Universal Tubs Walk-In Tubs

Top Walk-In Tubs By Universal Tubs

At A Glance

A checklist of standard walk-in tub features.

*Price can vary by supplier, and special deals are often available. Contact a supplier or installer for a personalized quote.

Universal Tub Models

Someone visiting the Home Depot website might think they have an endless selection of models: the company breaks its walk-in tubs out first by whether or not they offer heated seats, and then by the dozens of different sizes. But the truth is that Universal Tub models can be classified into seven main types, and each of these types offers four standard packages:

Soaking

An ordinary bathtub model for those who just the relaxation therapy that comes from a hot bath. If you suffer from limited mobility and hope to make bathing easier, but don’t want the fancier therapeutic options, this is the best choice. (Note that some soaking models are referred to as “non-whirlpool” tubs in Home Depot’s search results.)

Whirlpool/Whirlpool Jetted

LIke its competitors, Universal Tubs offers a whirlpool option in which a dozen or so pressurized water jets provide a strong and relaxing massage targeted at strategic areas of the body like the legs and lower back. The whirlpool package also includes an in-line water heater that allows for a longer soak—and can make the water in your household water heater go farther. In addition, this package offers chromatherapy through an LED light in the side of the tub that tints the water with alternating colors. This package will add about $500-$700 onto the price of the tub.

Air/Jetted Air

Most walk-in tub manufacturers offer a therapeutic option that produces the effect of a sitz bath by forcing tiny bubbles into the bathwater. Universal Tubs’ jetted air models provide this, and come with a heater to make sure that the bubbles don’t lower the temperature of the water. Jetted air models also come with chromatherapy and an aromatherapy system that infuses the water with scents (though the scent packets used by the system are sold separately). This package adds about $800-$1100 onto the price of the tub, depending on the model and size.

Combined Whirlpool And Jetted Air

Universal Tubs’ highest end models offer both jetted air and whirlpool therapies along with the chromatherapy, aromatherapy, and inline heater options that come with each respective package. Getting both packages at once is actually a pretty good value: depending on the model, you can sometimes buy a combined package tub for only a little more than a jetted air model.

Navigating The Models At The Home Depot Website

If you search for Universal Tubs models at the Home Depot website, the different models are most prominently classified by size. But that means it can be difficult to get a read on the most salient differences between the listings that come up. We’ve divided the dozen or so different sizes of Universal Tubs into seven categories to help make the differences between models clearer, and we’ve laid out how tubs in each of those categories are likely to appear in a search listing. Here are a few other terms that are likely to show up in a listing as well.

HD Series vs. Nova

If you’re also hoping to get heated bath surfaces (another common luxury offering among walk-in tub manufacturers), you’ll want to choose Universal Tubs’ Nova Heated line, which offers almost all the same models and sizes as the non-heated HD Series. Note, however, that for the Nova Heated tubs, customers will need to buy much of the hardware—faucets and a handheld showerhead—separately, while these come standard with the HD Series.

Builders’ Choice

As if to add an additional wrinkle to their bewildering array of choices, Home Depot also offers a “Builders’ Choice” line of tubs—but this only means that they’re packaging select models with tile flanges, extension kits, and other items to make retrofitting or new installation easier.

Rampart Enclosures

Home Depot offers rampart sheets of tiles along with corner caddies, silicone tubes, double sided adhesive strips, and caulk. These kits, designed to make it easy to fully tile the enclosures in which the tub is installed, are sold with tubs as a single unit, and tend to raise the price of a model by $500.

Left vs. Right Drain

Finally, when it comes to installing your tub, one of the most important considerations is whether your bathroom will accommodate a left- or right-drain bathtub. This is such an important wrinkle that most Home Depot listings lead with this fact, and you’ll want to speak to whoever is going to install your tub to decide which configuration you’ll need. As it happens, however, there’s very little difference in price (and almost no difference in the features available) between the two configurations, so we haven’t touched on this issue in our reviews.

Features Rundown

Here’s a deeper dive into the features available in Universal Tubs walk-in tubs.

Word on the Street

One of the great things about Universal Tubs’ exclusive relationship with Home Depot is that online reviewers have left their feedback for almost every model, making it much easier to get a read on consumer experiences. Home Depot’s website also allows prospective buyers to post questions, which can help customers avoid product pitfalls and avoid confusion over which model they should buy.

Overall, customers seemed to appreciate their Universal Tubs, and felt that they really did help them address the challenges they faced as illness or limited mobility made it harder to bathe. For the most part, people also felt that the tubs were relatively easy to install, with very few customers reporting problems with getting the tubs working—and this was true both for those who used contractors and for those who did their own installation. It should be noted that there were a few customers who felt that customer service could have been more responsive to the issues that did arrive, and a few customers who felt that they would have preferred stronger jets in the whirlpool models. But otherwise Universal Tubs enjoyed a strong track record of customer satisfaction.

Price and Warranty

Universal Tubs’ own website does not provide pricing, but Home Depot, their exclusive retailer, does. This means that in an industry known for being cagey about prices—with many companies insisting that potential buyers contact salespeople for a personal quote—Universal Tubs stands out for its transparency. And the posted prices are highly economical: while these walk-in tubs are still more expensive than standard tubs, they do come in at the low end of the walk-in tub market. What’s more, Home Depot frequently offers special discounts which further reduce prices—and they also sometimes offer specials in which the tubs are sold as a package with other items.

Installation, however, is always a wild card, and since Home Depot doesn’t offer to install tubs (though it does refer buyers to recommended local contractors if needed), the customer will be on their own to make sure that the price of installation doesn’t unreasonably drive up the price of the tub. Note, too, that installation of the tub by anyone other than a licensed plumber or electrician voids the warranty, which has the potential to drive up costs for those who had planned to install the tub themselves.

On the subject of the warranty, Universal Tubs’ guarantees fall in about the mid-range of the walk-in tub industry. They offer the standard lifetime warranty on the door seal, (which, given the importance of this part, really is essential). The shell, frame and finish—the body of the tub, in other words—comes with a 12-year warranty, but this is limited to such an extent it’s hard to imagine the situation that would activate it. Finally, there’s a 7-year warranty on all other parts, but this is also limited to simple replacement of the part: the cost of labor for any repairs is on the customer (though a few reviewers said that they did get reimbursed for labor for problems arising within a few months of purchase). Again, a standard warranty, but potential customers will want to read the fine print before putting their money down.

*Price can vary by supplier, and special deals are often available. Contact a supplier or installer for a personalized quote.