Menards review: Lyon's bathtub from menards is crap! 53

Got my refund check from Lyons today for their piece of crap bathtub. $635.00. NEVERMIND THE FACT THAT MY BATHTUB REMODEL COST $2, OOO! Out the labor and the beautiful mason work our contractor did (around the liner). Posted about it on facebook to warn my friends about their _hity bathtubs.

SOLVED! People, ...when you replace your tubs, lay a strip of roofing felt or even plastic on your subfloor (prevents dry-rot) then dump out a bed of mortar just before you set the tub in place. About a 5 gallon bucket worth on most standard tubs. eyeball the approximate thickness and trowel it around so that it is a little higher than where the bottom of your tub will be. Set your new tub in then mush it down until the sides/edges of your tub line up on the side support frame and that it is level. Walk away for a day to let it dry. TIP: Don't actually stand in the tub to mush it down. Due to the slight deflection caused by your weight, you risk mushing it down too far because when you get out the bottom will slightly lift back up to its original place, thus causing a small gap between the top of the mortar and the bottom of your tub which defeats the intended purpose.
Your new tub will never crack again.

Did you level the floor before putting it in if not its not there fault you don't know what your doing. if you did then we can discuss what happened. They are sized for people under 300lb if you over then again not there problem. I myself in teetering dangerously close to 300lb. and that's a total of 250 or so stop having se# in the shower or build one so you and your spouse can shower together.

I bought a Lyons soaking tub. Followed the installation instructions or the warranty would be voided. A few months later. A crack appeared in the corner by the floor and overflow to the left. Water leaked down the walls and surrounding area below. I called Menards, they said its not our problem and gave me Lyons. I called Lyons and started the warranty repair process. The repair man was very skilled. The crack was repaired and a week later it happened again. This went on 4 times. The 4th time I actually removed a piece of drywall to give him access to the bottom. Having access he reapir the corner and it has help up. But 5 months or so later, . I noticed cracks on the floor. WTF. Lyons would not even attemp a repair and said they would only send out a replacement tub and the matching surroun walls . 2 sides and a back. No more repairs.
They do not cover the labor to replace a tub. Which is expensive. What are the costs. ? Demolition 300$ Set the tub 250, have the plumbing redone, 250$ set the walls 150$, Re drywall and patching 350$ Painting and caulking 250$ Hardware re installation 75$ Over 1500 dollars to pull the old one out and have the new one re installed. Buying a Lyons tub may cost twice the price to have it installed and then you still have a lyons tub. These are poorly made and cannot..I repeat CANNOT advice anyone to buy theyre products. Spend a little more and get a good one from Ferguson Plumbing

I am in the middle of a bathroom remodel. The contractor installed a fiberglass tub manufactured by Lyons. I told the contractor to replace it with a Kohler acrylic tub. He didn't even set it in a mortar bed. I am halting the remodel to rip out the fiberglass tub and install the Kohler tub myself. It is much easier to deal with it now than after the walls are done.

I installed 2 identical tubs in my 2 bath house the same day ( LCT013060R ), two years later with equal amount of use, one still looks like new, the other one on the other hand is all cracked and leaking. I had to patch it with CLEAR 5 minute Epoxy just so I could use it. The other bad thing is the Epoxy turned to a honey color so it look nasty now. Not at all happy

Purchased a lyons shower base with seat from Menard When I got it home I opened the box and unit was cracked on from/outside edge which is very flimsy. Box said RH drain and the product in the box was left handed drain. Ugh, If lyons can't get the packaging right I can only imagine the unit will have other quality issues so looking elsewhere. FYI - I've had good luck purchasing large items from Home Depot and having them delivered for free to my house by LTL carriers. Somehow I think Menards has no quality control and management since usually they are out of so many items.

I am so glad I found this page. I was gonna buy a lyons elite tub and surround and redo my whole bathroom in a couple of weeks. I Thank you people for these posts.

WOW! Glad I checked here. No Lyons for me. And my new tub will not come from Menards, based mainly on the cocky, dismissive post by Menards Man here.

