Do you need a bath?

[Nowthereistwo]

We (2 adults, 2 pre-teens girls) live in a 4 bed with a small bathroom and downstairs shower room. We're thinking about upgrading the upstairs bathroom - potentially without a bath.

Currently we have a power shower over the bath and considering whether to have a separate shower and smaller bath or a large shower unit.

Our neighbours have a separate shower and bath but it looks cramped in and they say noone uses the bath. They put the bath in for resale purposes.

Only our 9yr old actually likes a bath, the rest prefer a shower. Also we are committed to the house for 10 years whilst the kids go through secondary.

I want to have a statement shower and really use the space. Also my DH is 6ft3 so needs room to move in the cubicle.

WWYD

I'm redoing my bathroom and taking out the bath! It's a tiny room and I want a big walk-in shower to future-proof the place (because swinging my leg up over the bath won't always be possible). I have lived here for five years and can count on the fingers of one hand the number of baths I have had. I'm too impatient, that's the problem.

I don't have children but quite a few neighbours do who live in houses with only showers. I have spoken to a couple of them about it and they say they manage fine. I asked them because I can never understand how so many posters on here insist they must have a bath if they have young children.

I have stayed in quite a few houses/apartments in Sweden and Holland and the majority of them only had a shower. I think baths in European countries are not that common so they obviously manage too.

Our house didn’t have a bath when we bought it. It didn’t put us off because the house was otherwise perfect, we just budgeted the cost of having a bath fitted into our figures.

You have to do what is best for you and what suits your needs while you live in the house. At worst, you might need to knock a couple of thousand off the price in 10 years or so if you sell, to cover the cost to the buyer of fitting a bath.

It didn’t put you off but it may have put other potential buyers off, particularly with family homes where buyers are likely to have young children.

It wouldn’t stop me buying the perfect house either, especially if there was room in the bathroom to install a bath. But it’s all extra expense and hassle. If there were other houses just as good that did have a bath I would choose them over one without.

But reading everyone’s replies I’m coming round to the point of view that maybe it’s right that @Nowthereistwo should do what suits them if they’re going to stay in the property long term.

Likewise a bath might put off someone like me who detests them and would never use them because I’d have to pay to have it taken out and replaced with a shower.(It wouldn’t because I don’t expect to buy a house exactly to my tastes and I do expect to have to make changes) but theoretically it could put me off so ultimately imo it makes sense to tailor your home to the people who are actually living in it and not to the imagined preferences of some hypothetical family.

I used to prefer a shower but then developed psoriasis and arthritis. Now a bath is part of my medical treatment.

I need a bath, personally.

Could not agree more. I hate baths. I always check that any hotel, Airbnb etc we stay in has a shower (not one over a bath).

I have a bath about twice a year. Dd13 maybe once a month and dh never. If you're planning on staying in your house for 5 plus years then I would change it to a walk in shower.

I wouldn't worry about resale value since you are going to be in the house for a while. I would worry about the best way to meet both your DDs preferences for baths and your DHs requirement for space. As can be seen on this thread most people have a preference one way or the other and you don't know what potential future buyers will think. Since it's a 4 bed house with 2 bathrooms I'd have the biggest possible shower in the smaller bathroom and have a small bath and a separate shower in the larger room (like your neighbours). I'd have an electric shower in the bathroom and a normal shower connected to the boiler in the shower room. That covers you for any issues with the boiler. I'd also think about Japanese style deep bath tubs to reduce the floor space required.

But don't worry at all about resale value.