Totally unimportant poll: Bath vs Shower (NGKUR)

[mill23]

H and I are thinking about a house reno which would extend our master bedroom and add an ensuite. We are trying to create a floor plan but can't agree about whether we need to plan for a bathtub. Our house is a bungalow and currently we have one bath downstairs and just a shower upstairs.

What does GKU think? Would you buy a house without a bathtub on the main floor? If we ever have kids, would we regret not having one upstairs?  Would an incredible shower make up for it?

[dashook]

I'm no expert at all, and DH and I still rent, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

I think your en suite bathroom should be what *you* want, regardless of kids, especially since you say you have a tub elsewhere in the house. Do you or your H enjoy taking baths as opposed to showers? Would it maybe be a fun sexy thing for you guys? Then definitely go for both.

We only have one and a half baths so the only full one is upstairs and has a tub/shower combo. It's tiny and I hate it. If we eventually decide to buy this house, we will be doing a major reno to add a master bath and it will be with the understanding that it is the grownup bathroom and the other one (with little potties, character toothpaste, bath toys, etc. everywhere) is for the kids. That's just my personal preference.

[pinkcat]

If you already have at least one bathtub in the house (if I'm reading that correctly), then I think it's a personal decision based on how much you like baths. I personally love baths, so in our next house a separate bath is a must have for me. Since you have one bathtub in the house already I would think that would be fine for future kids (but, I've never had kids so take that with a grain of salt). Do you take a lot of baths now? Would the bath be used often?

[kleigh]

Will you have plenty of space for it, or would it be cramped ? I prefer space to extras personally. We are finishing up our renovation (the whole house) and opted for just one bathtub on the 2nd floor where most of the bedrooms are. The en suite is just a shower and downstairs is just a shower. I like to think I'm a bath girl but I've really only taken one every few years and personally feel that it's fine as long as there is even just one for kids to be bathed.

[joy]

We have a two bed/one bath house. My husband and I want an oversized shower stall with two showerheads instead of a tub. So, I also asked this question!

Overall, the answer was ditch the tub and make one showerhead detachable (for filling toddler tubs or spraying 'em down).

Our bathroom renovation begins soon and I'm stoked.

[ironbaby]

We have an extra bathroom with a tub, so my dream is to rip out our garden tub in our master bath and replace it with a huge shower. H and I never take baths, though, and we almost always shower together, so it would make no sense for us to keep the tub.

I say as long as you have one tub, and you're not a bubble bath tub-soaking kinda person, go with just the shower and make it magnificent.

[rablissful]

Feb 1, 2016 8:45:37 GMT -5 ironbaby said:

We have an extra bathroom with a tub, so my dream is to rip out our garden tub in our master bath and replace it with a huge shower. H and I never take baths, though, and we almost always shower together, so it would make no sense for us to keep the tub.

I say as long as you have one tub, and you're not a bubble bath tub-soaking kinda person, go with just the shower and make it magnificent.

[Deleted]

Feb 1, 2016 8:45:37 GMT -5 ironbaby said:

We have an extra bathroom with a tub, so my dream is to rip out our garden tub in our master bath and replace it with a huge shower. H and I never take baths, though, and we almost always shower together, so it would make no sense for us to keep the tub.

I say as long as you have one tub, and you're not a bubble bath tub-soaking kinda person, go with just the shower and make it magnificent.

Your drains must be constantly clogged with glitter.

[dashook]

Feb 1, 2016 8:45:36 GMT -5 joy said:

Overall, the answer was ditch the tub and make one showerhead detachable (for filling toddler tubs or spraying 'em down).

Suuuure that's why you want a detachable one...

[mill23]

We are definitely not bath people. I never take them and neither does H. My worry was for resale value and potentially for kids - I'm glad to see so many of you think it's ok not to have one!

We would have the space to do include a bath but it would mean going a few more feet out into the backyard. I've been pinning so many images and I love the look of the standalone bath but I doubt it would get much use!

[kleigh]

Those standalone baths are soooo cute, but realistically I think it'd be hard to wash children in them - they look taller.

[mill23]

Here are my some of my pinterest inspirations:

Separate tub and shower


Shower/tub together:


Just shower:

[mill23]

Feb 1, 2016 8:38:23 GMT -5 dashook said:

I'm no expert at all, and DH and I still rent, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

I think your en suite bathroom should be what *you* want, regardless of kids, especially since you say you have a tub elsewhere in the house. Do you or your H enjoy taking baths as opposed to showers? Would it maybe be a fun sexy thing for you guys? Then definitely go for both.

We only have one and a half baths so the only full one is upstairs and has a tub/shower combo. It's tiny and I hate it. If we eventually decide to buy this house, we will be doing a major reno to add a master bath and it will be with the understanding that it is the grownup bathroom and the other one (with little potties, character toothpaste, bath toys, etc. everywhere) is for the kids. That's just my personal preference.

This is a really good point. I hadn't thought about it turning out ensuite into a kids play room...maybe it's better to keep that stuff downstairs. 

[dashook]

Feb 1, 2016 9:04:07 GMT -5 mill23 said:

Here are my some of my pinterest inspirations:

Separate tub and shower


Shower/tub together:


Just shower:

That third one is gorgeous!

[requiressnacks]

I have a crappy tub/shower combo. I WISH I had an amazing shower.

[ironbaby]

Feb 1, 2016 8:55:45 GMT -5 @wallflwr926 said:

Feb 1, 2016 8:45:37 GMT -5 ironbaby said:

We have an extra bathroom with a tub, so my dream is to rip out our garden tub in our master bath and replace it with a huge shower. H and I never take baths, though, and we almost always shower together, so it would make no sense for us to keep the tub.