I have a question. We are thinking of buying this SeaWAve V soaking tub. I looked at the installation diagram, pages. I am a little confused. I dont have to build a wood frame for under the tub? It said nothing about one in the installation instructions. Yes I am a female and new to this. My son who is 28 installed a new separate glass corner shower for me, but he has not replaced a tub before like this one.
Help please. I want to make sure the installation is correct so my tub will last a long time. Thankyou so much. P

if you developed cracks in the tub especially around the drain, then you installed the product incorrectly. It is not the manufacturers or Menard's fault that you installed the product wrong. If you had put down perilite plaster on the subfloor first then set the tub and level this would have eliminated any flexiing in the tub floor.

Buyers beware!
Just noticed the hairline cracks in the bottom of our Lyon's Classic tub and emailed the company right away. No response for two weeks, so I called. Of course the warranty JUST ran out and Lyon's wouldn't do anything to assist me with the problem. I asked the lady at customer service if the company was aware of ALL the online complaints about their products. She claimed she didn't know what I was talking about, although, being in the customer service dept., I would think that she would. When I asked her what the company could recommend that I do besides never purchase a Lyon's products again, she simply gave me a number for a fiberglass repairman. Needless to say I live in a rural area, the nearest repairman was 250 miles away and charges $1.00/mile and $25.00/hour and couldn't guarentee he could fix it. Wow! NEVER WILL PURCHASE A LYON'S PRODUCT AGAIN!

We bought and installed a Lyons Elite 60 x 32 shower base and wall system from Menards in July 2011.
All was well until April of 2013, when my Son noticed a 2" crack in the floor.
At the time, I made a small patch using a fiberglass repair kit.
Then, a week later I noticed water on the basement floor directly under the drain area. I turned the shower on and went back downstairs, and saw water streaming from the drain area. This time there were cracks around the circumference of the drain in the base.
Now, I am really upset! I found the install instruction sheets which noted a 5 year warranty from Lyon Industries with instructions on how to file a claim.
I found the receipt and mailed it, and a letter explaining the problem to them.
On April 30th, I sent it certified mail so I would know that they received it.
To my surprise, I received a phone call from a Lyons representative a few days later.
She apologized for the problem I had, and said they would ship a new shower base and wall to me!
She also asked that I put together a list of other supplies I would need and their costs, and email it to her.
Today May 15th, I received a call from the freight company asking to set up a delivery time! I will have it at my house on the 17th.
I am really blown away by the response I got from Lyons! I thought for sure I would be ignored, or have to fight them over honoring their warranty.
But honestly, I hope I don't have problems again in 18 months.

I bought one of these at Menards a couple months ago for our addition, we haven't used it yet, so I can't evaluate the durability. The installation was pretty simple, but I am going to caulk all the joints for extra security. I did however lose the brackets that hold the shower rod in place during construction, and called the lyons 800 number to ask about ordering new ones. They said they would put them in the mail today free of charge. Time will tell on the tub quality, but at least the customer service was helpful.

Well I wish I had seen this page before I bought my Seawave IV corner tub/shower...It was bought at Menards in Feb., 2011 & installed by a contractor soon after that...just today we noticed a crack in one of the wall panels at the bottom where the panel raises up to make the border around the edges, hard to explain where it's at...it is just below the facet, across the bottom...but anyhow, I called them & they said it could be fixed & I have to fill out a form...so we will see...Dave

Lynne, Recommend call Lyon and talk to support.

30th Nov. 2011. Lynne Pippin
Michael Fahey, or other installer who has not had problems with Lyons tubs.
I have unfortunately ordered my Lyons SeaWave IV, soaking, corner tub before reading the negative comments. Please clarify "correct installation."
We have a 3/4" ply sub-floor on 2x10 joists, at 16"centers. The joist under the middle of the tub is a double one.
How many layers of what thickness ply do you suggest under the tub? What thickness mortar? Should we make a form of 2X4's, fill it with mortar, then seat the tub into the wet mortar?, What mix? Any other potential pitfalls with installing a corner tub and walls?
We would be EXTREMELY grateful for any constructive input to prevent an expensive disaster.
Thank in advance, Lynne Pippin.

Wow, a contractor has to identify himself, but a Menards employee doesn't! It sure would be nice if there were some way of filtering the ###ic statements out of these posts.

