Getting rid of bathtubs and replacing with showers - any regrets ?

[Whywaitfortomorrow]

We are about to renovate bathrooms in our house and are contemplating getting rid of tubs and replacing with big showers. Kids now teenagers so mainly shower but have the odd bath now and again as do me and DH. Getting to the seat in shower stage :) The alternative is to get bigger tubs, house was new build and developers probably just put in job lot along the road - the tubs are not wide/deep. Maybe we would have used more if baths were deeper.
Just wondering if anyone has done this and how they got on ?

[Idefix]

We are about to do the same! We never use our bath and our home will be a long term home, we are in our 40/50s now and not planning to sell.

From a resell point of view I think you need to have a bath and we plan to ensure that a bath could be fitted at a later date in the same location as the existing one.

[dilapidated]

I moved to an apartment with no bath for a year and thought I could manage but I was desperate for a bath by the time the weekend came around abd would make special trips to my parents to stay over and use their bath

[Whywaitfortomorrow]

I remember when 40s/50s seemed so long ago.
Regarding resell we would do the same, make sure that it is possible to put a bath back or factor it into price.

[Whywaitfortomorrow]

Dilapidated - my mum has a bathtub and we were thinking the same for the kids if they ever missed their Lush bath times !! I think she would love that as she always wants the kids to sleepover.

We have considered getting a deep soaking bathtub which can be as small as 960mm x 750mm but can be as deep as 700mm on the inside. Just not sure if we can fit it with shower too.

[PuntCuffin]

We have been without a bath for the last year while renovating. Both DH and I are desperate to have a bath back in the house, even though we didn't use it frequently. I have been away with with the last couple of days and was so disappointed that the hotel room i was in didn't have one!

[Idefix]

Haha it was the fold down stool comment ! When I mentioned plans to a friend that was practically the first thing he said cheeky bugger to me.
I can't remember when I last had a bath, genuinely wouldn't miss it, dd is the only person who has an occasional bath and for me that is not a good enough reason.

[carabos]

We are about to do the same. Neither of us can remember the last time we had a bath, and DCs have moved out. Don't care about resale, we're the ones living in it for now and there will be plenty enough room for any future owners to install a bath if they want to.

[Chasingsquirrels]

My parents took their bath out & put in a shower cubicle as they never bathed. After DB & I had left home, probably early 90's - they would have been mid-40's. They sold in 2004 and didn't have any problems - but things might be different now.

[Voice0fReason]

From a resale point of view I think it has a significant negative impact. There are people who would simply not even view a house with no bath.
So it really depends if that matters to you.

[Idefix]

I think the negative impact thing is definitely a factor, borne out by programmes like Phils Secret Agent. It seems that the average buyer can't cope with anything that is not a blank canvass (magnolia walls etc) and a full bath suite [confused). Probably explains why ours was on the market so long and why we got such a good deal.

We will be putting a bath in if and when we resell providing attitudes haven't changed.

[Idefix]

I think the negative impact thing is definitely a factor, borne out by programmes like Phils Secret Agent. It seems that the average buyer can't cope with anything that is not a blank canvass (magnolia walls etc) and a full bath suite [confused). Probably explains why ours was on the market so long and why we got such a good deal.

We will be putting a bath in if and when we resell providing attitudes haven't changed.

[FemaleDilbert]

Buying a house without a bath wouldn't put me off (we did it) but only buying a bathroom without room for a bath would.

We bathed our shower-phobic children in a paddling pool set up in the bathroom for 6 months when we moved here

[Crumbelina]

We did this. Renovated a horrible bathroom in a 2 bed terrace and replaced the bath with a walk in shower. Absolutely no regrets and I didn't miss a bath at all.

We sold the house pretty easily to a professional couple and then they moved on a year or so later and it sold very quickly once again. I should note that it wasn't a family house though. That said, you should do what's best for you. I can't see it being too difficult to put a bath back in if you wanted to sell it in future.

