Replacing bath with shower cubicle?

[TastesLikePanda]

Sounds a bit daft but where do I start?

We never have baths so it seems silly to keep one. Do I have to buy the cubicle and then find a plumber to install it, or find a plumber and tell them what I want and then they will go and buy it?

I would find a plumber first and ask his advice on cubilcle type, fitting - perhaps a wet room style first.Your plumber may be able to get it for you trade price as well. If you are planning to sell your house in the near future and you are fitting a shower in your only bathroom AND getting totally rid of the bath remeber bathrooms do make a house more saleable than just a shower room

is this your forever house because if not you'll seriously limit your selling market

if it is do it if you want, and hope you never get arthritis or muscel strain

my colleague did this and deeply regretted it when had flu and wanted a soak then she did her back in and regretted it further. We had an extension and put a bath sized kind of walk in shower cubicle shower in the place of the original bath - the plumbings already there for drainage and the likes so we just needed plumber to extend some piping so shower pipes ran to it up the wall iyswim.

If you think that you might ever want to sell your home then do not get rid of the bath. It really makes a home harder to sell.

However, if you do want to get rid of the bath then it isn't difficult to do. Just get some quotes for you local plumbers.

The OP may be living in a city flat rather than a typical family home so having a bath may not matter to her resale market. She may have to replace the bath because of mobility issues. Either way, it's her decision and I'm sure she can make an informed decision. (PS: I haven't had a bath for four years and it wouldn't bother me in the least not to have a tub in any home I bought.)

Start with getting a good plumber - asking around the neighbourhood for recommendations is a good idea. Or keep an eye out for houses undergoing renovations and chat to the workmen and/or owners and asking if you can see their work. My DH found an amazing builder that way. A good plumber will check the pipework and advise on the best way to proceed.

We have both a bath and a walk-in shower, and we're both "elderly". The bath never gets used. The benefit of a walk-in shower is not just the room, but the ability to focus the hot water on whatever bit of us is troublesome. Oh, the joy of a hot stream of water on my neck and shoulders - something I could never get in a bath.

Don't be concerned about selling the property in the distant future. It's as easy to replace a bath with a shower as it is to do the reverse. And from what I can gather, many people who are looking to buy a house want to replace the bathroom anyway.

We haven't had a bath for 13 years and haven't regretted it once. We had a shower room - which leaked - so built a wet room. I could have a soak in the bath on holiday but don't bother and don't miss it at all. HTH

If you are thinking about installing an power shower or an electric shower you will also need an electrician to install all the cabling, switches and modifications needed to your consumer unit.

Thank you everyone!
We have lived here for ten years, and I can honestly say I've been in the bath maybe twice in that whole time!
Also, it's not a terribly 'residential' area - think assloads of student flats, walking distance to the city centre etc so I don't think a missing bath will put people off.

Bizarely, we have an absolutely massive bathroom - our house is a pre-WW1 terrace two-up two-down and the bathroom was originally non-existant. We still have the old outside loo which no longer works, so the previous owners built an extension atop the kitchen which stuck out of the end of the building and built in a bathroom. However, despite its huuuuuge size, there is bugger all wall space due to the position of the two windows, boiler and radiator.

Anyway the point I came here to make was - it does appear to be our 'forever' house. It's doubled in value in the ten years we have owned it but it's so dated that by the time we have done it up decent enough to sell, it'll look so nice that we won't want to! So we are dreaming planning to extend up into the loft to make a third bedroom and i've got all sorts of plans to rip out our 'melamine nightmare' kitchen and put in something bespoke and wooden. I've a feeling it is hiding some period features somewhere as well. Just have to be brave enough to explore the fireplaces now...

We d=converted family bathroom into family shower roon. We also have a shower bath in ensuite so that the house has a bath (resale). We are very pleased with results. WE got Dolphin to do 3-dimensional modelling for us but didn't use them; got our builder to replicate. Very pleased with both ensuite and family shower room. We had to sacrifice most of our Sunday with the Dolphin man and felt guilty at the end of it but worth it in the end as they came up with some good option on configuration and fittings.

Very pleased with the Matki shower cubicle btw

I think this is the shower bath we got for the ensuite

Don't worry too much about having a bath...a nice luxurious shower room can be a real pull. Ours is a wetroom but we have a fully enclosed shower cubicle. It looks great and works well, the cubicle can hold up to four people

A shower bench made from treated wood (teak) in a wet room looks really good and is useful. We had one installed at our previous house when we renovated.