soaking tub or walk-in shower

[grey56]

We are adding a bathroom as part of our renovation.  The space is going to be 8' deep, with a window at one end.  We can make the room as wide as we want - the other side is the kitchen, which we are also renovating.  We currently have 1.5 bathrooms (current full bathroom has the tub/shower combo).

One option is to put in a soaking tub, with or without jets.  If we did this, we'd put in one of those standard 3'x3' standing showers.  Other pieces would be standard as well. 

Another option is a tiled walk-in shower.  Glass wall, no door.  It would be 4'x6' approximately.  No additional tub.  Other pieces would be standard.

Or we could just put in the standard tub/shower combo, but maybe slightly upgrade everything else (sink, toilet, faucets, tile, etc.). 

We have no plans to sell but this isn't our forever home. 

[bunnymendelbaum]

Is this on the first floor? I would not do a soaking tub next to the kitchen. I just don't think I'd use it, would you?

Do you plan on using this bathroom or is it secondary?

We just added a bathroom to our house with a large walk in shower. I love it. Our other bath has a claw foot tub which is a PITA to shower in, so this walk in shower was perfect for us.

[grey56]

We have a ranch, so "next to the kitchen" also means "next to the bedrooms". ;-)

The other bathroom will be the kids' bathroom, and this new bathroom will be mine/guests'.

DH and I are at odds over which is a better option. One of us hates taking baths, so a soaking tub is lost. The other loves taking baths, but doesn't in the current bathroom b/c it's the only bathroom on the main floor (half bath is in the basement) and someone always needs it. Additionally, one of us thinks the current trends with the giant walk-in showers is amazing, while the other still just wants the tub.

[demandypants]

I had a jetted soaking tub put into our old house's only full bath. We both enjoyed it though. Now at the new house our tub is not good for much. Last night I would have loved to slide into a hot bath for a relaxing soak. I miss our jetted tub. Perhaps some day we can remedy that (or put in a hottub!)

[Deleted]

If you can make the room as wide as you want, why not both?

[pamela]

I loved my soaking tub. And it was in a bathroom shared between the master bedroom and the bedroom we made our nursery. To me, showers are just a necessity though so I don't see the purpose of a big fancy shower other than aestheics. And a pretty tub fits that for me.

[TBM]

We always thought that if we stayed in this house, we would put in a big tiled walk in shower in the (tiny) master bath and get rid of the (tiny) tub.

We have a spa that satisfies the soaking/relaxing thing far more comfortably than the bath tub that is too short for the water to adequately cover anyone over the age of 12.

[magdala]

Since this isn't your forever home, I'd contact your local real estate people to find out whether a jetted tub and or walk in shower are pluses or minuses to selling a house. No tub at all is a definite minus in our neighborhood.

[IIOY]

Mar 14, 2013 8:01:36 GMT -5 magdala said:

Since this isn't your forever home, I'd contact your local real estate people to find out whether a jetted tub and or walk in shower are pluses or minuses to selling a house. No tub at all is a definite minus in our neighborhood.

This. Personally I never use our monster spa tub and would go for the shower. However, I have been told by builders and RE agents that people love to see tubs in master baths, even if they don't plan to use them.

[FoxInFiji]

Mar 14, 2013 6:40:02 GMT -5 grey56 said:

DH and I are at odds over which is a better option. One of us hates taking baths, so a soaking tub is lost. The other loves taking baths, but doesn't in the current bathroom b/c it's the only bathroom on the main floor (half bath is in the basement) and someone always needs it. Additionally, one of us thinks the current trends with the giant walk-in showers is amazing, while the other still just wants the tub.

This is us.  We are just wrapping up our master bathroom remodel and we went with both.  A big soaker tub (6' long so I actually fit in it!) and a tiled walk in shower that is a good size but not huge.  Since this is your forever home I really think you should consider both.  Do you really want to make your husband take a bath in the kids' bathroom every time he wants one?  DH likes to soak in baths but with the new tub I think I might actually enjoy them more too since some part of me won't be sticking out the water like I was with the old 5' tub/shower combo.  A few things to note:

A walk in shower is the most expensive sf in your entire house!  Literally every single item costs you a pretty penny and the glass surround costs a small fortune.  If you can keep the size of that down you can save a lot of money and space but still make it feel bigger/more open with the glass surround. 

A soaking fiberglass acrylic tub doesn't cost much at all it just takes up space.  Without the jets (which most people are going away from now) it's actually a very affordable item that will cost a lot less than the shower. 

If you can keep the shower to a standard size you can get a pre-made base that is tileable or get a cast iron base that doesn't need tile.  That will cost less than a custom size. 

How you lay out the shower and shower door can drastically decrease the cost of the glass surround.  Unfortunately for us we didn't have many options with our layout and our surround costs a lot more because of it.  Basically you want the door hinges to be on a solid tiled wall not another piece of glass.  If you can't do that then the glass needs to go the the ceiling or you need a big ugly metal header.  Eliminating glass to glass corners is also helpful but doesn't cost as much as the door. 

HTH

Also the shared master bath/guest bath thing is kind of weird.  Is there a way your guests can share with the kids instead?  We're also in a ranch so I know most don't have a powder room like two story houses.  Our future kids' bath is our guest/main bath as it's connected to the hall.  But our master is our own.  Do you have some floorplans you can post? 

[FoxInFiji]

Wanted to add that our outside shower dimensions are 5'x 3'9" but with the thick half wall (thicker because we have a niche in it) and bench area taken out the actual floor area you stand on is 3'4" x 3'9". It's not huge but it doesn't feel tiny either because of the open bench and soon to be glass surround. The wider with than our previous tub/shower combo made a big difference along with not having the tub side there.