I say as long as you have one tub, and you're not a bubble bath tub-soaking kinda person, go with just the shower and make it magnificent.

Your drains must be constantly clogged with glitter.

The glitter is part of me. It doesn't wash off.

[teraiin]

I was going to write this long detailed explanation of my thoughts, but everyone has summed it up so much better.

As a personal anecdote. Our house has 2 baths. Upstairs is a really small shower, no tub. People tried to pressure us to put in a tub/shower combo. (People = in-laws) We don't care. It's a serviceable shower for a small bathroom. The downstairs bathroom has an awesome soaker/jetted tub. But the shower is really dinky and disappointing. If we ever have the spare $$ for bathroom renos, it will be a nicer AMAZING shower. Because sometimes I don't feel like a soak in the tub, I want an amazing shower.

[pivot]

If you are cramped for space I would definitely do a larger shower if you have a bathtub in another bathroom for kids. Especially if you and your DH are not really bath people.

[peaseblossom55]

I love your inspirational photos! We plan to renovate and increase the size of our master bathroom as some point. I'd prefer a separate shower and tub. I hope we can get a nice big soaking tub for when we do renovations. If you are not bath people do a nice big open shower.

[lavinia]

My vote is shower/tub combo. I get that you aren't a bath person, but it is more convenient to have a bathtub on the same floor as bedrooms for bathing kids. I don't think that would be a dealbreaker for me when buying a house, but it might be a factor.

[JustJudy]

As a realtor I can say with confidence that almost all my buyers with kids just want at least one tub for the kids but most don't care about a tub in the master.

[littlelion]

mill23, pp all made great points. I voted separate bathtub for the same reason you mentioned. Resale value. But only if it make sense. 

[TheEleventhHour]

In a perfect world I would have a deep soaking tub separate from the shower which I would have no desire to be super fancy. We currently have a shower/tub combo but I never take baths because the tub just isn't deep enough. I agree it should be what YOU want and would use the most.

And honestly, as far as kids go, as soon as DS could walk he started taking showers with us (so around 13 months old). Prior to that he either got a bath in a baby tub or the kitchen sink lol. So really, I don't feel like a bathtub is 100% necessary for kids.

[ceejay]

We have 2.5 bathrooms, and when we remodeled our master bath a few years ago, we got rid of the shower/bath combo and put in a large shower. We had used that bathtub maybe once since moving in, so it made sense for us to get rid of it. We still have a bathtub in our other full bath.

As long as you have a bathtub somewhere else in your house, I vote that you should do whatever you want in your master bath.

[sleepymonkey]

Feb 1, 2016 9:58:24 GMT -5 JustJudy said:

As a realtor I can say with confidence that almost all my buyers with kids just want at least one tub for the kids but most don't care about a tub in the master.

This is what we were told when we sold our house last year. Our house had a tub/shower combo in the guest bath but only a shower in the master. She said as long as you have one tub, most buyers don't care too much. When we built our current house, we were excited for the large soaker tub in the master bathroom with the separate shower and opted not to change to the available option to just make a really large shower with 2 shower heads. In the 16 months we've lived there, I have used the tub twice and MH has used it once. It is just a collector of dust. We're kicking ourselves now.

[samanthasays]

Feb 1, 2016 9:58:24 GMT -5 JustJudy said:

As a realtor I can say with confidence that almost all my buyers with kids just want at least one tub for the kids but most don't care about a tub in the master.

I second this. The advice from our parents and in laws about resale value can be out dated. The next person to buy your house will just as likely be your age or younger and might have preferences more in line with yours, so go with what you love (within reason, hidden grotto showers might not be the best idea )

[JustJudy]

Feb 1, 2016 11:13:10 GMT -5 sleepymonkey said:

Feb 1, 2016 9:58:24 GMT -5 JustJudy said:

As a realtor I can say with confidence that almost all my buyers with kids just want at least one tub for the kids but most don't care about a tub in the master.

This is what we were told when we sold our house last year. Our house had a tub/shower combo in the guest bath but only a shower in the master. She said as long as you have one tub, most buyers don't care too much. When we built our current house, we were excited for the large soaker tub in the master bathroom with the separate shower and opted not to change to the available option to just make a really large shower with 2 shower heads. In the 16 months we've lived there, I have used the tub twice and MH has used it once. It is just a collector of dust. We're kicking ourselves now.

Even I thought I would take baths all the time in our beautiful soaker tub, but in 2 years I've maybe taken 3. 

[mill23]

I was so pro-tub in our initial discussions but you guys are really changing my mind!

[emilie]

If I had a chance to renovate, I would totally do a separate tub + shower for the master, with the idea of that bathroom being for the adults only and still having the bathtub downstairs for the kids. But H and I both love baths, and I would love to have a separate bathtub that isn't subject to the daily wear and tear and grime of showering. It just depends on whether a bathtub is something you actually think you'd use.

[samanthasays]

Feb 1, 2016 14:17:07 GMT -5 emilie said:

If I had a chance to renovate, I would totally do a separate tub + shower for the master, with the idea of that bathroom being for the adults only and still having the bathtub downstairs for the kids. But H and I both love baths, and I would love to have a separate bathtub that isn't subject to the daily wear and tear and grime of showering. It just depends on whether a bathtub is something you actually think you'd use.

I am a huge bath fan too! I take at least one a week, and it is normally close to 2 hours long I subscribe to US weekly exclusively for bath tub reading material. I normally bring in a water bottle and glass of wine or a beer, H knows to check on me every half hour or so to provide refills as necessary