Shower vs. tub - home value? (1 Viewer)

[T J]

We're going to be undertaking a bathroom remodel for the kid's bathroom upstairs. The question I am wrestling with is whether to do a nice enclosed shower and ditch the tub, or re-do things leaving the tub but making improvements to it ( new tub, tiling the walls, new door, new fixtures). It's approx. 25 yrs old and looks it. 

For re-sale down the road, is a tub a necessity for those potential buyers who may have smaller children? There is one in the basement bathroom that would stay. For our family's intents, it's not needed. A nice walk-in shower suits our own personal needs better but is that a bad investment?

TIA

 

[VA703]

do you have enough room for both

 

[Cjw_55106]

Im no expert, but as long as there is another one in the house, I cant see this being a deal breaker for a buyer in the future. If it was a master bath, then yes, I would say it needs a tub. Since it isnt, I'd do whatever suits your family. 

 

[The Commish]

I had this same question several months ago.  I decided that the MB should have a tub plus one other bathroom in the house should have a tub (for people with kids).  The others bathrooms you can do whatever you want.  My   

It was also more expensive to do full showers instead of a tube shower combo.  In my case, it was a lot more material to fit the existing footprint and the cost of tile, grout, shower pans, waterproofing and labor was more (by about $250 each bathroom) than a nice soaker tub and shower combo.  Of course, that probably depends on the material you choose.  My wife has expensive tastes   

 

[Todem]

If a large % of your potential buyers are going to be most likely a young families......do the tub/shower combo. They will want a tub for their young children who then grow and use the shower head when they get older. Even when they are teens...they still may want to soak in the tub sometimes too.

I always felt a master bath should have both a true stand up enclosed shower and a nice tub if room allows. The rest of the bathrooms should have the tub/shower head combo for flexibility. 

Down here in South Florida some homes have what is called a cabana bathroom that leads directly to your pool....those typically have a stand up shower only.

But in your case....for value purposes for future resale....tub/shower combo is the safest most practical way to go for resale purposes if that is very important to you.

 

[El Floppo]

hi- I asked this a while ago... specific to NYC. here's teh thread, fwiw.

I agree with the commish- Master Bath should have both (ideally separate stall and tub, IMO), and one more for young kids.

how many total bathrooms do you have?

 

[jamny]

We moved into our house 22 years ago and did the bathroom over a few years later and had the same thought, so we went with a tub. While it did come in handy when we had a dog to give it a bath, we've regretted not going with the shower just for our own enjoyment. Sometimes you have to think about what you want a little more than what the resale will be. We only have the one bathroom. But we also never had kids.

 

[Peak]

My parents did this and had only 2 stand up showers - no tub within their house.  They sold it a year later.  With that in mind, it's all about the market and potential buyers.  I'd think you would be minimizing your potential buyer's list by not having at least 1 tub in the house.  

 

[Brony]

We dedicated a decent amount of our master bath to having a tub in there when we remodeled 5 years ago.  Still haven't had any use it yet.

If it's a kids bathroom, I'd recommend keeping a tub.

 

[mr roboto]

Kids bath - tub IMO. Master, shower and if there's room separate tub. 

 

[EYLive]

I would use the space for a nice stone tile rain shower. But young families will want a tub for bathing kids.

 

[BowieMercs]

Kitchens & bathrooms drive home values because women care more about it than men. Otherwise man caves & garages would have been made of stainless steel & granite for the last 15 yrs

 

[Da Guru]

I only take showers but it seems like women and kids like baths so keep at least one tub in the home.

 

[jwb]

Unless you're looking to move fairly soon, I'm more about making the house suit your life than a future buyer's. 

We have 1.5 baths. We took out the tub and made an awesome shower that we love. We're likely here for another 20 years - I simply don't care how "no tub" hurts resale value.

 

[ShamrockPride]

If you are 100% intent on selling it down the line, go with the tub. It will brimg you a larger number of potential buyers. More potential buyers = greater chance your home sells.

