Something in the world of floating have you stumped?
Show Highlights
Float centers, it has been said, are nearly in the shower business as much as they are in the float business. In fact, float centers run twice as many showers as floats. No doubt about it, they are an important part of the float experience, as is designing them.
So do you include shower screens or doors? Graham and Ashkahn weigh in and share why the think it’s better to skip the door altogether, and dispel any sort of benefit that it may appear to have for a float center.
Listen to Just the Audio
Transcription of this episode… (in case you prefer reading)
Ashkahn: Okay.
Graham: Hello everybody.
Ashkahn: Hey, hey.
Graham: Everybody out there.
Ashkahn: We’re listening.
Graham: I almost went into another intro there. It’s dangerous. So, I’m Graham.
Ashkahn: I’m Ashkahn.
Graham: And today’s question is, “to have or not to have a shower screen in your float room?”
Ashkahn: That is the question.
Graham: Timeless.
Ashkahn: Shower screen.
Graham: Yeah, what does a shower screen mean to you Ashkahn?
Ashkahn: A shower screen to me means, a T.V. screen in the shower so people can watch movies and stuff. Is that what he’s talking about? He or she?
Graham: I did a quick google search and what popped up was a bunch of glass walls in front of showers.
Ashkahn: It makes sense. T.V.s have glass in them too.
Graham: Probably like a screen to block water and it may or may not also project moving pictures.
Ashkahn: So yeah those little glass partitions.
Graham: So here is the funny thing, it didn’t even really matter what shower screen meant in this context because my answer is going to be the same no matter what.
Ashkahn: Well, okay.
Graham: Which is no, I don’t think it should have a shower screen.
Ashkahn: Ideally not.
Graham: But especially if the definition of shower screen is actually what the definition is, which is a big glass partition. And there are cases where I could see, maybe which is what you were getting at, it would be useful, but just in my mind the less things there are to clean in any room, the better. And glass shows any spots and then little bits of salt so well. It just needs so much extra time during a transition cleaning if it’s in there.
Ashkahn: To me its like a last ditch effort. If you are just super, super tight on space, at a certain point a glass partition is less annoying than people’s clothes getting wet all the time because there is no where to put your clothes.
Graham: Maybe some kind of intricate cubby system or a hook and pulley sort of thing where they hang their clothes up and they get hoisted up to the ceiling.
Ashkahn: Okay that sounds simple. Really, ideally not. I mean I have the same sentiment. Which is I would have to be pushed pretty far to want something like that in my float room just because it’s super annoying. We have had shower doors before and glass especially really. To make it look good you have to spray it and squeegee it every single time otherwise it just doesn’t look really that nice in the room.
Graham: Yeah, and it’s a really easy way, I mean a big glass wall that looks spotty. Especially flecked with little crystallized bits of white salt. It’s a great way to make it look like you didn’t clean anything in the room.
Ashkahn: Yeah and you should be really careful about how it is connecting to the rest of the room. If you have a real long section on the floor where its touching or the wall, those kinds of crevices are really easy places for mold and mildew to build up. So I would almost want a shower screen that was glass that maybe the hinges are connected and it has a little gap between it and the wall or ground or something to make it so that there is not a bunch of crevices that are going to build things up over time.
Graham: Yeah when we had a glass enclosure, and when we had more than what a shower screen is, we had glass walls surrounding the entire thing with a glass door. All of those were framed in chrome, which in addition to the glass being hard to keep clean, the chrome was also really hard to keep clean. And the unions where the chrome would connect to the glass would get funky over time and it would take even more time to make sure that was pristine. I assume that is what you’re referring to Ashkahn as anything that is really joining the glass.
Ashkahn: Yeah but even without the chrome and anything like that I have seen shower screens in people’s float centers that are literally just a piece of glass and that glass with a line of caulking along the floor and along the wall. And still those areas are just really easy to have build up of stuff and they start to look bad and things. So it’s possible, sometimes you see that glass that can be suspended by just the few connections points that it’s connecting to the wall and it doesn’t rely on standing on the ground for it’s actual support. That sounds better to me than having a line of caulking or something.
Graham: Yeah. Yeah, I’d totally agree. And if you are doing that you obviously need some strong supports behind there. You can’t just suddenly screw one of those onto your wall.
Ashkahn: Yeah, a little gum sticky on there.
Graham: So this goes for really anything. We very much moved to this idea of an open shower concept as being the best. It comes down to wanting to be able to turn over the rooms really fast. When we say these things like, “Oh well it’ll take that much longer to squeegee down this shower screen and make sure it’s all clean and nice for the next person,” those are valuable minutes or even seconds when someone is going into the room and cleaning up. Ideally it’s one of our sayings that we’ll spend $5,000 to save five seconds off a transition just because that’s how important it is when you are trying in this short period of time to turn over a room from someone else, get the next customer in, and have everything be both sanitary and as visually appealing as possible.
Ashkahn: If you are thinking about a shower screen as something that’s protecting the rest of your room from the water of the shower, then you are probably not thinking about your float room construction quite correctly. If anything, the only time I see it is utilities, you have a tiny room that is no way for you to have a place where people can put clothes that’s not going to get splashed by the shower and that is a pretty small changing area. Most float centers have enough space. The distance away from the shower is perfectly fine and it doesn’t get your clothes wet.
