Side by Side Comparison of: Dr Kay's vs Essential Medical Supply

I had hip replacement surgery almost a week ago and today was the first time I could take a shower. Anticipating my needs, I ordered a Dr Kay's Adjustable Height Bath and Shower Seat. My husband found it to be very easy to assemble and to adjust the legs. It fit perfectly in my walk-in shower and I was able to sit comfortably and securely without fear of falling. I would recommend this product to everyone requiring such a health aide.

This is light, sturdy and perfectly fits our need for use in a small shower. Aluminum, doesn't rust and very light in weight. A sticker warns to check the wing nuts every use and be certain they are still tight. I have done this and have not felt any loosening. I assume this warning is in anticipation of lawsuits from people who are unaware that wing nuts do loosen over time. Good idea. Chair is probably best for average weights.Great solution to our problem. Was eassy to assemble, intuityive but printed instructions are included.

I really like this shower chair/ seat. It fits better in our tub than my previous ones. If you have what's called a 'garden tub', they slant inwards at the bottom. That makes it hard to fit a typical (Medline I believe) gray shower chair. It would only fit in the very center of the tub, and still had issues. This one has no trouble fitting. (see pics below) This is the biggest thing I was looking for - so I'm glad I found it!It is a smaller seat to sit on, so be aware of that, depending on what's comfortable for you. I'm a smaller person, so that's no problem for me either way. I've used the chair for a week or so, and it's stable and easy to wipe down after I shower. Note: If you wipe the water off the seat and legs after you shower, it stays cleaner and is less likely to rust. (This was a problem with a previous chair). Good price and quick delivery. Thanks!

Used this seat for 4 months in the shower after a bad motorcycle accident. Performed wonderfully. I highly recommend this particular seat because the adjustable height was 2 inches more than most of the others I saw on line. It's comfortable and sturdy.

This bath and shower bench lives up to its Five Star billing. It is exceptionally sturdy but light weight. Assembly requires no tools (five well-sized thumb screws) and the instructions are clear and concise. From the time the box was opened to the product being ready for use was less than five minutes. The lower legs extend or collapse easily making height adjustment a breeze. In use, the rubber "feet" on the legs keep the bench from slipping on or marring the tub surface. Best of all is the hard-to-quantify good feeling you get when you've bought a good product. I never thought I'd get it with a simple bath and shower bench ... but I did.

I just love this shower bench! I agree with others that it is very easy to assemble, had no problem at all. At times I have back problems that make it painful to stand if I want to take a long shower. Although I have a small shower stall, this fits in fine. I have an adjustable shower head that can be hand held. When my back hurts, I can sit on the bench and massage my back with the massage setting. It feels so good!. My other bathroom has a tub with a shower and the bench also fits in the tub easily. It is also lightweight so it is easy to move. I took a tip from other reviewers and I use it to sit at my bathroom counter to while I blow dry my hair or while putting on my make up. Sorry I didn't think about getting this a long time age.

These are the best shower chairs. Once you start putting these together you will see how sturdy these chairs are. I would recommend these any day of the week. Fast shipping. Great price.

Bought this for a friend who's legs have become weak and it works very well. He's now able to comfortably rest while taking a shower and because of that is able to shower easily by himself. I had been concerned about the feet putting too much pressure on the old shower pan, but each foot has about 4 square inches in contact with the pan which seems to distribute his weight well. Great product.

I feel so safe taking a shower now. Well made and a quality product. Easy to assemble and very sturdy. Fits nicely in walk-in shower.

Great shower bench. Did not install back as I did not need that. You can buy it without the back but they charge more.

A medical condition does not allow me to stand for very long. This little stool has been a life saver in the shower....highly recommended....

I purchased this for my mother who has a hard time getting around nowadays.. assembly was fairly easy, took about 5-6 minutes or so, and it feels sturdy. She's been using it in her shower for a couple of months now with no issues so far. Would recommend!

This is helped me more than I can say, as a person disabled by a work injury. It has made a difference in my life.I can sit as needed to enjoy the long showers I enjoyed many years ago.it is perfect for me with the adjustable legs, has been durable for me since purchased.Though I hesitated to buy it, this shower seat has made a wonderful difference in my life.A big Thank You to the maker of this produce.

This was a lifesaver after knee surgery. It is well made and I never felt unsafe while using it. We still have it in the bathroom near the tub to sit on as we dry off. Almost daily use for months and it looks like new. I'd buy it again and there's not many items today I can say that about.

Its well made, but..the only problem with it... the seat its too small. If you have a big butt don't buy it. you cant use the grip handles on it. I figure since it had good reviews it be great.... But its not for ladies or man with bigger butts. The seat is well made, the legs are well made, and its very easy to assemble. The weight max is 250. they should say weight max more like 150 if that. Going to use it anyways.

