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Original poster

Shower over bath or just a shower?

56 replies

Newlywedded · 20/06/2023 16:38

We are renovating our home having moved in a year ago. It’s just the two of us. There is one bathroom which has a wall in shower toilet and sink and no bath. Which is fine for us - I miss a bath maybe once a month when I’m tired and just wish I could get into one. But otherwise it’s fine. However, if we ever sell would not having a bath put people off?
what would you do?
there is no space for a separate shower cubicle sadly,

OP posts:
OhcantthInkofaname · 21/06/2023 01:04

Shower only! They do make portable baths if a new owner is desperate.

MajesticWhine · 21/06/2023 01:30

I would prefer a property with a bath. Most of my family like having a bath. I particularly like it for aches and pains and stiffness.

diddl · 21/06/2023 01:31

Our bathroom had a bath & seperate shower.

We took the bath out to make a walk in shower.

A lot people rip out bathrooms anyway imo.

SilentHedges · 21/06/2023 02:06

A house with no bath would be a deal breaker for me. At todays prices, it's an expensive business to redo a bathroom, so it would put me off buying a house unless there was the appropriate discount.

Looking at previous responses, no bath isn't a selling point so it depends if you don't mind taking the hit when you finally sell.

Yalz · 21/06/2023 02:22

I am very happy with my P shaped bath, with a shower over.

The only people who have baths in it are my visiting grandchildren, but I’m glad to have the option.

diddl · 21/06/2023 06:21

Would people really expect a discount for no bath?

How long is it likely to be before you sell Op?

If you're planning to be there a while longer I think that you may as well set the bathroom up how you would like it.

Whatevergetsyouthroughthenight · 21/06/2023 06:31

With only one bathroom in the house I went for a shower over the bath. Although I nearly always have a shower, there are rare occasions when a bath is useful - when the boiler breaks down, you can chuck a couple of kettles of hot water into the bath and have a good wash, when that large item of clothing needs a soak, into the bath it goes, when you have pulled a muscle then a soak can help.

lastminutewednesday · 21/06/2023 06:52

We had just a shower in our old house as we none of us liked baths and the space was tight. It was fine and didn't affect resale but in fairness the house was quirky and wouldn't have been for everyone so it was niche anyway.

People are crazy about baths, so if you can fit one in I would!

DustyLee123 · 21/06/2023 06:54

I’d want a bath for kids, dog and myself. Not all at once though, but who knows in the future if bills keep going up !

Peekingovertheparapet · 21/06/2023 06:59

We moved into this house with kids who were 2&4 at the time. Although the house had two baths it was also really overdue a renovation and we didn’t use either bath, only one small grimy shower. It was fine.

whilst renovating we put one freestanding bath in (to the en-suite which is larger). It never gets used. Everyone uses the one walk in shower in the family bathroom.

don’t put a Bath in if you’re not going to use it.

afain · 21/06/2023 07:02

We took out a bath and installed a large shower. Have lived here a long time and no plans to move, so when doing up the bathroom we wanted to future proof it for us, not some hypothetical future owner. (It was over a decade since any of us took a bath!)

Mindymomo · 21/06/2023 07:13

My DH is a Bathroom fitter and has spent possibly the last 20 years fitting walk in showers, mainly for older clients whose families were worried about the consequences selling the property after.installation, but he meets his clients regularly and they tell him they’re never regretted it, some have also sold their properties without problem. I personally bath every day, so I wouldn’t be without mine.

hexsnidgett · 21/06/2023 07:21

I would always want the option of a bath. House hunting, so many places have refurbished the bathroom and taken them out, it's an instant no from me.

UsingChangeofName · 21/06/2023 19:16

Would people really expect a discount for no bath?

Perhaps not the terminology I would use, but, for me, I wouldn't want to live in a house without a bath, so, to allow for re-doing the bathroom and a little bit for the hassle of having to start work on the house just after moving in, then I would certainly need the house to be £10 - £15K cheaper than if it had a useable bathroom with a bath. (I'd have to check current prices of re-fitting a bathroom before making an offer - not done it for a few years).

chemistnightmare · 21/06/2023 19:19

@Pemba

Why though? Just because you have to step over the side of the bath?

We got rid of ours for that very reason. DH has a degenerative disease and his mobility is gradually getting worse. Eventually he won't be able to step over the side of the bath. Life is too short to design your house for its future owners.

Pemba · 21/06/2023 19:41

Sorry for your situation @chemistnightmare and your husband's difficulties. That is a solid reason to not have a bath. (Actually, I was beginning to think the same re my elderly mother who is becoming less mobile).

But a lot of people on here just seem to want a shower only just for preference. Up to them of course, but consider the resale one day.

WinterDeWinter · 21/06/2023 19:44

I am really weirded out by bath/shower. If I'm having a bath I'm thinking - and I realise this sounds nuts - about people's feet on the bottom of the bath at the shower end. And so few poeple keep the shower end clean - there's always limescale with soap scum mixed in around the joints.

I have a big glass shower in the small family bathroom, and then a bath in our quite big bedroom - but I know lots of MNers don't like that.

WinterDeWinter · 21/06/2023 19:46

@chemistnightmare I'm really sorry, that must be exceptionally hard for you all.

PuttingDownRoots · 21/06/2023 19:47

How long are you planning lon living there?

We got rid of our bath knowing we planned to live here for 10 years plus. Known fat too many people who had had bad injuries from falling over in bathtubs. No regrets.

Tzimi · 10/09/2023 13:24

@Newlywedded If you have the space, I would install a full-size bath with a shower over it. These are usually 1.7m long. If the space is smaller, you can get a corner bath, which has the bathtub going across the corner- so the whole tub is triangular, with the tub parallel to the longest side. On this one the short sides are 1.3m long.

Shower over bath or just a shower?
ClematisBlue49 · 10/09/2023 14:46

Personally I can't stand showers over baths. A bath is an occasional luxury for me, but not worth compromising on the shower space. But in a way it's a red herring, as there will be plenty of buyers who insist on a bath and many others that don't. For me the thing that would put me off would be the size of the bathroom (assuming there's no way to make it bigger or put in a second one), not what kind of fittings were in it, so do what works best for you.

Tzimi · 10/09/2023 14:55

@ClematisBlue49 I'm the opposite, I really like to have the choice of a shower (most days) or a nice soak in the bath (occasionally). I do find that sometimes the shower curtain can get blown onto me by air currents, and I don't particularly like that! But you can add weights to the bottom lining of the curtain.

Tzimi · 24/09/2023 16:03

PuttingDownRoots · 21/06/2023 19:47

How long are you planning lon living there?

We got rid of our bath knowing we planned to live here for 10 years plus. Known fat too many people who had had bad injuries from falling over in bathtubs. No regrets.

I'm the opposite, I got rid of the shower tray & installed a full size bath with a shower over it!

Papyrophile · 24/09/2023 16:45

We refurbed our main bathroom about 10 years ago. TBF, it's an unusually big bathroom so we have a big walk in shower and a full size bath. The bath has been used only a handful of times since DC were small. I wouldn't bother to change it now because the space couldn't be used for anything else, unless you made it a laundry station.

SquashPenguin · 24/09/2023 16:51

We got rid of our bath when we did our bathroom. I’ve not used a bath in years and had no intention to either. I HATE cleaning baths with a passion, and showers over baths look shit. We have a huge walk in shower now, and the en-suite has a cubicle. I have no intention to sell my house so I couldn’t give a stuff what the buyers who will never come round will think 😂

My shower is an absolute joy to clean. No moving/ sliding doors and a big overhead rainfall shower head. It’s my idea of heaven 😊