 

[Brony]

While I do recommend adding bath if it's a kids room, I do agree with the sentiment to make it how you want it.  I think a lot of these real estate "you'll never sell your house if ..." notions taken as gospel are far overblown.  If you like it and it's tasteful without being impractical, it's not the deal breaker many make it out to be.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

I agree with the folks that say, strictly for resale, tub in the kids bath is a lot more important than a tub in the master (which seem to be becoming less and less popular).  As someone with two small kids it would be a dealbreaker for me if I were the buyer (or at least would negotiate an amount to re-do the bath if we really liked the rest of the house).  A tub in the basement would be of little consolation.  I'm not taking several kids down to the other side of the house and wrapping them up in towels and finagling them up two floors to all their stuff, then going back down two floors to clean up, etc.

That said I also agree that if you think it would dramatically improve your living situation and you're not planning on moving soon at some point you have to do what you like as well.  It doesn't mean you can't sell the house, it just means you will have fewer potentially buyers and that may or may not end up mattering.

 

[Doctor Detroit]

I would use the space for a nice stone tile rain shower. But young families will want a tub for bathing kids.

And bathing dogs, for emergency scenarios, and really for a host of other things.  Need at least one tub in the house IMO. 

 

[eoMMan]

I was looking at some 2/2 and 3/2 layouts recently for my mom's next place and I noticed quite a few either had only one bath (in master) or no baths in either bathroom.

Are Americans taking less baths? (I definitely see the benefits with childrens).

 

[mr roboto]

And bathing dogs, for emergency scenarios, and really for a host of other things.  Need at least one tub in the house IMO. 

Agreed especially if you are Dexter. Tough to contain all that blood in a shower. 

 

[EYLive]

Agreed especially if you are Dexter. Tough to contain all that blood in a shower. 

Just don't try to dissolve a body with acid in a porcelain tub.

 

[FUBAR]

Assuming the basement bathroom is near where parents would be while s toddler takes a bath, do what you want upstairs.  

Think about it from the parent perspective, I want to be nearby when my young ones take a bath (assume they're old enough to be safe without you right next to them).  But we have never used our upstairs tub. 

My 6yo and 8yo occasionally take a bath on our main floor (about weekly), and I'll soak in the jacuzzi tub maybe once a month (helps recovery), my wife hasn't taken a bath in 20 years. 

 

[Chemical X]

I think the question here should be master bath specific......no reason why extra bathrooms for kids shouldn't have a combo tub/shower that can be done nicely. 

You would be fine with a master bathroom that has a dolled up shower only, no tub, but I think buyers want a tub for kids.

 

[offdee]

Yep, as others have already stated...

- Tub is necessary in the main bathroom near kids bedrooms

- In Master bath en suite, no tub wouldn't be a dealbreaker to most.   We just made an offer on a house yesterday that was accepted that has both a stand up shower and separate tub in the master en suite bathroom and we're seriously considering remodeling to remove the tub, make the stand up shower a little bigger and put in a 2nd vanity/sink where the old tub used to be.   

 

[FUBAR]

Yep, as others have already stated...

- Tub is necessary in the main bathroom near kids bedrooms

- In Master bath en suite, no tub wouldn't be a dealbreaker to most.   We just made an offer on a house yesterday that was accepted that has both a stand up shower and separate tub in the master en suite bathroom and we're seriously considering remodeling to remove the tub, make the stand up shower a little bigger and put in a 2nd vanity/sink where the old tub used to be.   

We considered remodeling to remove our tub (same idea, separate from shower) but for a closet. 

When we build our cabin we might not include a bath.  But we would have an outdoor heated shower. 

 

[avoiding injuries]

You have to have a bathtub where kids will bathe.

This thread has sparked me to consider taking out the jacuzzi tub in the master and put in a very large shower. Which would lead to an entire remodel. 

 

[Peak]

You have to have a bathtub where kids will bathe.

