Anyone ever use Bathfitter?

[Mike B]

I'm interested if anyone has ever had Bathfitter do their tub/shower where they put a new tub/shower over the old one. If so, what are your thoughts about the job they did? Thanks

[hj]

I had a motel for a customer once who had them installed over all their tubs. After a year or so, a lot of them felt like you were walking or sitting on a water bed because water got between the two tubs and could not get out.

[cbl]

I have a bath liner business (not Bathfitter). We use 3 different seals to prevent water from ever getting in-between the old tub and new liner. There are many installers out there that skimp on those seals so they can save a few bucks. I use BCI tub liners and products in my business. They have the thickest materials and come with a lifetime warranty.

[coz]

Go for it, if you dont mind your house looking like motel 6. A friend of mine had bathfitters come to his house.they wanted like 3000 for the job. I put in a new 3 piece for 1200

[Cookie]

A girlfriend had it done, really looks awful.

[Dunbar Plumbing]

They are notorious for burying and retrofitting the drains and faucets that are still existing in the walls and then just replacing the trim.

This can lay blame partially back to the homeowner for not doing their homework and figuring that sort of thing out before making the commitment.

Last 2 times I've been behind them:


Clogged drain <> company swore nothing went down the drain during their work, even though I was pulling back pieces of tile and mortar

Clogged drain <> old house with linkage type drain that there is no way you'll get a cable down the overflow. If that situation was addressed beforehand, would of been an easy task

I actually like their nearly seamless product...you cannot buy it off the shelf and fiberglass fades and becomes brittle over time. Acrylic is good but I'm going off of what I see and work with over the years.

I just did a faucet replacement in front of a company similar to the above and they did a great job on the product.....until the glass door installer cracked the product when he drilled to set the track. Acrylic finish and looked easy to clean with very insignificant seams.

[cbl]

If anyone cares you can check out:

californiabathliners.com/jobs

for some before and after photos of tub/wall liners. I must stress the fact that these are NOT Bathfitter or Re-Bath products. The pictures are from recent installations.

I use BCI products.

[Refinisher]

There is 2 ways of getting a new looking tub 1st is refinishing cost between $275-350 depending on where you are at. Next is bathtub liners, and I am not sure what they cost but I think it is about $1000.
Either way you go check not only the dependability of the company but ask around your area of problems with liners. A good installer is just that and I have heard good things about them. I would check with the BBB and not only check present complaints but even past ones.
A poor refinishing job will peel and a poor tub liner will come off too.

In my opinion I would find an installer for a company called BCI acrylics, I have seen the plant and the products that the plant puts out and they are far superior than most. Installers are trained for 1 full week on the job and not in the classroom and everything is hands on training not just talking and trainer showing.

Just food for thought, if you like the tub refinish it! Otherwise it is just like aluminum siding was in the 70's your are just putting a piece of tape on an open wound.

[sfphoenix75]

Would you consider installing a new tub and surround? Sterling makes a great product available at the box stores - runs between $350 - $600 depending on the model. Installation would take some work (or extra money) but you end up with a better finished product than the re-fitters.

[Dan Pick]

I had a motel for a customer once who had them installed over all their tubs. After a year or so, a lot of them felt like you were walking or sitting on a water bed because water got between the two tubs and could not get out.

If water ever gets between the original tub and liner it is 100% percent installation error. If these were Bath Fitter units they have a lifetime warranty and the Bath Fitter franchise should be contacted for immediate replacement.

[BathFitter]

NOTICE TO ALL CURRENT AND FUTURE BATH FITTER CUSTOMERS

We recently became aware of this website and wish to assure all writers that Bath Fitter is deeply committed to providing excellent customer service through each of its more than 200 locations. We enjoy a better than 99% customer satisfaction rate and are working hard for that last fraction of a percent.

If you think you’ve been treated unfairly by a Bath Fitter franchisee, please contact us directly so we can do whatever we can to help you resolve your issue.

Bath Fitter
1-800-892-2847
infobath@bathfitter.com

[beezy]

I had Bathfitters come in and do my tub. My house was built in 1940 and I'm very picky about the work that's done and the results. Nothing in my house has ever gone as planned and you should always count on double the time and trouble with any repair and remodel. I don't think that the house likes to be worked on! LOL Bathfitters did a great job despite the grimlins that live and prosper here, and I still am loving it. Have had the tub in for three years now.

