Eliminating tub in master bath and replacing with large shower. Good or bad idea?

Profile picture for Rhonnie8812
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December 18 2008 - Raleigh
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Answers (47)

Profile picture for Sharon Lewis
Heads up.....this is an OLD post from 2008.I see that Ronnie the poster commented and has still not resolved it. Ronnie, there is a company that can 'color' the gold tub....many of my buyers are not happy when they walk into a home that does not have a tub....keep the tub, have it colored white. Don't do any work on the home without a permit....please.
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April 03
Profile picture for Appraisal guy
Make sure your contractor gets the proper permits for the remodel. This will kill a deal faster than anything.
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March 29
Profile picture for Ruth Mudd

If you have another bathroom with a tub a super-sized spa shower is a great idea. When I go out with younger buyers they don't want the super bath tubs anymore. Older buyers can't get into them, and never use them. If you are putting one in a basement, consider a handy-cap assessable shower. The biggest new trend I am seeing is inter-generational living. People need space for the older parents to live with them or stay on extended visits. Wider openings are helpful.



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March 29
Profile picture for Rhonnie8812
Thank everyone for your comments and advise. We still have not remodeled the Master Bath. Our home is a Ranch built in 1972. There are tthree bedrooms on the main floor. Each bedroom has it's own bath. One of the bathrooms has an entrace from the bedroom and also the hallway. So this bathroom also serves as the guest bath.Currently all three bathrooms have tubs.

The master bathroom has a seprate sink/dressing area and then the tub and toilet are in smaller room acessable from the bedroom and dressing area. The tub and toilet room are so small that you can sit on the toilet and reach the wall in front of you. Take one big step the other way and your in the tub.

We were thinking of knocking out the wall between the dressing area  to make the bath room fell more open and install a tiled shower with the seamless glass doors.  In the past we have done most remodeling ourselves, but find that we don't have the time and energy to tackle such large scale jobs. That is why we haven't proceed with this remodel and we can't necessarily afford to pay someone else to do it.

So if and when we do decide to sell our home, it may still have the harvest gold tub, tile, and toilet that came with the house when we bought it!
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March 29
Profile picture for Appraisal guy
Good idea. Most people take showers vs baths these days. For the appraisal a 3/4 bathroom is treated as a full bathroom, so no worries there.
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March 28
Profile picture for blub blub blub
Someone really likes this question.  They answered it in 2008, 2009 and now 2012.
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March 25
Profile picture for Melody91
IT DEPENDS WHETHER YOU WANT TO SELL IT!

While there is no Law requiring a Tub, in terms of greater broad spectrum Marketability, people with children DO prefer a Tub.
No normal parent I know of, puts an Infant in a Shower& IF a parent did, it would be with an older infant who was 'water comfortable' with the Parent 'Holding the Baby in Their Arms in a Gentle Shower' washing the Baby, while he/she was lovingly held, & felt Secure to All.

Otherwise, it also depends on the Layout; how many other Bathrooms; etc.

There are some very nice Combinations one CAN also Design Oneself, to include BOTH, if one can.
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March 25
Profile picture for Cindy Quinton
Zombie posts!!!!
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March 23
Profile picture for dbelman
Not a good idea if you have a higher end home or luxury condo.  Why not have both?  On the smaller and lower priced homes it makes sense for some to keep the price down.  

We Just put a digital shower and a heated whirlpool in our [hotlink removed by Zillow moderator] and it was interesting how people liked them both and not one said they would remove the tub.  In fact a few were glad we had a tub in the home and said they wouldn't build without one.  
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March 23
Profile picture for William Mouzon
It seems like a good idea if that is what you want - you did not say anything about selling.

I have an architectural & construction background - as far as I know there are no laws about requiring tubs.

Most people including myself would prefer not to soak in water unless it is a nice jacuzzi / hot-tub.  & U can do some really fabulous things with shower design.

go for it !
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March 07
Profile picture for user263705
I understand that it would be a plus to have a tub, however, I have house in Florida and the master has a walk in shower and the 2nd bathroom has a tub with shower.  I wanted to remove the tub and replace it with a walk in shower with a seat ( all tile).  I was told that it is ILLEGAL to sell a house without a tub!!!  Is there such a Law?



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March 05
Profile picture for MikeEmery
Well all I can say is this is too scary for words.

A good part of a real estate agents practice is reviewing documents to determine accuracy. From sales contracts to HUD1, there is a lot of reading and reviewing to ensure accuracy. Just this week I was reviewing a HUD1 and discovered a $50.00 overcharge.

