Bath dilemma. Freestanding? Built-in? Omnitub? Help!

[AsCoolAsKimDeal]

New bathroom in our loft extension is bigger than I'd realised so we can have a bath as well as a stand-alone shower. Bathroom place trying to flog me a freestanding bath which is beautiful but expensive and I suspect rather impractical. Alternative is a regular built-in bath, which would be much cheaper but less chic. And now I've been looking at Omnitubs, which look lovely and deep but don't take up as much floorspace - does anyone have one?

TBH I'm not bothered about having a bath at all but I think family houses are hard to sell without one. Putting a bath in the master suite would also allow us to replace the tub in our tiny main bathroom with a walk-in shower - kids are all teenagers and they'd much prefer it.

Thoughts please!

I would love a Japanese soaking tub (which I think is similar) so I'd say go for it. As long as it has a little seat bit inside.

Whatever you choose make sure to check it will go up the stairs. Only get a freestanding tub if you'll have the space to walk around it as otherwise you'll lose all sorts of stuff down the side and it will get pretty manky.

What is an Omni tub??? We have just started a massive house full house renovation and extensions and not come across this! Still at early stages not interiors yet but getting a feel for what I'd like!

Agree with @QueenStromba . I never understand free standing baths when you can't get round the sides to clean. If you don't have space around it then don't get one.

TBH I'm not bothered about having a bath at all but I think family houses are hard to sell without one

I agree. However, an omnitub isn't family-friendly either - not practical for bathing small children!

Take your measurements first. As someone said you need to pick what will fit in the doorways etc. To be honest if you are not bothered by a bath I would plump that one could be installed but not install it then the buyer has the option of what they want.

Mummyto3gorgeousgirlies Omnitubs are deep soaking tubs similar to what is more common in Japan.

There was a thread on them last month.

AsCoolAsKimDeal I'm currently in the process of buying a 4 bed family home without a bath. It has a cloakroom downstairs and a shower room upstairs. For me, accessibility was a priority and I love the bathrooms and we weren't alone, there were several other people viewing on the same day and the next from us and it came down to 'best and final offers' between a few of us less than a week after it came on the market so it's not that off-putting it seems.

For either putting one upstairs or replacing the tiny bath, that thread recommended Carron corner baths which aren't quite as deep as Omni, but are still pretty deep and some have integral seats and other features that for accessiblity and comfort have been ones we're considering if we bother to put in a bath (we could maybe expand the cloakroom into a storage space to put in a shower and the shower tray area upstairs is large enough for a bath). My father had something similar when I lived with him, a corner bath with a raised seat, and I always preferred it over a 'normal' straight bath for either bathing or showering.

Whenever I see a freestanding bath, I always think it would be a pain to try to clean under and around. I like a normal bath with a bath panel.

My feeling about freestanding baths is that they look nice but would be impractical for cleaning (it could be situated away from the wall but probably not enough) and risks essentially being a very expensive ornament. Also think it wouldn't be a selling feature as it's very much a sensible family house in a sensible family area rather than an aspirational dream home for naive younger couples. BUT we're not planning to sell soon (probably 10 years) and in the meantime we might as well have what works for us, and I like the idea of a soaking bath as an occasional treat. It would be there and easily replaceable for any potential buyers with small children.

And everything would fit up the stairs/scaffolding except cast iron, which I've ruled out anyway.

I’d have a decent sized built in bath. I had an omnitub in France. It had a seat in it. It was bloody awful!

A D shaped bath is a nice compromise between freestanding and built in.

You can make built in baths look luxurious- for example tile the bath panel with some beautiful tiles.

Freestanding baths = style over practicality.

I have a solid one that sits against one wall, so looks as good as a freestanding but it has a flat back so not hard to clean

No. 1 requirement for a bath is comfort. I'd go for a slightly longer than average, normal panelled in bath. And a decent hot water supply. We have just taken out a D bath (short/wide) and replaced with a normal oblong one. Bathroom suppliers will hate you for this and try to upsell it. Make your bathroom look chic a different way.

We are renovating and I’ve gone for a normal steel bath built in with our marble tiles surrounding it. I think it’s much more practical and actually probably comfier than a lot of the free standing designs. We went for a Roca one as my parents have had that brand for years and it looks brand new. I think steel retains heat much better than the acrylic ones.

Also you can make it look more bouji as others have said by designing space around the build in box and using nice tiles or even a full quartz / marble slab. Also possibly getting a double ended bath and putting the taps centrally out of the wall looks fancy.

Back to the wall bath? This is ours.

I have a freestanding bath and don’t understand all the hatred for them on this thread!?

Ours is about 4cm away from the wall and it’s no problem to clean at all. The floor is tiled as is the wall behind it and you can easily slide a mop down the side to clean the floor and the wall and then use a cloth as usual to clean the visible wall tiles.

I actually hate built in baths and think they look really messy - invariably covered with half empty shampoo bottles and plastic ducks.

I’m not convinced that they are massively more expensive, especially if you would otherwise tile the bath panel to make it look nicer.

Personally I would always put a bath in for resale purposes as no bath with small children is a pain. I only have about 1 bath a year but would still be put off with a property with a shower only.

Ok I am now converted by crumpety’s bath which looks lovely!

This is ours, it’s probably one of my favorite bits in the house, even though I rarely have baths!

I had a ceramic freestanding bath previously...in comparison to a normal bath, the water cools down much quicker!! I always joked I needed to runs bath to heat the tub, empty it and re-run one hot enough to bathe in!!