Walk-in vs. Roll-in Shower

[mitchjav]

Hi all - building in 55+ community. Any thoughts on walk-in vs. roll-in showers - obviously roll-in can accommodate wheelchair access - that's not our need (and hopefully not for a long time) ... wondering if there were other advantages/disadvantages for roll-in's?

 

[Jerry1]

If I had enough room, I would have done a roll in shower. Reason one is obvious. You never know if you’ll be in a wheelchair. However, as we age, having no ledge to step over is just one less thing to potentially trip over.

 

[RunningBum]

I have a walk in shower, where there's a slight threshold to step over. I've had a couple of short term strains and injuries where it would've been nice to not have to deal with even that small barrier to step over, but it never prevented me from getting in. But the way my shower is set up, I've never come close to needing that threshold to keep water in. That would be the main disadvantage of a roll-in, the possibility of water getting to the rest of the bathroom floor. If there's no real chance of that, I wouldn't mind a roll-in.

 

[W2R]

Hi all - building in 55+ community. Any thoughts on walk-in vs. roll-in showers - obviously roll-in can accommodate wheelchair access - that's not our need (and hopefully not for a long time) ... wondering if there were other advantages/disadvantages for roll-in's?

You may not need it now, but who knows if/when you might break a leg, or need a knee replacement, sprain an ankle, or some such thing? It's great to have a roll in shower as one grows older. Even if all you need is a walker, it's a PITA to get a walker through a shower door and over a lip when you can't put your full weight on one of your legs for some reason.

I am 72 and my shower has a 2"-3" lip at the entry, and was pretty difficult for me for a while when I had my knee replaced, even though I was never in a wheelchair. It's easy now that my knee can bear all of my weight again, but who knows what needs I may or may not have in the future. To me this is a "no brainer" - - at my age I would much, MUCH rather have a roll-in shower if that was an option. Seriously, if you don't have to put in a lip, why on earth would you do it? Fashion? I think not.

Also don't forget to put in some extremely sturdy grab bars, a non-slip shower floor, and a built in bench. These are helpful too as one grows older.

 

[Sunset]

I have neither but next house will have this.

I would think a roll in would be easier to use and future proof.

I'm wondering, with a roll in, wouldn't the installer put a 1/2 -> 1 inch spacer under the tiles, and then ramp up and down it 6 inches on each side so there is a tiny hill.

Is that what they do , or are they truly flat (with danger of water spreading all over) ?

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

I have a walk in shower, where there's a slight threshold to step over. I've had a couple of short term strains and injuries where it would've been nice to not have to deal with even that small barrier to step over, but it never prevented me from getting in. But the way my shower is set up, I've never come close to needing that threshold to keep water in. That would be the main disadvantage of a roll-in, the possibility of water getting to the rest of the bathroom floor. If there's no real chance of that, I wouldn't mind a roll-in.

Agree with this. Im a youngster but I blew out my back in a real way and just that tiny step up was very difficult and rather scary because it requires that you transfer your weight over an 4 inch or so lip, the grab bar was on the inside, and its a wet environment. When we redo it, will no with no lip and a grab bar on both inside and outside. Plus easier to clean. No edge to gather dust and mildew on both sides.

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

In europe in private homes ive seen them completely flat or perhaps a tiny slope going in all directions toward the center of the bathroom with a floor drain. Imagine one small bathroom with toilet, sink, shower. I dont recall if there was a curtain or not. In fact I think i do recall there WAS a curtian but it was to cover the toilet so the paper didnt get wet LOL not the sink or other flooring (this was in Sweden in an airbnb apartment that someone lived in when not rented out)

Here in the US the one I recall using in a private home had just the slightest of slopes towards a slit rectangular drain that was perhaps 3 feet long. Also a beachhouse we rented had just a slight slope in the oversized shower.

 

[Music Lover]

In europe in private homes ive seen them completely flat or perhaps a tiny slope going in all directions toward the center of the bathroom with a floor drain. Imagine one small bathroom with toilet, sink, shower. I dont recall if there was a curtain or not. In fact I think i do recall there WAS a curtian but it was to cover the toilet so the paper didnt get wet LOL not the sink or other flooring (this was in Sweden in an airbnb apartment that someone lived in when not rented out)

I know someone who has a bathroom as you described. They have a gentle raised area by the shower that keeps most of the water in the shower area, but also the entire bathroom floor is tiled with a slope to a second drain in the middle of the floor.

 

[W2R]

When we redo it, will no with no lip and a grab bar on both inside and outside.

Having a grab bar on the outside (as well as inside) is a GREAT idea, and one I never thought of before! Thanks.