But if you are saying I should have a shower screen because I don’t want the water to splash much further past that because then it will it my walls and damage my walls, then you are probably going to be in trouble even with the shower screen. The shower screen is not going to stop the rest of the room from getting wet and getting salty and slowly getting damage. So if you are thinking of it as something that is preventing you from having to do more waterproofing further in the room, I would say that is not the right mentality to go into building your room.
Graham: Yeah maybe at best it’ll delay some of the damage, but even then treating the entire room the float tank is in is pretty much a wet room and wet environment. Beyond the shower enclosure I think is pretty key.
Ashkahn: Yeah.
Graham: So, yeah our opinion is don’t have them. Don’t have shower screens. Don’t have shower curtains. Take out as much in the room as you possibly can in fact. The less that is in there, the less there is to clean, the less there is to worry about puncturing your walls, the less there is to worry about scratching things or just causing problems down the road. Even putting up the shower screen and using a bracket going into the wall, that’s one more hole that you have to have in your water proofing and one more thing that you have to then go back and protect and caulk all the time. For so many reasons reducing the number of elements you have in your room and reducing the number of times you have to puncture a wall I think is always worthwhile.
Ashkahn: Unless you are talking about T.V. screens in which case sounds kind of cool.
Graham: Agree to disagree. Agree to disagree.
Ashkahn: I’m just thinking full flat, the whole wall is a giant T.V. screen, really just blast people with sensory stimulation right before and after their float. Sounds like the right setup.
Graham: Well if anyone out there agrees with Ashkahn, go on over to floattanksolutions.com/podcast and let us know. I’ll be shocked.
Ashkahn: Alright, we’ll talk to you tomorrow.
Graham: Bye everyone.
Recent Podcast Episodes
Pairing Psychotherapy and Floats – DSP 154
It’s easy to look at some of the research that comes from floating or look at special programs for veterans with PTSD and think about how float tanks should be paired with psychotherapy.
Graham and Ashkahn have met several therapists who use float tanks in conjunction with their sessions, sometimes exclusively. They also know that it’s important to recognize that they are trained professionals who are providing a treatment for difficult to treat psychological issues in some cases. Knowing when to leave the work to the experts is a valuable part of providing a service like this one with so many broad uses.
What is too small for a 4-tank float center? – DSP 153
Real estate costs from building out a float center, especially in an urban area, can get costly really quick. Sometimes compromises need to be made. But how much of a compromise is too compromised?
As with the best float center mistakes, Graham and Ashkahn can speak to their personal experience on this issue. They talk about opening a four tank center with less than 1,000 square feet and how much of a mistake it is. They also provide helpful planning tips so you can find out how much space you need at an absolute minimum for your float center.
How Do You Find Time for Hobbies? (Rise) – DSP 152
This is the last episode we recorded at Rise and it seemed fitting to close out the recordings with the organizers again, Jake and Kevin. In this episode they talk with Graham and Ashkahn to answer a question from Greg Griffin about how to manage your time after opening a float center to dedicate to hobbies.
While the episode starts a little heavy, the conversation turns and begins discussing the value of work and how rewarding it is to be in this industry.
Thank you to everyone who came and talked to us at Rise and shared your experiences. If we don’t see you at the Float Conference, hopefully we’ll see you next year. As always, float on.
What’s the Weirdest Post Float Experience You’ve Seen (Rise) – DSP 151
Another conversation that was captured at Rise was this little sit down between Graham and Ashkahn and a float center owner by the name of Jeremy out in San Antonio. They talk about a subject that I think comes up whenever float people get together. “What’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen after someone got out of a float?”
Sometimes people have a hard time coming back to Earth after a really good session in the tank and seeing how they interact with the rest of the world afterwards can be heartwarming and enlightening. It’s part of the reason we do what we do.
Should Float Centers Tone Down Their Personality in Rural Areas? (Rise) – DSP 150
Another great conversation that came out of Rise. Graham and Ashkahn sat down with Russ, a local float center owner who is just about to open his doors. He wanted to talk to the guys about how best to present floating to a more rural and conservative area. Graham and Ashkahn have seen float centers from across the world in rural and metropolitan areas alike and share their take on how best to present floating to people who aren’t as exposed to other alternative wellness practices.
Latest Blog Posts
Thou Shall Not Program
Floating is on the rise, and this means there are lots of new faces trying floating out for the first time. When someone comes to you for their first time, what should you say to explain floating? Just as importantly, is there anything you should avoid saying? Or...
How to Clean and Maintain Your Float Tank – An Owner’s Guide
This post is kept around for historical purposes, but doesn't reflect our current knowledge of float tank sanitation. Please see The Basics of Float Tank Sanitation and Testing and Maintaining Float Tank Water Quality instead. Ashkahn and I just got back from...
Meditations on Mediation
I just had to mediate a discussion between two of my employees, and I couldn’t be happier. Neither of them is going to lose their job: we’ve never fired an employee. Neither of them is going to be paid more or less than the other: we pay all of our employees the same....
From ‘I’m never doing this’ to ‘when can I sign up?’ in 30 seconds
When you show people the float tanks, inevitably some of your potential customers will be freaked out. That's fine, it's normal, it's how people reacted to Rock n' Roll. Now, you need to know upfront that there's a small group of people who will, in fact, never be...