[plumbtired]

We had Bathfitters do our main bathroom. It turned out beautifully. Since we don't use this room much, we ASSUME the job was well-done and will hold up. We noted that a "ton" of caulk was used to seal the tub and surround, giving us confidence that there will be no leaking behind the acrylic tub and wall surround. It's a vast improvement over the former yukky pinkish ceramic tile with bad grout and a chipped tub. The acrylic surround looks terrific.

Bathfitters had a certified plumber come in before they started, and he replaced the incoming piping, wall board (that he ripped out to get to the old plumbing), and the old faucet and shower fittings.

We did not shop around and should have, perhaps finding a much cheaper "fix" for our cruddy tub area. But, even though we paid "through the nose" for Bathfitter's to improve our tub area, we are quite pleased with the workmanship. However, we were made aware, after our job was completed, that the same Bathfitters franchise had made a better deal for a neighbor, cutting some $1500 off his tub cover and wall surround job. This left a bad taste in our mouths as we felt we had not been fairly treated. After all, our money is as good as anyone's else's...

We have had only one complaint about the Bathfitter installation and product: the clear glass doors had murky-looking glass that we could not get clean. [We felt the installer should have cleaned the doors after he put them in...] When I phoned Bathfitters about this, some months later, they offered to come out and look it over but suggested first that we use their recommended product for cleaning glass, Hope's Perfect Glass. This product solved the problem, taking the manufacturer's oily scum off the glass...we are happy campers now!

[LTaruno]

Just Like to say I used Creativebathsystems.com


I'm very pleased with my system and it quality. Bob was a pleasure to deal with. Definitely recommend them

Received numerous quote & Creative Bath System was by far less expensive.
They installed my Bath Tub Liner & Walls Surround in one day for $ 2150.00




Lisa Taruno

[hj]

When you buy a car, whatever you pay is directly related to your bargaining skills, and reluctance to buy at that particular moment. Your neighbor might pay more, or less depending on his skills. Your Bathfitter installation was the same way. If you had shown a little more reluctance to having it done immediately, the price would have started decreasing. The more resistance on your part, the lower the price on their side. Just have a water softener company come to your house and see how much you can save, and how many "amenities" they will offer to get you to buy one. And even then you will pay way too much for it.

[Sincraft]

Honestly, I would go see one personally before you make the commitment. Get a quote for a Sterling product, then get a quote for a retro fit system. Personally, for the ones I had seen - I couldn't tell immediately they were retrofitted systems, but then after further inspection it was obvious. The price is what turned me off. For the same price, you can have a new tub put in, have the plumbing done correctly - but it will take a bit longer to have it done. I think those retrofit places do it in ONE day. I personally took a week to do my bath, put the drywall up and finish it, if you break down the timeline with just those in mind for the project.

BUT be careful, once you replace a tub - they often aren't the same size and you might have to redo your floor!

Personally, if it's an old home I would rather they rip the old sucker out, put down a cheap floor and replace the old gunky plumbing around the tub with a new faucet valve and faucet etc - than to have a cover up slapped over what could be a ticking time bomb.

For the 3 bathrooms I've done in the past 6 months, 3 of them were leaking at the valve or the drain. Floor damage was present as was black mold and rotting supports. I replaced all that, put in access panels for 6month - 1 year inspections of the work, and am very happy I chose to do it 'the hard way' rather than slap something over an old problem.

I think retrofit baths are a GREAT way to flip a house...put down some cheap linoleum floor, new $150 toilet (cadet 3 of course) and a off the shelf vanity from lowes or home depot that looks designer , coupled with fresh paint, new fan/lights - and you have a $9k looking job for about half that price. :)

[Cookie]

A friend who used them, had to have them out 2 times to try to fix their work. It still looks awful, and was very costly.

[tbrazil]

I had a motel for a customer once who had them installed over all their tubs. After a year or so, a lot of them felt like you were walking or sitting on a water bed because water got between the two tubs and could not get out.