This thread has sparked me to consider taking out the jacuzzi tub in the master and put in a very large shower. Which would lead to an entire remodel. 

I'm in the process of this type of remodel now.  Replaced a small step in shower with a 4' x 4' shower and soaking tub.  The jacuzzi tub that was there was way too bulky and no one used it.  Replaced it with a more conventional soaking tub which freed up some room to expand the shower a couple more feet.  Had room to do a 5' x 5' shower, but once the wifey dismissed dual shower heads for more "play" time, I figured it wasn't worth it.

 

[El Floppo]

fwiw- here's a bath I did recently with the tub/shower separated. I'm not a fan of standing in the tub while showering, so always try to implement this kind of arrangement. this was big nyc apartment, but not a lot of space for the bathroom. 

 

[T J]

Thanks. Ya, I'm leaning toward keeping a tub in the upstairs bathroom, but neither of my kids take baths. It would strictly be for re-sale in the event we did want to sell and this would be important to young families I think. 

Our house has 3.5 baths. The master has the stone shower thing with the raindrop shower head with no tub. The previous owners had just remodeled it the prior year and took a large garden tub out. They then used that area for a makeup sitting area. We use it for laundry stuff - clothes hampers, laundry baskets, ironing board. Works great for us. 

The basement is finished and does have a full bath w/tub, but kind of inconvenient if someone was wanting to take a bath. 

If anything, when we get around to doing that one, I think I'll go shower only down there and leave the tub on the upstairs level where it sits in between the two kid's rooms.

Thanks for the input all. 

 

[glvsav37]

do you plan on selling the house any time soon? If not, then who cares? Make it the way you want. Its not that hard to add a pre-fab tub once you decide to move or have the new homeowners do it. 

But if you don't want to go through the hassle later on, I would keep the tub.

Growing up, We had a tub in the kids bath and a shower in my parents. I wasn't a fan of the tub so i used their shower. My bro and sis didn't care and they used the tub.  

 

[Johnny Bing]

do you plan on selling the house any time soon? If not, then who cares? Make it the way you want. Its not that hard to add a pre-fab tub once you decide to move or have the new homeowners do it. 

But if you don't want to go through the hassle later on, I would keep the tub.

Growing up, We had a tub in the kids bath and a shower in my parents. I wasn't a fan of the tub so i used their shower. My bro and sis didn't care and they used the tub.  

I agree with this.  When you list the house you can easily put an allowance in the listing for a tub upstairs if it is a deal breaker for someone.  

I get if we are talking about adding a bedroom or not, but this item falls into small cosmetic for me.  

 

[T J]

fwiw- here's a bath I did recently with the tub/shower separated. I'm not a fan of standing in the tub while showering, so always try to implement this kind of arrangement. this was big nyc apartment, but not a lot of space for the bathroom. 

Looks good 

 

[Chaka]

fwiw- here's a bath I did recently with the tub/shower separated. I'm not a fan of standing in the tub while showering, so always try to implement this kind of arrangement. this was big nyc apartment, but not a lot of space for the bathroom. 

Nice work Floppo.  Didn't realize that was your line of work. Do you specialize in bathrooms?

 

[El Floppo]

Nice work Floppo.  Didn't realize that was your line of work. Do you specialize in bathrooms?

we do apartment and home remodels. we're an interiors firm, so don't get to do much of any ground-up stuff any more... I miss it. 

george jefferson dee-luxe apartments in the sky (upper east side, too... most of them).

 

[James Daulton]

Yep, as others have already stated...

- Tub is necessary in the main bathroom near kids bedrooms

- In Master bath en suite, no tub wouldn't be a dealbreaker to most.   We just made an offer on a house yesterday that was accepted that has both a stand up shower and separate tub in the master en suite bathroom and we're seriously considering remodeling to remove the tub, make the stand up shower a little bigger and put in a 2nd vanity/sink where the old tub used to be.   

Slow your roll there guy.  You're not even engaged to this chick.  Aren't there plenty of other gals who need to be Offdee rated?