Great stool, love that you can adjust the height. My old one sat low and made it hard to reach the shampoo, etc. I took away one star because it isn't very wide. If you're a larger person your bum would hang over the edges lol It sits firmly and I feel safe using it. All in all a good purchase.

Wife bought this for me to use in shower. I have a bad back and standing for any length of time kills me so:Originally had a chair in shower but took up too much room. This adjustable stool is just the right height W/hand holds in seat for stability{dont fall off seat} It's a little wobbely but what can u expect for less than $30. Had it for month or so andis sill standing. Use everyday!!Tom

I've had this for 2 weeks. I like the 18" height, so I don't need to grab onto something to stand up. It's narrow and lightweight, yet sturdy and not tipsy. It went together in less than 5 minutes without any tools. It's small enough to tuck in the corner of the shower and not be in the way when not in use. The dimensions provided are accurate. It's perfect to have a place to sit and wash my feet or shave my legs without the concern of stumbling in the shower. I also like the fact that I can sit down when doing my (extremely long) hair, and not have to worry about slipping on conditioner before I get a chance to rinse it off the floor. I find draping the seat with a cotton hand towel or tea towel before using it keeps it clean and comfy.

in box for new house

Needed because of hip replacement and did just what it needed to do.

Chair works great for disabled. It seemed a little confusing to put together but finally figured it out.

good but ended up being too large for our shower stall so using in tub instead not where needed and a little pricey for something we cant use right now.

Excellent sturdy device for safer showers. Much better than the bench seat my wife was using. We looked for a transfer seat but they were too wide for the shower base. I would suggest that the legs should be sightly angled outward to offer a better and larger footprint. We also have grab bars along the shower walls.

After having 2 hips replaced at the same time, my insurance paid for a toilet/shower seat combo. It was awful! Made of a shiny plastic. After taking it off the toilet, then converting it to a seat only, I tried it. ALMOST SLID OFF the surface once wet. I came on Amazon and purchased this bench. What a difference! I like it so much, now that I'm healed, I'm keeping it in the shower to sit and relax while I wash my hair. I also use it to stand and shave my legs, putting one up on it at a time. Great item! Handles help a lot also. The reason for the 4 stars is due to the fact, even though it is 95% better, you still can slide a bit while sitting. I do recommend it as the best I could find.

The quality is good. I ordered it for my mom because her Physical Therapist recommended that she have a stool to sit on for 30 minutes a day that has no arms or back to help her build muscle mass in her trunk. Specifically so she has to support her entire trunk herself with nothing to lean on. She has alzheimers and dementia and is to the point that she has lost a lot of her muscle mass and it is effecting her walking etc. Mom has trouble standing up from a sitting position so the adjustable legs are a must. I have 2 problems with this stool: 1) It says on the description that it adjust to a full 2 inches higher than its competitors... At its full height it is still so short I have to keep a pillow on it and she still has problems standing. 2) The seat is too small... the reason I chose this one was for the handles on each side. Mom could grab them to help push herself up. She only weighs 135lbs. and is a petite woman. The seat is so small that she can't even use the handles to help. I am making do for now because we have to have it. As soon as possible I will be replacing it with one that's taller and has a bigger seat. I took away a star for each of my issues.

It serves the purpose, nothing special

Really short, makes it hard for old tall person to get up. Other than that seems to work fine.

This is okay for a very quick shower but anything more than 5 minutes is hard. The seat is curved so not very comfortable to sit on and a bit on the small side.

Arrived fine. Almost to big for my shower.

This was purchased for an individual who had a protracted illness which left them very weak and unstable in the shower. First off, if your shower floor is not ABSOLUTELY FLAT, this will begin to get... bendy. However, we DID like it and it served it's short term purpose and, hopefully, will not be needed again any time soon. We did have to check that the screws were tight after every use.The shower it was used in slopes very gently towards the drain at the center. This was enough to loosen the screws (re-tightening them didn't help) and it seemed that all four legs couldn't manage to touch the floor of the shower at the same time. HOWEVER, it was stable enough and there were no incidents.If anyone in my household had a permanent disability, I'd look for something a little sturdier. But for a few weeks of convalescence, it managed to do the job for the price paid.

No problem with this, but no direction to put it together!!!

Difficult to understand instructions, Lots of work to assemble. The one from drive medical just snaps together.

Had it shipped to another state where wife is caring for her elderly father. She had quite a bit of difficulty assembling and said she doesn't really feel safe with him in this chair. I assured her it must be "safe" or they wouldn't be selling it. While I'm sure it's probably safe. I couldn't really quell her concern. But then, I haven't seen it myself. I'm reporting what she told me. I will update this review once I hear from her that she feels like it's completely safe.

The assembly instructions were not very good. Other than that, it is fine.

Bench legs did not fit in tub, uneven and unstable, not a safe condition to use. Did not see dimensions for legs in Specs.

