LESLIE: Margie in Connecticut is looking for a relaxing bath. How can we help you do that?
MARGIE: Hi, how are you?
LESLIE: Good and you?
MARGIE: Great, thank you. I have a tub in my bathroom and I want to convert that into a hot tub as well. But I don’t have the room to put a separate hot tub and then have a shower, so I wanted the tub to be part used as a shower and a hot tub. Can that be done?
TOM: Well, when you say hot tub, you mean a jetted tub, correct?
MARGIE: Yes.
TOM: Because a hot tub is like a warm pool. (Leslie chuckles)
MARGIE: No, that’s not what I meant. (chuckles)
TOM: No. And that would be a really nice bathroom.
LESLIE: Which would be really nice.
TOM: Yeah, it would be pretty super-nice. Well, they have jetted tubs in all sizes, shapes and colors. They have jetted tubs that are the size of laundry tubs and they have jetted tubs that are enormous.
LESLIE: That are the size of small pools. (chuckling)
TOM: Yeah, so I mean you may – you certainly can find a jetted tub to fit in the space that once held the old, standard bathtub. Should not be a problem.
MARGIE: Well, my concern is that when I went to Home Depot I was told by one of the people there that I wouldn’t be able to do that because of the soap and that the soap may ruin the jets.
TOM: No, no. Not true. And I would recommend you go to a good bath and kitchen supply house; good plumbing supply house. Because you’re not going to be able to find something sort of over the counter in a large retail establishment. You’re going to need to have one specially ordered that fits the space. And I’d also arrange for the salesperson from the bath and kitchen supply house to come to your home and measure what you have so that they can compare it to the specifications and make sure it’s going to fit.
Now remember, you’re also going to need some electrical work for that and, of course, some new plumbing work to make sure it all fits in.
LESLIE: Well, you know, I think, Margie, you might want to think about – there’s something that’s called a SANIJET and that’s just one brand; there are other manufacturers that make them. And these are air jets rather than water recirculating and the benefits of going air over the water recirculating is that when you actually bath, you know, obviously skin and other things come off of you and sometimes those go back into the water pipes and then once the water drains the water and some of this bacteria sit in there. So then you go take another bath and you turn it on and now you’re recirculating all that yuck and air with the air jets it doesn’t do that. So it’s a lot more sanitary for you and I think the prices are comparable and you do get a really nice, relaxing bath as well.
Now as far as models out there and makers, is there one that wouldn’t break my bank?
TOM: Well, there’s all sorts of manufacturers that make these and we’re not going to recommend a specific one. I think the first issue is size and you can talk about features and benefits after that. You know, the more bells and whistles the more expensive it’s going to become.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) The more expensive it’ll be.
TOM: You know, it it’s one that’s air-powered versus water-powered; there’s some that high – what’s it called; chromatherapy?
LESLIE: Yeah, with the lights.
TOM: The light therapy. And you know, there’s all different types of features and benefits to these. You’ve just got to find one that actually fits what you’re looking for.
MARGIE: OK. Alright, well thanks a lot for your help. I appreciate it.
TOM: You’re welcome, Margie. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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