Our master bath is a long skinny space...think galley bathroom and we were going to put in a big double shower across the back of one wall similar to this:


But I started looking at the prices for that and holy cow! Instead we have a smaller shower and more storage cabinets.

[Deleted]

Yep, walk in showers are expensive. I just did a quick tally of our master shower (not sure if I forgot any). Estimated total cost? $8000!  

I never considered the total before.  But now I feel like we overdid it and should have put some of that $ somewhere else. 

**Edited since I forgot the glass.

[sillygoosegirl]

I saw a tub in a retro construction store recently that was about 3.5 ft by 3.5 ft by 1 ft tall, with a little seat at the 1 ft level in one corner. I thought it looked very practical. Easy to get in and out of for a shower, somewhere to sit if you want to shave your legs sitting down (which I don't do, but would love to be able to do), yet big enough to bathe a small child or soak your feet. I think I'm going to look for something like that when we redo our master bath.

We have a hot tub outside, which I prefer over a soaker or jetted tub inside.

[FoxInFiji]

Mar 14, 2013 13:52:59 GMT -5 sillygoosegirl said:

I saw a tub in a retro construction store recently that was about 3.5 ft by 3.5 ft by 1 ft tall, with a little seat at the 1 ft level in one corner. I thought it looked very practical. Easy to get in and out of for a shower, somewhere to sit if you want to shave your legs sitting down (which I don't do, but would love to be able to do), yet big enough to bathe a small child or soak your feet. I think I'm going to look for something like that when we redo our master bath.

We have a hot tub outside, which I prefer over a soaker or jetted tub inside.

Yeah that's another option though a bit out of the box depending on the style of your home.  They call them Japanese soaking tubs.  They are much taller than a normal tub but also take up less space.



LOL in my google search this came up:


Doesn't look like a comfortable two person tub at all!

[FoxInFiji]

Mar 14, 2013 10:24:24 GMT -5 d0ri said:

Yep, walk in showers are expensive. I just did a quick tally of our master shower (not sure if I forgot any). Estimated total cost? $8000!  

I never considered the total before.  But now I feel like we overdid it and should have put some of that $ somewhere else. 

**Edited since I forgot the glass.

Don't feel bad!  Ours is a freakin' lot as well.  $6600 but that's not including the quartz pieces or accent tile (which are a lump sum for the whole bathroom)...taking a stab at what % of those we're using it would be about $7600.  $2800 of that is the glass surround alone!! 

[Deleted]

Mar 14, 2013 14:24:17 GMT -5 FoxInFiji said:

Mar 14, 2013 10:24:24 GMT -5 d0ri said:

Yep, walk in showers are expensive. I just did a quick tally of our master shower (not sure if I forgot any). Estimated total cost? $8000!  

I never considered the total before.  But now I feel like we overdid it and should have put some of that $ somewhere else. 

**Edited since I forgot the glass.

Don't feel bad!  Ours is a freakin' lot as well.  $6600 but that's not including the quartz pieces or accent tile (which are a lump sum for the whole bathroom)...taking a stab at what % of those we're using it would be about $7600.  $2800 of that is the glass surround alone!! 

Ouch!  $2800 for the glass sounds a lot.  I guess because of the configuration?  We only need glass on one side ~4.5ft wide, so just a glass panel plus the door and the door will be bolted to the wall for $1700.  I was shocked with the hansgrohe shower trims' total, $1800.  <coughing>

Yeah, $8k just for the shower.  But here I'm currently sweating $7k for plants/trees + labor.  LOL.

[FoxInFiji]

Mar 14, 2013 15:05:52 GMT -5 d0ri said:

Mar 14, 2013 14:24:17 GMT -5 FoxInFiji said:

Don't feel bad!  Ours is a freakin' lot as well.  $6600 but that's not including the quartz pieces or accent tile (which are a lump sum for the whole bathroom)...taking a stab at what % of those we're using it would be about $7600.  $2800 of that is the glass surround alone!! 

Ouch!  $2800 for the glass sounds a lot.  I guess because of the configuration?  We only need glass on one side ~4.5ft wide, so just a glass panel plus the door and the door will be bolted to the wall for $1700.  I was shocked with the hansgrohe shower trims' total, $1800.  <coughing>

Yeah, $8k just for the shower.  But here I'm currently sweating $7k for plants/trees + labor.  LOL.

Well the biggest cost of the glass is the type we picked.  Because the glass has to go the ceiling (see below) we wanted to get the built in Showerguard that repels water better and makes cleaning easier if not less often.  Plus since the wall tile is white we wanted the low iron glass (Starphire) so it didn't have a green tint.  But it's going to look freakin' fabulous when it's done!

The configuration of the room didn't help either.  We need the glass to go to the ceiling or have the big ugly metal support bar around the top because we can't fasten the door to the wall without hitting our towel/robe hooks.  So it's a glass panel, door with operable transom above (the door would be too heavy if it went to the ceiling), glass panel, corner glass transition, and glass panel over the half wall. 

Going with U-channel instead of frameless saved a bunch of cost though.  With all of the small panels and pieces we would have had over a dozen of those big clips which would look strange.  Plus I've never been a big fan of how they look.  So the top and bottom of each piece will have a U-channel and it will be wet glazed to the tile on the walls.  They don't have to cut holes for each of the brackets to attach to saving on labor and install costs. 

[Deleted]

Soaking tub for sure. I'm a huge bath person and take one every day. We have a garden tub with jets in the master bathroom that I have literally only used once It's just not comfortable to sit in and read. I do sit in our soaking tub every day though. Sometimes 2x a day, lol.