I had both a shower and tub liner installed 6 months ago. The drain is clogged up, feels a little like a water bed, "no slip" tub floor is slippery, and there is a bubble between the shower liner and the wall.
Also, I can't return my hamper to wall on other side of tub because tub liner now extends too far. To make the matter even worse, the tub now touches the vanity, which means the shower curtain must sit on top of the end of the tub rather than hang loose as it always did. There is a half inch difference between the top of the shower liner and the bottom of it, and the rod is up crooked. I'd like to have them simply remove the whole mess, but don't know how much of a problem it would be -how difficult it is to remove this material, what it would involve. Can't get any satisfaction from the company or the owner, although the man who did the installation was gone within a couple of weeks after he did the job. Can anyone offer info on how difficult it would be for them to remove both liners?

[hj]

That must have been a "one size fits all" liner, because even the poor installations I have seen usually use a liner that fits over the old tub quite
"snuggly" so it doesn't change the size of the tub to any appreciable extent.

[Redwood]

I have repaired a waste & overflow that was leaking after their work.

In my house I would go with a new tub!

[Dunbar Plumbing]

I'm bookmarking this thread for future use.

I'm going to do a search through all of my plumbing invoices where a job was performed by the above and indirectly caused problems with the existing plumbing system (clogs, incorrect drain retrofits, faucet trim extensions that did not correctly work)


My latest was a clogged shower drain where they refused to pay for the drain cleaning after they did the work. The installer was careless and loaded the drain with debri from his work, ignoring the standard practice to cover the drain.


Am I upset? Never. $140 for 15 minutes to clear the drain. Still, didn't put a dent in their profit margin for the job. The guy at most was making $13-$19 an hour tops, was there 12 hours........so his labor was minimal. The installer is usually a small part of the equation when costs are calculated in bidding these jobs.


BathFitters did pay for the expense when the homeowner threatened legal reprimand for failure to deliver customer satisfaction.

[lat]

Horrible work was done by Bath Fitters on my parents home.

My mom contracted Bath Fitter to install a tub and wall liner in their main bathroom for $3500. This is a high price for this amount of work.

A Bath Fitter employee measured the area with a laser. The employee measuring assured my dad that the liner would "fit like a glove".

When it came time to install, a number of weeks later, the installer (who told my dad that he had been working for the company for 4 weeks) took the existing lino off the wall and some of the plywood that was behind, replaced the faucet/shower controls and put drywall up, without the existing shims that had been installed behind the original plywood. This caused the drywall to be recessed in relation to the surrounding wall.

In order to bring it back flush with the surrounding wall, he used 5/8" thick strips of soft putty spaced about 8" apart on top of the drywall, which was supposed to support the flexible plastic liner. There is no way soft putty will properly support the thin, flexible wall liner.

Then, he said there was a problem with the tub, and needed to call his supervisor. The supervisor came on site and told my dad that the tub needed to come out 1/2" in order for them to install the liner. Maybe they would have caught that when they measured?!?

According to the supervisor, this would require removal and replacement of the tub with a new one, for an extra 700-1000 dollars.

He also said that the existing wall was too flexible. He said it was 1/4" plywood. My Dad said it was actually 3/8" plywood. After hearing that, the supervisor didn't say anything.

He then said they would have to reschedule the work since the job scope had changed. He said he would call back at 8:30 the next morning. That was over a week ago.

He also told my dad that he had two options, either pay them the extra money to finish the job, or cancel the work and they would leave the job as is. They are trying to pressure my parents into forking out more money for nothing.

lat,

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

[plumbtired]

To Lat in Edmonton::eek:


That is simply horrid tale about a Bathfitter franchise...and I STRONGLY suggest you contact Bathfitter's corporate office (I assume it is also the correct contact point for Canadian customers) about this at: Toll-free: 1-800-892-2847 or via email,
infobath@bathfitter.com

My previous experience with Bathfitter corporate has been very positive. Your parents have not been treated like valued customers and you certainly should contact Bathfitter's corporate office about this despicable situation.

Good luck!:o

[master plumber mark]

I once worked for a company like this....installed the faucets for them for about 6 months.. told them to take
a hike....didnt need the greif.

I was impresed with the product but I was never impressed with the installers putting up the product.

I would tell them to give you back all your money and just install a fibergalss Sterling tub....if it all has to be torn out anyway...

..

[krow]

The bath fitters are not plumbers. The only license that they have ,is a driver's license, and even then it should be revoked.

[Basement_Lurker]

lol nice one

[Cass]

We enjoy a better than 99% customer satisfaction rate and are working hard for that last fraction of a percent.