 

[Koolau]

When we rehabbed our current condo, we took out a rusted tub and created a roll-in shower. What a fortunate decision. DW tore a tendon in her foot a few years later and our set up was perfect. Because the length of the shower is significant, even though there is minimal fall, there have never been any stray-water issues. We also put in sturdy (expensive) stainless grab bars. YMMV

 

[rodi]

When we built our granny flat for my in-laws, FIL was in a wheelchair. We did a roll in shower... the whole bathroom floor slopes to the drain. A curtain contains the water mostly. Cons - some extra dampness outside of the designated shower area. We chose to go that way so the entire bathroom was wheelchair friendly (turning radius).

Many modern new constructions have larger shower areas with a partial glass wall. That could work as a roll in shower as long as there is room to enter the shower area, and turn towards the shower end.

If I were doing new construction - I would do a roll in.

 

[Silver]

We have a flat entry roll in /walk in shower. In addition to length to make sure water does not escape, the width of the shower is important. A narrow, long shower does not work as well as a nice wide, flat shower with a slight slope.

When rehabbing our current master bath we made the shower as wide as we could given the space. Although we are currently happy with it, I wish it were wider so that a wheeled chair could more easily be used. It has an entrance level with the bathroom floor, but it is more narrow than I think would be comfortable when trying to use a wheeled chair.

The entry point needs to be wide enough to turn in and out with a wheeled chair. Just a flat surface is not all it takes.

 

[mountainsoft]

I'm wondering, with a roll in, wouldn't the installer put a 1/2 -> 1 inch spacer under the tiles, and then ramp up and down it 6 inches on each side so there is a tiny hill. Is that what they do , or are they truly flat (with danger of water spreading all over) ?

When we built our house, we tried to plan for the future by having a single level, 36" doorways everywhere, and a roll-in shower.

To accommodate the shower slope, I framed the shower floor 2 inches lower than the rest of the bathroom. Then I sloped the mortar bed from floor level down to the drain level, with Kerdi waterproofing just under the tile. We have no curbs, no curtains, no doors. Essentially, the entire bathroom is waterproofed. Our shower area is 6'x6' with a shower head on each wall. If we're both showering at the same time we may get a tiny bit of misty over spray near the toilet, but it's not enough to even get your socks wet. In daily single use, any over spray stays within the 6'x6' shower area.

We've lived here 16 years now and our shower has been wonderful. Plenty of room to move around, no curtains clinging to us as we shower, etc. Traditional showers are so confining and uncomfortable after using our big open shower.

 

[Bamaman]

I'm like MountainSoft, and have also built my own shower enclosure a number of times (different houses.)

In order to install a roll in shower, the entire bathroom would have to be waterproofed just like the shower stall. This could be a very expensive proposition--given the high cost of labor of a tile mason and the price of Kerdi waterproofing supplies. And in many cases, a very expensive custom glass enclosure would be required to get a door wide enough for a wheelchair.

We moved a year ago into a house with a fabulous master bathroom with a large custom shower. The home inspector found mold underneath the shower pan in the crawl space, and I was paid $3,000 to fix it. I found terrible workmanship underneath manmade marble panels.

My wife is facing major foot surgery after Christmas, and she'll be incapacitated 3+ months. I wish that I had that roll in shower, however she's going to be taught to deal with a conventional shower when she's in rehab. To tear out our shower and replace it would be major construction and quite expensive. And I don't have time and the energy to deal with it.

But if anyone is doing new construction and the bathroom area is large, go for the roll in shower.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

We have a Walk in with No threshold, small 1/4" lip. Entrance is 24" perhaps Not wide enough for Roll in.

 

[donheff]

Interesting topic. We are about to embark on a bathroom redo. I live in a city center row house with a very small bathroom. Our plan is to age in place - but a recent Parkinson's diagnosis adds some potential future challenges. I will have to consider the Swedish approach if I want a roll in shower.

 

[Aerides]

If I were doing new construction - I would do a roll in.

Yup.

When we remodeled, we converted our existing tub+shower to a walk in shower. When they removed the old tub, they found it was (by design) sunk about 5 inches lower than the rest of the floor. So we don't have a lip, but a shallow step-in shower. Glass wall/door around. It's nice because I never get water spill over, but no one is getting in and out of there if they need more than a cane.

 

[RunningBum]

My walk-in shower is basically G shaped. Two shower heads inside the bottom part. One is on the middle part pointing toward the bottom,and the other is on the right side of the bottom pointed directly to the left side. The open part never even gets wet, so even if it was a roll-in there would be no need to waterproof the rest of the bathroom.