by Distraught does not begin to describe my mindset when I accepted the realization that my vision for my shower with the Signature Hardware Shower system would never materialize. At the start of this project I wanted that shower to be a steam shower, but the cost of the unit was three times the cost of the shower system, so I settled on what my friends coined “the human car wash”. One single function spray does not a car wash make, so I decided to research steam units again. Fortunately I had already made the decision to completely enclose the shower, to keep the steam from the water in, so I knew one hurdle was down without any additional cost.
Build.com has been my go to website for a lot of the items in my house, so I started there. They had several brands: Mr. Steam, SteamSpa, Steamist, ThermoSol, and Kohler. With that list I started looking for reviews of systems on the Internet and consistently Mr. Steam and ThermoSol were popping up. Then I stumbled across a ThermoSol company video. There was a statement in the video “employees are empowered to help the customer” that really jumped out at me. I decided to go to their website to learn more about their product. Not really knowing what I would need I clicked on the word “Consultation” on their website. They provided your choice of 4 phone appointments of various lengths. I selected Steam Shower, a 30 minute, speak with a ThermaSol Specialist to discuss the features of a ThermaSol steam shower.
I got to select a day, time in step 1; I selected early afternoon the following day. Step 2 was your contact information and details on the size of your shower, and an opportunity to share any details. I was fresh off the callous phone call with Signature Hardware where I was told they were severing business ties with me, so my details centered around the disppointment with the performance of their system. I provided links to some of my post. Approximately two hours after I hit confirm appointment my phone rang and it was a representative from ThermaSol, but not just any representative. It was Mitchell Altman, the CEO. He read my comments and pulled my appointment out of the cue as he wanted to personally handle my situation. The man brought me to tears, this time of joy.
Following the call and on that same day we must have had a dozen back and forth emails. Some well past his business hours. As promised he sent me a document with installation instructions. I’d read some, have a question and email him. The man responded back in minutes each time. I sent him pictures behind the wall, in the shower with measuring tapes, so he could see heights and distances of locations where his instructions said equipment should go. In the end he said his unit could definitely be installed, I had only one major hurdle. Could I get a 60 amp service line up to the master bathroom. My God send electrician, Mr. McGhee came over the next day. He looked at my panel, determined I had space, and he studied routes to pull the line upstairs. I have two options, but bottom line was yes, he could get a 60 amp line up to the shower.
I shared that news in another email with Mr. Altman who then sent me a package quote. With Fifth Third turning down my equity line application (due to finding no value in the collateral and for the house still being under construction) the ability to paint my house this year was doubtful, but I still have some funds I was going to allocate towards replacing the pillars out front. I thought that would help improve the curb appeal in the short term. Well I don’t live outside and I shower every day, so right now I’m strongly leaning towards reallocating those funds and moving forward with the ThermaSol system. You’ll have to keep checking back for the final outcome.
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