Latest / USA Cabinet Store Remodeling Podcast / A Free Walk-In Shower Simulator for Aging in Place

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A Free Walk-In Shower Simulator for Aging in Place · USA Cabinet Store Remodeling Podcast

• 0:04
  Welcome back to the Remodel Report, where we
• 0:07
  break down what is really happening in kitchen
• 0:09
  and bath remodeling, one project at a time. I
• 0:13
  am Chris, here with Jessica. Jessica today is
• 0:17
  a little different. We are talking about an actual
• 0:19
  tool you can go use, for free, right now. We
• 0:23
  are, Chris. USA Cabinet Store just launched a
• 0:26
  free walk -in shower layout simulator. It is
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  built into their updated guide called 22 Walk
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  -In Shower Ideas in 2026. And what is interesting
• 0:36
  is why they built it, because it sits right at
• 0:38
  the intersection of two big trends. Okay, set
• 0:41
  those two trends up for me. The first is demographic,
• 0:44
  and it is huge. The United States has entered
• 0:47
  what is being called the peak 65 window. Roughly
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  4 .1 million Americans are turning 65 every single
• 0:54
  year during this surge. And according to the
• 0:57
  AARP 2024 Home and Community Preferences Survey,
• 1:02
  75 % of adults aged 50 and older want to stay
• 1:05
  in their current homes as they age. So three
• 1:08
  out of four older adults want to age in place
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  in the home they already have. Exactly. And that
• 1:13
  leads straight into the second trend, which is
• 1:15
  about the bathroom itself. The NKBA 2026 Bath
• 1:19
  Trends Report found that 55 % of industry professionals
• 1:23
  now consider a larger shower more important than
• 1:26
  a bathtub, and 89 % rank primary bathroom space
• 1:30
  allocation as a top priority. So the tub is losing
• 1:33
  ground to the big walk -in shower, and the bathroom
• 1:35
  is where people want to spend their space budget.
• 1:38
  Right. And when you combine those, aging in place
• 1:41
  plus bigger, safer showers, you get a real need
• 1:45
  for better planning. That same NKBA report says
• 1:49
  aging in place design is already mainstream for
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  32 % of bath designers and another 48 % say it
• 1:56
  is on its way to becoming standard practice.
• 1:59
  So this is really becoming the default way to
• 2:01
  think about bathrooms and closing that planning
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  gap is exactly what this simulator is built for.
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  Let us get into the tool itself. What problem
• 2:09
  is it actually solving? Here's the challenge
• 2:11
  they kept seeing. Homeowners fall in love with
• 2:14
  a shower design based on how it looks, a photo
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  online, something on Pinterest, before anyone
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  checks whether it will actually fit their real
• 2:22
  bathroom. Whether it fits the room dimensions,
• 2:25
  controls splash, retains warmth, and holds up
• 2:28
  for long -term use. Which is how you end up with
• 2:31
  a gorgeous shower that is freezing, or that soaks
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  the whole bathroom floor. Precisely. So the simulator
• 2:37
  takes your actual room measurements, plus recognized
• 2:40
  planning benchmarks, and generates layouts that
• 2:43
  actually work in your space. And then you can
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  take those layouts right into a remodeling consultation,
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  so you are not starting from a blank page. I
• 2:51
  really like that it starts from real measurements
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  instead of a fantasy photo. What specific decisions
• 2:57
  does it help you make? A few important ones.
• 3:00
  It helps you evaluate curbless versus curbed
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  shower designs, which is a big aging in place
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  question. It helps you assess warmth and splash
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  control solutions. and it helps you understand
• 3:11
  the material requirements before you ever start
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  construction. Let me flag the curbless piece,
• 3:15
  because that is central to aging in place, right?
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  Hugely. A curbless shower, one with no lip to
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  step over, is far safer and easier to use as
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  mobility changes, and it is a cornerstone of
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  accessible bathroom design. But curbless has
• 3:31
  real implications for drainage and waterproofing,
• 3:34
  so being able to test it in the simulator before
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  committing is genuinely useful. Let me get the
• 3:39
  quote from the person behind this. Amin Halak,
• 3:42
  the design director at USA Cabinet Store, said,
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  the demographic shift toward aging in place combined
• 3:49
  with the industry trend toward larger showers
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  creates a critical need for better planning tools.
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  Homeowners need to understand how walk -in shower
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  dimensions will work in their specific space
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  before committing to a remodel. This simulator
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  bridges the gap between inspiration, and practical
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  implementation. In that phrase, the gap between
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  inspiration and practical implementation is exactly
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  it. There is so much inspiration out there. What
• 4:18
  is usually missing is the step that tells you
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  whether it works in your actual room. Now, this
• 4:23
  is a free tool, but it connects to the bigger
• 4:25
  business, correct? It does. The simulator is
• 4:28
  part of USA Cabinet Store's broader bathroom
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  remodeling approach, which includes custom cabinet
• 4:33
  installations, vanity solutions, and coordinated
• 4:36
  design. So the tool gets you a workable layout,
• 4:40
  and then they can take it all the way through
• 4:42
  with end -to -end project management from the
• 4:44
  initial consultation to final installation. Quick
• 4:47
  company snapshot before we wrap. USA Cabinet
• 4:50
  Store operates 14 showrooms and has served more
• 4:53
  than 1 ,000 customers since it was founded in
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  2011. They specialize in complete bathroom renovations,
• 5:00
  modern design, and space optimization, which
• 5:02
  is exactly the skill set this whole aging -in
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  -place shift calls for. So the takeaway for today?
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  If a walk -in shower is anywhere on your radar,
• 5:11
  whether you are planning to age in place or you
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  just want a bigger, better shower, start with
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  the free simulator inside the 22 Walk -In Shower
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  Ideas Guide. Put in your real measurements. Test
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  curbless versus curbed. Check the splash and
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  warmth and walk into your consultation with a
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  layout that already fits. It turns inspiration
• 5:30
  into something you can actually build. Just head
• 5:33
  to usacabinetstore .com to find it. Perfectly
• 5:36
  put. That is it for this episode of The Remodel
• 5:39
  Report. If it helped, follow the show and share
• 5:43
  it with someone thinking about their bathroom.
• 5:45
  Thanks for listening, everybody. Thanks, everyone.
• 5:48
  See you next time.