A Contractor's guide to helping a client choose the right walk in tub

<h2 style="margin: 10pt 0in 0pt"><font size="3" color="#990000">A Contractor’s guide to helping a client choose the right walk in tub</font></h2><p><span style="line-height: 200%; font-family: ‘Verdana’,’sans-serif’; letter-spacing: 1pt; font-size: 10pt">As a contractor, you may have been contacted by someone considering replacing their standard bathtub with a walk in bathtub. If they ask you for your opinion on what they should be looking for, the following article will be helpful to you.</span></p><span style="line-height: 200%; font-family: ‘Verdana’,’sans-serif’; letter-spacing: 1pt; font-size: 10pt"><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">There’s several features that help make a walk-in bathtub more user-friendly. If these features are overlooked, they can cause problems. When the most important features is the direction in which the door of a walk in bathtub swings. Doors that swing to the outside require sweep space. Walk in bathtubs with doors that swing to the inside of the tub are much easier to work with because they generally fit in the same footprint as the old bathtub.</p>  <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">If your customer asks you if there is any advantage to having the door swing to the outside, you can tell them that the one advantage often cited, the ability to open the door if there’s an emergency, doesn’t really outweigh the disadvantage of the door having to be stronger and have a more sophisticated sealing system to prevent leakage. Doors that open to the inside have a double safety feature for leakage. First, the door is latched. And then the water presses the door into the rubber seal so leakage only becomes an issue as the seal ages.</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"> </p><div style="text-align: center"><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,29,0" width="425" height="282"><param name="movie" value="../images/banners/3c.swf" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="menu" value="false" /><param name="wmode" value="" /><embed src="../images/banners/3c.swf" wmode="" quality="high" menu="false" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="282"></embed></object></div>  <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">You also want to highlight the importance of a double drain system. When plumbed properly this allows twice as much water to drain out of the walk in tub as would drain out of the standard tub. This reduces the waiting time before you can open the door.</p>  <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">You will want to tell your customer about the benefits of including a hydrotherapy system as part of the walk in bath. Air jets are preferable to Jacuzzi jets for anyone suffering with a neuropathic condition. Because water movement is gentle, tissue injury is less likely to occur.</p>  <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">You’ll want to make sure your customer knows how to identify quality. A quality walk in bathtub has significant bracing internally. It will cost slightly more, but acrylic is superior to fiberglas for durability. It will remain new looking for longer.</p>  <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">If your customer is considering buying their walk in bathtub online, suggests they compare the return policies of the different companies that are checking into. Does the company give firm shipping quotes? How does the company handle a mistake on their part? How much will the company charge them if they send the tub back?</p>  <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal">And then you want to give your customer information on how to choose the size of their bathtub. Remind them that the walk in bathtub has to fit through doorways in the home, or you will be charging them more money for widening the doorways, as well as installing the doors. Unless they have a medical need to replace a smaller doorway with a larger opening, your customer will feel very good that you are looking out for their expense account.</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"> </p><strong>About the Author</strong>  <p><span style="line-height: 200%; font-family: ‘Verdana’,’sans-serif’; letter-spacing: 1pt; font-size: 10pt">If you would like more information about walk in bathtubs, we would be very happy to help you. A&R Wholesale specializes in the original Safety Tub® brand line of walk in bathtubs because of our commitment to quality. A&R Wholesale believes your customers should only have to make one <a href="http://www.arwholesale.com/walk_in_tubs/how_walk_in_tubs_are_made.shtml" target="_blank">walk in bathtub</a> purchase in their lifetime.</span></p></span>