Shower over bath- a specific bath?

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After years of squeezing into our small house we are finally getting an extension and I have been tasked with designing the bathroom. With dc I think we really need a bath but the bathroom is too small to also put in a separate shower. Will a plumber fit a shower over any bath or only ones sold specifically as a shower bath? As far as I can tell the main differences are the shape and a non slip surface. I have fallen in love with a specific bath which is not a shower bath and we can then use a slip mat to avoid dc accidents. Are we going to have issues with any regulations etc? As the bathroom will be going into a room that was used as a bedroom will there be potential issues with the strength of the floor?

Shower baths usually have a wider end where the shower goes. A shower can go over a normal bath fine, although some people find this a bit snug.

Which bath are you going for?

I've had three non-slip non-shower baths, with a shower over, which were great. I've also had a standard bath, without any anti-slip, so we needed a non-slip mat. It quickly went mouldy was very hard to keep clean, and also needed to go somewhere at bath time, usually whilst dripping wet. Some companies, e.g. Kaldewei, can give an anti-slip coating to any of their baths, either at one end or middle for a shower, or all over. Sorry if this is a stupid question, have you checked that your bath of choice doesn't have an anti-slip option?

Im my last house we had a regular bath with no non slip stuff, but then we were two adults only.

We have two Kaldwei baths at our flat with showers over. They are solid, well made baths and are excellent for this use. They also have schower screens that are substantial and do not leak - important! Personally I hate the look of baths with round end for the shower because you are stuck with curtain. At least with the ones I have seen. Plan the bath so the screen can open effectively and definitely do not have a curtain.

We have a shower over a normal bath at the moment and it's fine. My dc aren't toddlers though - the 7yo copes perfectly well.

Thanks everyone. The bath is a roll top I saw in a local showroom and it is from a small UK manufacturer whose name I can't remember. There's no non slip option but I will investigate whether some sort of non slip coating can be applied. You've set my mind at rest, thank you.

It's not just the non slip aspect - a shower bath normally has a straight-sided end to maximise standing area. If your bath is sloped you will be standing further away from the end.

Are you happy with using a shower curtain rather than a screen? That's the one thing that would put me off having a shower over a roll top bath - I much prefer a glass shower screen, but you couldn't fit one on a roll top bath, so you'd be stuck with a horrible clingy mildewy shower curtain...

Unfortunately that wouldn't work for us as we only have the plumbing at the end although I would assume we could just make sure the shower comes out far enough? Tori, any chance you could send me the photo?

We really would want a glass screen rather than a curtain, so many decisions but it's very exciting.

Some friends of mine have a bath that is shorter, yet wider, than average. The length is fine for the DCs to have a bath but is also a decent width for a good shower. It takes up the same space as a standard bath but is just squarer if you see what I mean.

We had a glass shower screen with our shower bath
We had to replace it with a curtain after dh smashed it to smithereens one night going to the loo. He pushed it too hard accidently against the wall in the dark
It was lovely curved glass

I've never had a p-shaped shower bath - always just a bog standard rectangular bath. Maybe I don't know what I'm missing but I think the P is a waste of floor space for all but the 10 minutes a day you'll be in the shower.
I've had both glass screens and shower curtains and would say there are pros and cons to both. Personally I'd prefer a glass screen, just because it lets light through and makes the room feel bigger.
I don't think you need to worry about the strength of your floor. Two ten stone adults in a double bed probably weigh more than one in a bath full of water. (Disclaimer - I failed physics at school).

You can't generally have a glass shower screen with a roll top bath as the screen can't make a proper seal with the curved top lip of the bath.

also if you are planning to stand in the middle to shower I'm not sure where you'd put the glass screen? they are designed to attach to the end wall.

if you really want a roll top with both ends sloping and shower in the middle, I suspect you'll need a shower curtain - had this in a previous bathroom and it was awful tbh so I wouldn't recommend.

you can put a shower head above any bath but it's generally a good idea to choose a bath with one straight end so as to make it easier to stand at that end for showering. For example we are having the Bette Ocean bath which works well for this. Kaldewei also have good options as a pp said. You'd ideally want a 75cm width bath rather than 70 to allow more generous standing room (length not so important)

If you want the trad roll top look, you can get a roll top style bath which has a straight end and can be used with a shower screen (saw one on a previous post, I will try to find it) but it won't be as pretty as the proper roll top you have fallen for.

It's easy to get non slip stickers to apply to the bath, we have some transparent ones from Amazon that are pretty discreet (yet to find out if they are removable though!)

Here you go: previous thread about roll tops with showers above (and roll tops in small bathrooms)