Would you remove the bath?

[Lavender14]

Dh and I are wanting to sell at some point in the next 5 -10 years, however we need to put in a new bathroom and make our home liveable for that period. We've a small 3 up 2 down terrace and we've no attic. All floor and storage space is fully utilised and my current issue is that our spare (box ) room is the only place where we can keep our cats litter tray at the moment. However we would like to eventually have a second child if we're lucky enough in the next few years and that means that bedroom will need to be turned into a nursery eventually. So the only solution I can think of is to remove our bath and install a nice modern shower and put the cat litter tray in the space that frees up in the bathroom.

The only thing is I'm worried about is whether that's a smart move if we're eventually wanting to sell as I know I'd prefer to buy a house with a tub! Our bathroom is quite small, toilet is tight beside the sink which is up against the bath so removing the bath wouldn't add a crazy amount of floor space but would create enough space to solve our litter tray problem. We've no utility room and there's no space in our kitchen or living room for it to go in there, plus we wouldn't be able to use our house alarm if the cat was downstairs so he doesn't have access to those rooms at night. Any alternative ideas welcome!

My DH is a bathroom installer and he’s change many bathroom to shower rooms and had plenty of discussions with people around the possibility of house buyers being put off by not having a bath and there doesn’t seem to have been any problems selling. A modern shower room is a great appeal to young buyers, so much easier to keep clean. Personally I love a bath so it wouldn’t be for me, but my 27 year old son, I don’t remember the last time he had a bath.

@trooc yes well litter trays are gross, but doubly so in the bathroom.

I do not want to see an open tay of cat shit when I use the bathroom.

If you have garden surely that is where the cat should be going?

I would but I don't bath. I've removed the bath in my ensuite. Life is too short and you enjoy your next 5 years in your home, designed for you and your family. Bath is marmite and you'll find lots of people who don't bath. When we removed ours, there are lots of larger trays designed to fit into the same space as a bath. I noticed a lot of houses have these showers too on rightmove.

Families with young children will almost always want a bath. Could you have a bespoke bath panel and have one end open with the litter tray there? Even if you bought a plant trough to fit the space? Or a wooden box with litter tray liner? Cats would probably like a dark space to go in.

Then you do you?

You don't have to be bothered about other people's litter trays.

We took our bath out 6 years ago and replaced it with a nice big shower. No regrets at all - wish we'd done it sooner.

Most people in mainland Europe seem to cope without baths. Showers are more energy efficient and cleaner.
If lack of a bath is a deal breaker then they weren't very interested in the property; it's not going to break the bank to reinstall one.

I have lived in my place 4 years and never had a bath :)

I still would not remove the bath though, firstly because there is no reason for it and secondly because I would guess from reading threads like this the split for people who don't want and do want baths is about 50:50.

So by taking out a bath you are probably at least putting off about 50% of your target market if you are intending to sell in 5 years time.

We removed our bath and instead had a lovely big shower plus two sinks installed. It's made a massive difference to its use. As for washing babies/toddlers use a foldable child's bath in the shower, that's what most people I know use.

Some people would not buy a house without a bath but I prefer a shower and plan to remove my bath and take a chance on it not affecting any future sale.
I would not remove the bath just to accommodate a cat litter tray. It seems a huge waste of money and I would hate to have a litter tray in my bathroom.

I wouldn't view a house that didn't have a bath. I love a soak occasionally. I mostly use the shower. When I was house buying recently I immediately flicked past any house that only had a shower. The OP saying that it was to put a litter tray for a 14 year old cat made me choke on my tea!

He's an indoor cat so he cannot go outside unfortunately otherwise that would solve many issues!

Just to clarify- our bathroom needs redone regardless so we will be putting in a new bathroom suite, retiling everywhere and redoing the ceiling and the door etc etc. Its needed done since we moved in but we prioritised redoing the other rooms first.

So I'm not only reconfiguring the bathroom due to the cat, we'd be doing it anyway. It's just that installing a shower over a bath would sort a storage problem in the meantime!

I find it really funny all the people who are horrified at the idea of a litter tray in the bathroom, it's not an 'open' tray so you can't see anything and to me it's easier to clean since you just brush any litter off the floor and easy to remember to clean it every time you use the loo.

For those who suggested putting it in our hallway, we don't have any floorspace for it to be in our hall without it being a trip hazard.

Sorry, you're thinking of spending thousands to remodel your bathroom to make room for a litter tray?!

Why not put the litter tray in the bath when you aren't using the bath?

Just leave it where it is? It doesn't sound as if you'll need the boxroom for a few years, by which time sadly it's likely dcat will have died. You're trying to solve a problem you'll probably never have.

A cat door in a removable bath panel though - genius!

OP - so you don't yet have a second child? When are you hoping to conceive? I'm asking because you may have moved before then.
I'd leave the litter tray where it is, and then when you do have a baby, I'd keep her / him with you for the first year (which is better anyway for baby and the recommended time) which gives you at least two years even if you immediately conceived today - a lot could happen - you could see your dream home in that time!
If you do need to move it asap, how much room is actually in the bathroom and the hall? Are you using a covered litter tray, could you consider a corner one? What about putting it on the landing?
Until very recently I had two cats (sadly one passed away last month) and their litter trays are covered and never smelt (we are meticulous about cleaning them out) - and the cover has a handle so they were very easy to move around.
For posters saying they're disgusting, I'd much rather clear out a litter tray than wander round the garden trying to locate the source of the smell in the flower beds!

Yeah but the cat would go in the neighbours gardens, not their own garden....

Realistically if we're lucky enough it would be in 2 years when ds is in school. We're in a part of the UK that has really limited options for childcare support so it's basically a second child or a new home at this point because we couldn't afford more outgoings on top of childcare unless we wait by which point we'd have mainly paid off our mortgage. But we would obviously like to get as much as we can for our current home when the time does come plus make it work for us in between times because the lack of space is driving me a bit mad at the moment. I think I'm just torn because it's far enough away that I want it to suit us living here but it's also a lot of money for us to spend so I want to make sure that what we do spend doing up the bathroom is spent wisely if that makes sense?

Our landing is door width so wide enough for a person to walk straight to the stairs with openings for bedroom doors along the way in a box shape. So like a small rectangle with doors that take over each corner. Our entry way is just front door which opens almost to the base of the stairs in front of the electrical cabinet and that's wide enough for the door into the living room. The stairs are enclosed by walls on either side, I have barely enough space in the hallway to get a pram out the front door. So definitely no room for a litter tray in the hallway on either floor.

We're very careful about our litter tray as well, I'm really paranoid about the house smelling like cat! Cleaning up the garden after the dog is 100% worse! Sorry for the loss of your wee cat @zaffa @

I’d only replace a bath with a shower if it had the same footprint-ie, a decent size. You sound as if you want to put a much smaller shower in. I think that would put off buyers. Tbh, I’d get the bathroom reconfigured to be a nice bathroom to use and not to accommodate the cat. I’d leave the litter tray where it is. If, in the next 2 years, you have a child, I’d re purpose a kitchen cupboard for kitty. I know you say you need the space but you can actually work around that far better than redesigning a bathroom to fit In a litter tray. And when it’s no longer needed, you can easily change back.

We used to have our cat litter tray in the downstairs loo, I'm confused by all the objections to cat shit in the one room in the house designed for shitting in!

I also don't understand the relevance of the house alarm in the OP, but i've never lived in a house that has one.

OP, in your position I think I might well get rid of the bath if you don't think youd want to use it for a future new baby. If all you are putting the the space is a cat litter tray, then the next owner can always put it back in.