Customer Reviews

WaterPik SPA-201 Shower Panel 6-Setting Large Fixed-Mount and Handheld with 2 Body Sprays and Misting Massage White / Chrome

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

We remodeled our master bathroom and told the contractor we wanted both an overhead showerhead AND a wand on a hose. The quote he gave us for all the valves, plumbing, and labor required to make it happen was much higher than I expected.

Amazon and WaterPik to the rescue! I saw this system from WaterPik on one of Amazon's Friday sales for a little over $100 and immediately bought it. When it arrived and I showed it to the contractor, all he said was, "Dang! That's cool! Where'd you get something like that? I've got this other job..."

This unit had ALL the required plumbing and valves built in that I needed, PLUS adds the body spray and misting steam options. Assembly really didn't require the instructions, and installation to my old shower plumbing was a simple 3 step process...

1. Mount the backing plate to the wall.

2. Screw ONE hose to the old overhead shower pipe.

3. Hang the assembled shower panel on the backing plate.

When mounted, it completely covers the old showerhead pipe and looks great. Included was an anti-siphon* valve for the wand hose that I'm sure was an afterthought. It was the only thing that did not fit quite right and was prone to leaking. After fussing with it for a while, I simply removed it and realized I should have done that to begin with.

Functionally, the thing works very well. The knob used to select the water source is a little stiff, but I would MUCH rather have that than something that leaked, or did not completely shut off the water to the overhead while I was using the wand. The 2 showerheads supplied are of the usual excellent WaterPik quality. The larger fixed head has 10 different "flows" to choose from, and the smaller head on the wand has 7. The shelf on it is surprisingly sturdy and holds more than I expected.

It was a great choice for our situation and the BEST thing about it is if we ever move to a new house, it wouldn't be that hard to take it with us!


*An anti-siphon valve prevents the possibility of drawing standing water into the water supply if the water pressure ever dropped. (Like if you had a 4-alarm fire in your neighborhood.) This could only happen if the shower was on and the wand was submerged in water (like bath water) when the pressure dropped. It's probably a code requirement in many areas to have it on, but having it not leak was a higher priority to me.

When I bought this for my husband for father's day I worried that it would not be adaptable to our tiled shower circa 1968 but when it said it installed in less than an hour, it did! My husband loves it; the body sprays and massage settings help ease the aches and pains of the older body. To quote him "now that we have it, we can't see ever going without it"

Let's start with the positive: the SPA-201 is relatively easy to install, looks pretty nice from a distance and the showerheads are excellent.
Unfortunately, there's a lot more negative to be said about it.

First, its white plastic looks really cheap from close up. Then, installing it requires drilling holes in the wall.
The plastic ends of the hoses that attach to your existing pipes are very fragile. If you don't tighten enough, they leak. If you tighten too much, they crack... and leak.
The worst part of the product is the diverter. It's made of cheap plastic and the rod that connects it to the knob is extremely fragile. I just broke my third, so I'm starting to think it's not just bad luck on my part and the product is just really badly designed.

The customer support people at Waterpik are friendly and sympathetic, but Waterpik's policy is idiotic: they can't ship you a replacement diverter (a $5 part) and instead you have to ship the two Waterpik showerheads back to them (they're the only valuable part of the system). In return, they ship you a brand new replacement SPA-201. Wonderful, but of course the diverter on the new unit is identical and will break just as quickly.

Don't waste your time: judging by my experience with three different units, it will break in less than a year.

I have puchased 2 of these units and both have broken within a year of purchase.. Internal workings are very cheap and crack easily.. Had to be creative keeping the second one working because any of the parts that may break are not replaceable..Hard to replace entire unit, but your pretty much committed after drilling 4 1/4 inch holes through your tiles to install.. Spend a little more and save the headaches...