Why folks can't see that some of these posts are so old that they are covered with virtual dust really makes me question their skills as real estate agents.

Just my 2 cents.
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September 05 2010
Profile picture for TiffanyBond
Don't you folks think they figued this out, say in the last couple of years? This post is from 2008! Please try to answer current questions.
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September 05 2010
If it was the second bathroom I would say go for it but 9 times out of 10 people want a tub in their Master bathroom. 
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September 05 2010
Profile picture for mark1181
Great idea, as long as that larger shower includes a seat.
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September 03 2010
typically bad as most people are looking for a bath.

your friend in Charlottesville Virginia
[link removed by moderator]
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July 14 2010
I would say it is a bad idea.  If you have other bathrooms and you are putting in a really nice, large shower it might be ok.  Buyers like bathtubs and I have had people walk away from a place with no tub.  If there are a lot of seniors in your market, ie Florida, then it is a better idea.
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July 13 2010
Profile picture for Liz Benitez
A shower is a necessity, If you have room for a tub that is a luxury and should stay. Even if there is a tub in another part of the home, having a full bath vs a three quarter bath in the master is a plus.
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July 13 2010
Profile picture for geordy
Not sure about Raleigh but in Seattle people want their bathtubs in the master bathroom.  Removing the tub would pretty much be resale suicide.  You may as well do a garage conversion while you are at it.  (Another terrible idea)

Don't do a remodel such as this for resale value.  The closer you are to a clean, original house, the better.  What if the buyer doesn't like the tile you pick for instance?  Buyers don't like feeling like they are paying for YOUR taste.  In my experience, buyers would usually rather do the remodel themselves.
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July 12 2010
Profile picture for angel500
I would want/ need a bathtub.  But for me it does not have to be in the Master Bath.  If I were going to build a home I would do a stand alone walk in shower and a separate bath.  Because as I get older I do have concerns about the safety of stepping over and into a bath tub to take a shower then doing the reverse when wet to get out.  Though if I'm building with thoughts of reselling one day I would also consider that the person looking to buy from me may have children.  And children need bathtubs.
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July 12 2010
Profile picture for jamssmimi
We are considering adding a Master Bedroom suite with a bath. Talked to a contractor about a bath with only a shower and he advised that at if we put the house up for sale that it may not be considered a full bath? So trying to figure a way to have just a shower and possibly one of the new clawfoot tubs.
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July 12 2010
Profile picture for milocarpenter
If you have a tub in another bathroom in the home then your probly ok in your decision. however if you do not have a tub in another bathroom then I would think twice about that decision as a rule of thumb you should have at least one tub for soaking in the home.even though most people claim they do not take baths they claim they do not have time that showers are quicker. As a remodeling contractor i've found the majority of customers having there bathrooms remodeled want to keep a tub in at least one bathroom thanks Milo
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July 12 2010
Profile picture for KeelanPageGroup

Rhonnie8812 I will tell you that I have been out showing clients homes & they say oh I (we) never use the tub but I wouldn't buy a home without one in the master. Somehow it is just hard wired that there should be a tub in the master bath.

I don't believe you should do everything in your home with resale in mind but you have to be smart & a project like a master bath is high on the list of expensive items for remodeling. The large shower in the master is all the rage right now but I would not eliminate the tub feature. In a hot Sellers market you could get away with it on the resale side but in this market it would most likely be a drag on the home. Good luck with your decision! 

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July 10 2010
Profile picture for Melody91
Sorry & not sorry to add one more item about tubs now that the topic of the Handicapped/Elderly or Disabled was raised. I do think that Cillanow 7 raises a rather important topic for a large segment of the population, and those coming!

If one is re-modeling & thinking ahead, albeit not  'a fun topic' AND someone who has the assets to spend or to perhaps raise the value of their home for themselves or for marketability (see example at the end of comment), one COULD also make one's home worth much more to people with a Handicapped family member as there are NOW available (though I'm certain not cheap) "Walk in Tubs." Certainly they cannot cost as much as the ones sculpted like works of art for something like $25K and more?

I still maintain that one functional, safe and attractive tub is important, as are the aesthetics & functionality of one's master bedroom.

Must it be an either-or if BOTH are available on the same floor?

By the way, I had a dear friend who once bought a home ONLY because it had a ramp and was wheel chair accessible. A member of her family was handicapped, & she and her husband preferred to spend the extra money for that particular home, rather than go through the messy process of building one themselves.

THE HANDICAP RAMP made the sale!
That being so, and with people living longer, MAYBE a good investment may be 'a walk in tub' (which does lock and keep water from spilling out,' (or at least in the Ads I've seen).