This sounds very good BUT...

#1 - I am curious as to how you come up with the 99%?

#2 -How long of a time period and how many people do you track for that 99%?

[master plumber mark]

What I was impressed with was the fact that these
fellows would come out to your home and in only
one day they would usually have the whole job done
from start to finish..

a couple of them acutally would stay way past dark if necessary to get the job done in one day.....


I finally had to ask the owner of the company where he found fellows willing to work this hard for so little money
cause I could not get my plumbers to even consider
working that long.......

I wondered what made them so loyal to this jerk???.

I asked him if they were on some sort of work release program from the local prison....

he was not amused......

LOL..

[Ian Gills]

I had an acrylic bath solution fitted by a small, independent contractor a few years ago. He did an excellent job, for a lower price.

It took him a week. He was clear what he could and could not do. I did some plumbing (replaced the toilet & vanity), hired a licensed plumber to do some other plumbing (the tub drain and shower faucet), and left him to retile the floor and fit the tub and wall liners...not in that order but you get my jist (it went plumber, tile floor, acrylic solution, me).

Shop around. There are alternatives.

[lat]

I am very happy to report that Bath Fitter is standing behind their product.

My parents and I met with Dale, who did a fabulous job of making time for us and listening to our serious concerns. He acknowledged that errors were made and that they will provide my parents with a new tub and install the wall liners at the initial price my parents agreed to. Dale was very professional and understanding about the situation my senior-aged parents were in.

The products should be installed within a couple of weeks, and I will update my report based on the outcome of the actual installation, but based on my experience with Dale, I am far more optimistic about a positive outcome.

Thanks Dale!

[detroit]

I had my tub, walls, and ceiling done by Bathfitter in Livonia, Michigan about 8 years ago and it still looks brand new. I just love the seamless walls and never had a problem with anything. Salesman wasn't pushy at all and the installers were in and out in one day. They did a great job and I would highly recommend them to anyone. Keep up the great work BATHFITTER.

[BathtubGuy]

I've got a pretty old house, but in a good way - prefer old designs. One of the things I bought to go with it was a vintage bathtub.. now I have to say I don't know much about installing this kind of thing myself so I brought in what I thought were professionals.

I think it's fair to say I had all the problems above and more - and guess what they told me at the end? That because I bought a vintage bathtub it was MY fault because they weren't sure on the installation. I then pointed out that it wasn't a literal 'vintage' design and that it was only created to look like one. I even linked them to http://www.vintagetubandbathreviews.com/ to show them what I was on about. Frankly it was my fault, at my age I should know better and do my homework before trust people with such valuable items.

Oh well, still learning at my age :)

[Jerome2877]

I had my tub, walls, and ceiling done by Bathfitter in Livonia, Michigan about 8 years ago and it still looks brand new. I just love the seamless walls and never had a problem with anything. Salesman wasn't pushy at all and the installers were in and out in one day. They did a great job and I would highly recommend them to anyone. Keep up the great work BATHFITTER.

Once upon a time, evil dwarfs were living in hills, forests and mounds. They were stumpy, misshapen, humpbacked, with a long nose, long hair and a long tail. Trolls were inclined to thieving, and fond of carrying off children. They would substitute one of their own offspring for that of a human mother. They were called "hill-people", and they were especially averse to noise, from a recollection of the time when god Thor used to fling his hammer after them. Not all trolls were evil!. Some trolls were helping people. Some trolls were only playing games. But, evil trolls were the one that kids were most afraid of. Some trolls were small, other were giants.

[denniscook]

after having a liner installed we notice a very bad smell this was caused by the toxic mold that grows between the tub and the very costly liner. We contacted the liner company and we were told that it was not covered by the warranty. We had the liner removed by men that had to wear hazmat suits. Then the tub was resurfaced. Recently I found out that there are numerous class action law suits against these liner companies.

[vapat75]

I asked a bath fitter rep. at Home Depot, he quoted a price $5,000.00. He must have thought Oh a women, I'll get this one. I won't have one now if they gave it to me. Especially from reading these posts.

[johnfrwhipple]

Why would you want to cover up a moldy wet wall with a cheesy panel and just hide the problems.

These solutions are band aids and not a proper fix.

I would love to see CNN or some news reporter do an undercover story on this business.

JW