Get rid of the bath???

[YouknowIknowbest]

We live in a modest 3 bedroom house (me, DH, DS 17 and DD13).
For context, the house was a small starter home when DH and I moved in back in 2002 and the intention was always to move once we had a family. The financial crisis in 2007 hit us hard and we decided to stay and extend instead, which gave us an en-suite, a bigger master bedroom and a generous “box” room. We’ve toyed with moving over the years but in all honesty we’re all happy here and have no intention of moving unless we win big on the lottery so we can get a house with a pool 😂

So now we’re ready to re-decorate our main bathroom which is approximately 2m x 2.5m and DH and DS want the bath removing and replacing so it becomes a shower room as the queue for the en-suite shower is ridiculous every day.

I’d like to keep the bath, but feel it’s a selfish ask as no one else in the house uses it except me…and this is the clincher, I only use it on average 2/3 times a YEAR!

We’ve looked at L shaped baths and fancy showers over baths, but the boys would like to have this as a shower room for them and us girls keep the en-suite, so it’s a simple: Bath or Shower?

WWYD? Has anyone else got rid of their only bath and regretted it or was it the best thing you ever did?

Personally I'd keep the bath.

IMO most people want/expect a bath and when you do sell it will put off prospective buyers if their isn't one.

I dismiss houses with no bath when looking at property - too much faff to put a bath back in.

Got rid of mine 3 years ago, no regrets. Like you, I had a bath 2/3 times a year, but I find I don't miss it. I love staying in a hotel and having a bath there, though! Re house value, I wouldn't sacrifice quality of life on a daily basis for some hypothetical future buyer.

We have a relatively small bathroom and switched to a big fancy walk in shower last year and it’s great. Yes, I would love a soak in the bath a couple of times a year, but for that much floor space it makes no sense to have a big bathtub and crappy overhead shower. Our big shower is amazing.

What is it about Brits and baths? I just don't understand the love for them.

I think from reading this thread that it's safe to say that you don't need to consider keeping the bath from a re-selling point of view. Some people wouldn't buy a house without a bath and some are saying that if there was a bath they would have to factor in the cost of removing it and re-doing the bathroom. So please don't take that factor into consideration. Just do what would enhance your quality of life on a day-to-day basis and don't factor in what a potential buyer would want decades from now.

We did the bathroom last year and replaced the bath with a walk in shower. Small room approx 8ft x 8ft. It's made a real difference but both DH and DD miss the bath.

It's looking like the whole thing needs to be ripped out anyway due to being poorly fitted (that's another story!) so there's currently some debate as to whether the bath should be put back in.

It wouldn't put me off buying a house now but it has done in the past (pre-children).

Absolutely this, it's crazy how some people make decisions about some hypothetical future buyers

I'm 6ft and regularly shower in the bath, just make sure the shower holder thingy (technical I know!) is screwed in at a decent height!

Dh would happily get rid of our bath from the main family bathroom and just make a walk in shower but I have a bath most evenings so it’s not going to happen.
No one else in the house has baths but me!
Kind of the same as I’d happily evict the kettle as I hate stuff on the sides and he’s the only one who drinks hot drinks here but he drinks tea so again, it’s not going to happen.

Keep the bath!! I regret getting rid of mine

I'd get rid of the bath, but that's because the last time I had a bath was about 3 years ago, I much prefer showers.

In your case, a proper over-bath shower would surely solve the problem and keep everyone happy.

I don't agree. Plenty of people are happy to buy a place without a bath. Less and less people are using baths which is good as such a waste of water.

As I said, quite a few houses on my estate only have showers and none have taken any time to sell.

I know quite a few friends and family that have taken out baths and put in showers

I would replace the bath with a walk in shower area the same size as the existing bath. That way if you ever sold and the buyers wanted a bath it would be fairly simple to put a bath in. Climbing over the edge of the bath to get into the shower is a pain and as people get older not necessarily so easy, particularly if they’re on the short side!!

If you are happy to stay in a place for a long time then it is best to configure it for your needs and not really worry too much about how reconfiguring it will affect the value, especially if the changes are largely cosmetic like replacing a shower for a bath.

Any new buyer can fairly easily put a new bath in place so long as the structural elements and plumbing are close by, which they will be in a bathroom, and bathrooms are usually refreshed every 10-15 years anyway if they get heavy use.

I added a decent shower over the bath once DD2 was at a similar age to your boys, also because I wa fed up with her (or her boyfriend!) using my en suite.

Don't lose the bath - for a family sized home, when you need to sell, the next family with young children will want a bath for them, not just a fancy shower room.

My French partner likes both baths and showers. His home in Paris has a shower over the bath (he's 6') and the homes of all his family have baths in them.

I guess like many things it's down to personal opinion.

I would want a bath (bad back, children to wash previously), you wouldn’t want a bath 🤷‍♀️

I would install an excellent shower over the bath at a decent height since you are tall. Presumably your kids are not going to be living with you at 60 years old and you already have an ensuite standalone shower.

We have a shower like that and i am not very young, of course its slightly easier not to have to climb into a bath but its really no big deal.

If they are still not happy, presumably its just a matter of removing bathtub and replacing with shower stall at that stage.

I like the outside hot tub as an alternative as well.

regarding small kids, my sil in Europe uses a plastic bathtub in her shower room.

We like to wallow in our own filth.

Could you maybe put a small Japanese type sitting tub in en-suite then? They're tiny but deep. So then all lads would queue for the big shower, and the en-suite would be rightfully yours.

We bought a house with two showers and no bath, despite having small DCs at the time. I bathed them in a huge Tupperware storage box inside the shower room for a few months until we could get a bathroom remodel done. It was my dream house, so we bought it anyway, despite no bath.

Some great perspectives here, thank you.

I should confirm this is probably going to remain our forever home (mortgage is paid off, we intend to retire early and love travelling) so selling up and back on the property ladder is not even in the thought process.

All 3 members of the family have said if there is a shower above the bath, they will still use the walk in shower in the en-suite, so my problem will still be the en-suite is over used and the main bathroom is empty 363 days of the year.

But I like the option of having a bath IF I feel like one once or twice a year.

It’s a hard and potentially expensive decision that I want to get right for everyone.