It's pretty good not super heavy and wobbles a little.It served it purpose, but not real safe for 80 yr old.

This shower seat was great and just the right size, not taking up too much room in our shower. However after 1 year of use, the legs started rusting through the small holes on the rubber feet and began staining the tile. I would not purchase this bench again unless it is guaranteed rustproof.

I am on the thin side and it feels wobbly. Part of the problem is that the legs splay at the bottom and with the good but large rubber leg holders it doesn't fit in my shower properly.

The product was delivered from a private automobile. The box was partially torn open. A product like this should be a no-brainer to assemble. Instead, the instructions didn't match the actual product (legs). The legs did not fit correctly into the seat posts. Product is by "Healthline." "Warranty" info and assembly instructions card has no contact info for the manufacturer or customer service. Who the heck to you contact with a problem? Would not buy again without a good explanation.

Not very sturdy. Recommend getting one with a back rest or better support. Very short as well.

legs bent on second use, returned

DANGER! Serious danger if a fall will knock your hip out of the socket! I bought this when I broke some ribs and it was just perfect. A good height for a tall person and although a tiny bit wobbly, I felt secure. We got it out again this week when I got home from the hospital after total hip replacement. SO very grateful that my husband noticed how wobbly it was and that it was going to fall apart. He is ingenious on working with things and tried to strengthen it, but it's made out of materials that are too wimpy for such an important job. He was not able to reinforce it using the wimpy legs and was just going to build me a tall stool, but since the seat is super comfortable and allows water to flow through it, my husband used the seat and rebuilt a foundation. Do NOT count on this holding you up past the first several uses. Not made well. Either come up with a fixer-upper like my husband, or skip it altogether. It's not worth breaking yourself again.

The product works great. Problem is all the sharp edges I had to file or sand off. Only cut finger 2xs

Was a little small. I am full figure and this was not comfortable. I give it to someone who could use it.

This item did not come with directions and half the screws were missing. Needless to say, we are nit happy.

The holes on the 4 adjustable legs are not all bored into the metal at the same height. This is clearly a quality control problem. So when I put the legs on at the end of assembly and set the gold button on the top hole of all 4 legs (or any of the other matching hole positions), the chair wobbles. I have contacted Essential Medical and will see if they send me 4 replacement legs, rather than disassembling the chair and returning thru Amazon. If so, I will update my review. In terms of assembly, it took me 25 minutes to assemble - granted I don't attempt without reading the directions. This product is Made in Taiwan but the directions are written in good English, but you do have to remember you are assembling a chair and place the bars using some common sense. Also you have to read and make sure you pick the correct screw. It was not quite obvious which direction you should place the frame tubing, so I just lightly tightened the screws until I knew I had placed them in the proper direction. Some of the parts have numbers molded into them while some have stickers, so for those with poor eyesight, you may need your reading glasses. This chair would have been really nice if it didn't wobble.

Nice chair. Did not fit the need>

Very unsteady. Had to trash it

Very poor quality, legs were lopsided where they were attached to the seat. It quickly went to the dump.

I was hoping with the 5 star rating and many reviews that I would be just as impressed. Unfortunately, after use for a year, this shower seat's legs do a split with the fastener's tightened the whole way. I have to have a shower seat to take a shower. This is a huge safety issue, and it almost led to me falling in the tub. I ended up standing on 1 foot waiting for my mom to come help me out of the tub.

No instructions came in the box.

Bought in March for Mom showering after surgery 3/29/2017. Did not last a month before collapsing.

biggest piece of crap....one leg shorter than the other three....super wobbly

Poor quality control. Uneven legs or other flaw in manufacturing made bench unstable. Am returning it.

One rubber cap of leg is broken in only one month

My part A and part B were labeled as each other. This threw the whole chair out of whack. Had to take it apart and figure it out on my own. The chair feels wobbly even though everything is tightened. My 89 year old dad will not be using this but I'm too lazy to take it apart again and repackage it. Goodwill gets this one.

I found it impossible to get the arms to click into place. The chair is therefore unstable. I got it all assembled, then tried to insert the arms until the little brass button popped out. Nope! I couldn't do it, and our big strong handyman couldn't do it. Very, very frustrating! I will probably return it. That means disassembling the whole darned thing and trying to get the arms, which wouldn't go in straight and click into place, out of the chair. This chair was badly needed for a convalescent. Now I get to spend MORE time messing with the chair, just to get rid of it, and searching for one that can be assembled.

This is a rickety chair and doesnt feel safe at all. Very cheap material and look. We bought it for my mom after her knee replacement and never ended up using it since it didnt feel safe. Becuase we were so busy taking care of my mom, we didnt get a chance to return it and now we are past Amazon's 30 Day return policy. :(Waste of money and time. Very disappointed Amazon carries this product

Disappointed because I had to return it because of missing parts.

Had to return it. It was missing parts.