I have been doing business with Menards for over 25 years and as with most large corporations, everything is great until you have a complaint. So, if you are not satisfied because you may have ended up having to deal with a bad employee, like the one who posted above, your best bet is to submit a written complaint to management, and if that doesn't work, picket, make a scene, boycott etc as enthusiastically as you can.

As far as products and prices go, I have found them to (usually) have better prices than Lowes or Home Depot, but in most cases (unless it's on sale) they are all higher than our local plumbing stores.

Lyon bathtubs are cheap, and if a cheap product is not properly installed it will be even more likely fail.

Menards promotes and seems to encourage "Do-it-your-self-ers", but doesn't always have salespeople who are knowledgeable about the products they are selling (there are of course many exceptions to this), or fail to caution the purchaser about tackling something best left to professionals. Therein lies their responsibility.

Michael Fahey - you said that all plastic and fiberglass tubs need a mortar bed. Do metal tubs need a mortar bedding as well? How would you recomend leveling a metal tub?

Chris

Good for you "quit complaining" Mr. no menards is all the way wrong, at least at the store where I do my business. Again, another contractor not man enough to leave his name! If his reputation was intact he would be proud to post his name so all could see. (of course I understand why menards employees cannot post their names.) Further more If Mr. No Menards wants to shop at the store that competes for his business, then let him hang by his own rope! I never shop at Lowes because they compete against me often hiring out of town sub-contractors for a very low ball price. Menards is my ally! There is the contractor advantage program that gives me free delivery on anything over $1, 000.00. Lowes would laugh if I asked for the same from them. Menards employees know me by name and are always helpful when I need them. Lowes employees in this town are good at evading customers altogether. Or you get the youg employee who thinks he knows it all and knows nothing. The Menards here in Columbus Indiana treats me with respect, knowing that I have been working construction for nearly 30 years, knowing that is is the many little guys like me that keep the doors open by bringing my business to them. There have even been times that a Menards employee has asked me to help them answer a construction question for a guest who needs assistance and they can't answer. That my friends is the mark of a truly helpful person, one that can swallow their pride and admit they don't know then go on to find someone who has the knowledge. At lowes if you get help it is often someone pretending to know. PRETENDED KNOWLEDGE PREVENTS REAL WISEDOM. That is often what I got at Lowes before Menards came to our town. Right on to quitcomplaining

no menards- guess what, most menards employees make close to, if not over 10 and hour. and as for remodeling your bathroom, i hope it floods and you never get business again. i would never hire a contractor "as cocky as you". way to be THAT GUY walking around flashing how much money you pay your [censor]es. you're dumb.
and as for the rest of you, is menards' middle name lyons? no. there isn't a lyons bathtub factory in the outside yard, contrary to popular belief, MENARDS DOES NOT PRODUCE THE PRODUCTS OURSELVES. WE HAVE SUPPLIERS. ALL WE CAN DO IS OFFER THE INSTALLATION COMPLAINT FORM AND HOPE FOR THE BEST.

lyon tubs are [censor] unlike what michael fahey says i am a contractor and i know how to install a tub and my own lyon tub cracked so he must have just got a good one because my piece of [censor] only lasted 2 yrs

I also read the complaints of water leaking down the front and side of the tub. This will not happen if the tub was installed perfectly level. It must be level front to back and side to side. Also any tub without shower doors is likely to have some leakage due to shower spray and the curtain not containing the water properly. Again this seems to be another installation problem. Choose your installer carefully and ask them if they have experience with the product and can you contact any of those customers for their opinion on the product.

sincerely, Michael Fahey

I live in columbus Indiana and have been dealing with menards for over 10 years. The service at our store is impeccable. I have never had a problem returning a defective product or been charged a re-stocking fee. They value my business! I also shop menards in indianapolis (3 seperate stores) I have had the same experience there as have other contractor friends and do-it-yourselfer friends who live in indy. As for the Lyons tub systems. I first installed the system in my own home. That was eight years ago and still no cracks. You see, I am a little weird in that I always read the installation instructions. It is necessary to have a perfectly level substrate to install any plastic or fiberglass tub. In the last eight years I have installed 7 more for my customers, with no complaints. In my opinion a tub install is not the easiest job for the weekend do-it-yourselfer. Get a pro to do it and make sure they read the directions. sincerely, Michael Fahey

Although it took a long time, we were able to get our purchase price refunded by Lyons. We dealt directly with them, not through Menard's. I did have all my original receipts, had to fill out some paperwork, several reminder phone calls, they sent out a representative to certify that it could not be fixed properly, filled out some waiver form, received the tub cost back in a check.