[Voice0fReason]

It seems that the average buyer can't cope with anything that is not a blank canvass
Slightly derogatory and unfair!
It's not about not coping, it's not having the time, budget, energy etc to be able to turn a house into a home that works for them.
Before I had kids I would look past any bizarre colour schemes, knackered kitchens or revolting bathrooms as all of those things could be easily rectified to suit our wishes.
Since having kids, I would only move into a house that needs very little doing to it. I could cope with renovations but I really don't want to.

[Idefix]

I didn't mean it as a personal insult Voice rather an observation borne from watching a lot of house buying shows and threads on here.

I totally appreciate many are put off or are indeed unable to make such alterations but as can be seen by this thread lots of people don't miss a bath.

Fwiiw I think if the supply is left capped and insitu it a relatively cheap job.

Feeling reassured that judging by other pp that resale won't necessarily be a drama.

[FormerlyFrikadela01]

When our say tubs does that mean you have multiple bathrooms op? Because if so I'd be tempted to leave one bath in.
I'm currently looking for a family home and whilst i would view a house with no baths it would have to be a really good price or my dram house to convince me to put an offer in for all the reasons voice said.

[Needmoresleep]

It depends who you will sell to. Young couples and elderly people often prefer a good shower, ideally level access. Families often prefer baths.

If you plan to live there for a while, and your house is worth a reasonable amount, don't worry. Simply retail the same layout and plan to replace shower tray with bath before you try to sell. It is not a big cost.

[EwanWhosearmy]

When we were househunting we didn't even look at any houses that didn't have a bath, although I accept we aren't typical as I'm not bothered about showers.

[MollyHuaCha]

I'm house hunting now. No bathtub is an instant no-no from me!

[Bluntness100]

An awful lot of people like to have a bath. Many prefer them to showers. So not having one does limit your market on resale as many of those buyers don't want to have to redo a bathroom to make the house work for them.

And redoing a bathroom can be costly, especially if wall to floor tiles surrounding the new shower unit and they have to be removed, so yes, if you like baths and don't want to have to redo the bathroom, you'll buy the house round the corner with a bath in.

In addition, no doubt about it, for family homes where there may be kids, baths are a very useful addition.

For me personally, nope, been in this house nearly three years and none of us have ever had a bath yet. We're shower people. However when my daughter was younger I would have found no bath a complete no no and we wouldn't have had the time, desire or money to completely renovate a bathroom. So we would have avoided houses without them as being impractical and not for us.

[TeamRick]

We got rid of ours over a year ago for a lovely big walk in shower!
We never had baths anyway & no plans to move so no brained for us!
Love our lovely big shower!

[Sgtmajormummy]

After the age of about 5 our DC had showers and the bathtub became nothing but a dumping ground for gym bags. We all used the 70x90cm shower which was frankly a bit cramped.

The walk-in is 90x150 (no wider because of a window) and we love the space and modernity. No intentions of selling and we have a big sink in the garage for large washing jobs.

If the resale factor is a problem, you could keep one bathroom with a full size lie-down bathtub but IMO those short walk-in OAP tubs are dreadful!

[Whywaitfortomorrow]

Thanks all. General consensus so far seems to be that most people don't miss their bath. I can't see us moving anywhere anytime soon so as long as there is space to add bath back to family bathroom we should be ok.

Sgtmajor the deep tubs are something like that sold by Omnitub/Bathroomexpress. The water is deep enough to actually cover everything. I have quite a bit to cover - currently I am like the iceberg in 'Titanic' :))

[pudseypie]

We've moved to a house with a tiny bathroom and would have just put a shower in if it wasn't for young ds who needs baths. We have just installed an omnitub with a shower over. I like the omnitub for a bath, it is nice and deep. Better to have shower separate if you can as not easy to get in and out for showers. We don't have space to do that but if you can fit both then I would.

[Whywaitfortomorrow]

Pudseypie, did you get duo or solo omnitub ? Good to hear you like it.