More 'food for thought' though the metaphor together with bathroom design does not mix...sorry...only thing I could think of.
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July 19 2009
Profile picture for Cillanow7
I am in home care for the elderly.  Many of my clients have lived in their homes for decades.  As they have aged, it has become VERY difficult and sometimes painful for them to step in and out their tub. And with their income fixed, it is now no longer viable to make the necessary renovations. For the older buyers, or for those who plan on living in their new home long term,  a walk-in shower with grab bars is the way to go, making it large enough to sit down (think wheel chair) with even an extendible shower hose and water controls within reach if you're sitting down. The entrance should not be too tight and the threshold not too high of a step (again think handicap accessible).  Not to be depressing, but practically looking ahead.  This set up promotes greater independance for a longer period of time into the older stages of life. It even benefits the younger if they are ill or injured. If you already have tubs and want to keep them. at least do away with slider glass doors.  If there is room in your bath to add a walk-in shower...then that's a necessary plus.
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July 17 2009
Profile picture for SCInteriorSolutions
I am seeing more people replacing a tub with a large walk in shower when they remodel their master bathroom. If you are removing a tub from the master bathroom, make sure that you have at tub in other bathrooms in your home. For resale, it is desirable to have a tub in a master bathroom, but if you are planing to stay for a long time, it might not be an issue.
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July 14 2009
Profile picture for DanaEv
Although I've already chimed in on one about adding a shower versus tub, I agree with Melody that it's important to have a tub somewhere else in your house.  We have a tub in the hall bath(tub and shower combination) and we are giving serious consideration to pulling out the jetted tub in our Master that takes up half the bathroom.  At least 2 people can get in it, it's deep and huge!  But we want a modern, huge shower that is tiled all the way around.  We'll be tearing out the Master Bathroom in the next 2 years, and I've printed out pages from other bathrooms on this website to give me an idea of what I want the bathroom to look like.  Since neither my husband nor I take a bath, we have a huge jacuzzi type tub that is sitting sideways in the corner of the bathroom, so there's a lot of wasted space I could use to make a larger shower.

I'm still considering putting a jetted tub back in, just not one quite as huge as the one already here.  Basically it's just going to come down to rearranging the room so that we can put the tub in a place that doesn't eat up the entire back half of the bathroom, and will allow us to enlarge our shower so that several people could shower in there at once if they wanted to!  We also have two half walls that seem kind of useless, and once we take them down I think we'll see alot more space.

I'm looking forward to that remodel but we'll work with an architect and make sure we are on the same page as our contractor before we start.  Bathrooms are the coolest rooms in the house to renovate in my opinion!
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July 14 2009
Profile picture for Melody91
Chiming in again, having already written in December of '08...

After seeing more & more repetitive dialogue, & photos of lovely large showers, which are luxurious & look rather similar to my humble eye, I still maintian that it is safest to keep one bathtub in the home.

Some 'bathers or tub people' (which does not apply to me) would 'settle'
for a bathtub in another bathroom, in the same home.

Everyone here seems to have missed that expensive & obscenely costly tubs are now the 'in-thing' with jets & underwater massage 'jets' to gets the knots of of somewhere...(maybe of the shock of the price of the tub).

I will admit, some of them are gorgeous and works of art that might even inspire me to get into one. They do look so deep and comfy; maybe my fingers would get those swirlies, like way back when?

Have you seen these ceramic or stainless steel amazing pieces? Some are even elevated with very creative tilework, adding to the elegance, as if it were...almost a shrine. Apparently, Tubs are making a comeback!

My point is certainly not to encourage installing any one of those; my point remains not to limit your options in an unsecure economy; and if we do not agree that is one of the most insecure times fiscally (other than 'The Depression') ...then some of us are in Denial.

Play it safe & Good Luck.
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June 19 2009
Profile picture for myhp
Standing shower is the way to go!
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June 19 2009
Profile picture for Amos67
I personally would NOT buy a house that does not have a tub in the master bathroom.  In Houston, most of the newer houses built in the last 15 to 20 years have BOTH a large garden tub and a separate shower.  Generally the more expensive the house, the larger the shower and more luxurious.  In moderate to higher end houses the tub is frequently jetted.  However, a lot of people don't seem to care that much about a tub.  In a remodel where there is not room for both, a really large upscale shower might be a better choice than a standard tub.  However, I think eliminating all tubs in a house would definitely be a turn off to some potential buyers.. 
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June 15 2009

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