this consultation is free.