Bathfitter, Anyone ever use Bathfitter?

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Mike B

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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

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liner

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

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Get a good installer.

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

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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
 

Dunbar Plumbing

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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.
 

Refinisher

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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

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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

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hj said:
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

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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

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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

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Bathfitters did well but they are VERY expensive!

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!
 
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LTaruno

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Creative Bath System Cheaper Then Nu-Bath, Bath Fitter, Master Bath

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

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price

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

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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

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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

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Bath Fitter

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?
 
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hj

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liner

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

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

In my house I would go with a new tub!
 

Dunbar Plumbing

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Ahh Cool! BathFitter Complaint Thread!

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.
 
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