As a fix we have put a patch of Lexel caulk (fantastic stuff from Ace Hardware) over the crack. Although it doesn't look the greatest, we are buying time till I can rip the tub out (which will involve drywall work, etc.) and fix it properly. The caulk has lasted approximately a year already. If it starts to leak a new application would buy us that much more time. I would recommend it for those that want to buy time.

We installed the Lyons tub in November of 2007. My husband found a crack in it today! Sounds like we are going to be dealing with this too! Has anyone had any luck getting their money back. Also wondering if any other tub can be installed with the walls that were purchased (Lyons) or are we just going to have to replace it all!

They should be installed in a mudbed to perform as best possible. However, crap is still crap that is why you should not deal with a big box store. they routinely have quality manufacturers build to their cheap specifications so they can have the LOWEST price. i..e the old axiom "you get what ya pay for", that said stick with a plumbing supply house who your plumber recommends and usually they won't recommend crap to start with because they are industry professionals, not $10 hr pallet jockeys.

For those of you that are experiencing cracks in your tubs or stepping through the bottom, it sounds as though your bath tub was not installed correctly. Did your installer make sure you had very stiff subfloor underneath your tub? Multiple layers of plywood is recommended for a fiberglass tub install. Did you set your tub in a bed of mortar? If you did not set your tub in mortar, most likely the tub will crack. The mortar does more than just level the tub, it also supports the bottom evenly by conforming to the surface as the tub is pressed into the mortar mix. Most manufacturers will not honor their warranty if the tub has not been set in a bed of mortar. I don't know why Lyon's directions do not include that as they would have a lot more happy customers than they have now. Just my $0.02

We bought a Lyons tub in October 2006, I stepped through the bottom of the tub in October of 2007. We contacted Lyons they sent someone out and "repaired" the hole. One month after the repair we started seeing little cracks in it. Just last week a crack apreared while my husband was taking a bath and we had a waterfall in our basement. We stopped in Menards today, there is only a 3 year warranty on the thing. Now we don't know what we are going to do

We have the same problem as bewashbu. The tub is leaking water down the side of the tub and has ruined the drywall next to it. I am going to check to see if it is cracked any where. The bath was redone approximately three years ago and after reading these posts I am lucky it lasted this long. I only hope that I don't have to replace it. If I do I'll make sure that I go with a reputable company.

I have a junk lyons tub also aftrer three years it has started leaking from the front near the wall.
I totally refinished mt bath and can not get it to stop leaking ! pile of ###!

Those who experienced cracking; was your tub laid in a bed of motor?

Oh, is this discouraging. I installed my tub in 5/2007 and now (7/2009) it is cracked and leaking. Talk about a major pain, having to take this tub out, and mess up the drywall from this "newly" remodeled bathroom. Ugh!

I have bought the same tub in 12/2006 and it cracked also. I called Lyons and complained. They sent another to us, had to remove the old and replace the next one. Only after they sent the wrong one just before that. Then the next one went in and things were fine until 3/2009 and guess what. The tub has cracked again in same spot as other one. Still dealing with them right now on this issue.

Wow...I was ready to purchase this tub but now will buy the Kohler from another suplier!

Boy am I glad I did some research. I was ready to but this tub but now am going with the Kohler from a local supplier!

Wow menards man. I went into Menards tonight because I am ready to remodel both my bathrooms. Guess What? Lowes will have my business. I have no reason to do business with a store with mgrs as cocky as you. My money will go to your competition. If you worked for me, you would be looking for employment. Of course you would never work for me as my employees make over $10 per hour!

Good plan powerdealer. Start a scene in my store around other people and I'll either get your ### tossed, or everyone within 10 feet of you will get tired of you crying and toss your ### out theirselves. You can't intimidate me by carrying your cell phone and asking for names. What needs to be done is an installed complaint form from the store. This form will take care of the problem.