Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Bath or no bath

31 replies

Craftysue · 24/05/2025 19:02

I'm currently planning a bathroom renovation and I'm wondering whether to get a bath installed
There's myself and my 2 kids ( early twenties) here but they're saving up to buy their own properties.
We currently have a 5 bedroom house - lived here for 30 years and it's been great but once the kids move out I will be downsizing
I can't remember the last time any of us had a bath , we just have showers but I'm wondering if it's worth getting one installed ? I'm concerned that lack of a bath would put families off buying when the time comes to sell?

OP posts:
BeachRide · 24/05/2025 19:03

Definitely bath.

Springadorable · 24/05/2025 19:03

A five bed needs a bath.

Tooteefrootee · 24/05/2025 19:12

Bath. It's likely potential buyers will be a family, and are likely to be looking for a bath if the kids are younger.

CarpetKnees · 24/05/2025 19:33

Yes, I would be very disappointed to find no bath in a big family home.

Usually on these threads I say do whatever suits your family, but, as you are looking to do the work with a sale in mind, then definitely a bath.

Beamur · 24/05/2025 19:37

We took out our bath/shower over for a big shower.
Zero regrets.
Very easy for someone to put a bath back if they want to. Plumbing all still in the right place, went for panels instead of tiling so super easy to change.

Sprig1 · 24/05/2025 19:42

Bath.

LuckysDadsHat · 24/05/2025 19:46

In a 5 bed you need a bath. Your target is mainly families and they will expect a bath.

softlyfallsthesnow · 24/05/2025 19:49

Beamur · 24/05/2025 19:37

We took out our bath/shower over for a big shower.
Zero regrets.
Very easy for someone to put a bath back if they want to. Plumbing all still in the right place, went for panels instead of tiling so super easy to change.

This.
We did the same and have never regretted losing a bath.
It'd be easy to install one again and if that puts a buyer off, I doubt they were serious about the house. It's normal to just have showers in many European countries.

dontcomeatme · 24/05/2025 19:58

I've just bought a new home and no bath would have been a no go for me

BeNiceWhenItsFinished · 24/05/2025 20:02

Bath.

fruitbrewhaha · 24/05/2025 20:04

We have one bath in our 3 bathroom house. We don’t use it very often but I wouldn’t be without it.

Didshejustsaythatoutloud · 24/05/2025 20:06

How can anyone live without a bath 😱

Original poster
Craftysue · 24/05/2025 20:09

I think I'll probably go for a bath. It won't be too expensive to add on and my kids had a lot of baths when they were small. Thanks for the opinions all

OP posts:
InterestQ · 24/05/2025 21:46

bath from me. I’ve just dismissed the idea of viewing 2 houses from rightmove for not having a bath. I want the choice to have a bath from day one! Moving is pricy enough and work takes time, without having to wait for weeks to be able to read your book sunk up to your neck in hot water.

jackstini · 24/05/2025 22:02

Bath - 100% in a 5 bed house

isitme111 · 24/05/2025 23:03

Bath

GotToWearShades · 24/05/2025 23:08

Even if you don't use it yourself, a five bed house without a bath is not really expected and selling would be a problem.

Speaking personally, I've always loved a bath as a once a week pleasure. Age 35 then, 60 now.

Snippit · 24/05/2025 23:13

My sister in law sacrificed her bath for a large shower, she so regrets it. I love a good soak. Since our new bathroom was installed in 2018 I have only ever had baths and never used the shower, apart from rinsing shampoo suds out.

sesquipedalian · 24/05/2025 23:18

My DC were in their twenties when I had my bathroom done. I was considering getting a walk-in shower but the DC insisted that I should have a bath on the bathroom, so I have a bath and a separate shower cubicle. They were right - now I have DGC, I certainly wouldn’t be without a bath, and I think from a point of view of selling the house, people would expect a family-sized house to have a bathtub.

Copperoliverbear · 24/05/2025 23:27

Bath

FNDandme · 24/05/2025 23:38

Bath definitely - our last house had a shower only for a time but we redid the bathroom reinstating a bath as it was a family home

OooPourUsACupLove · 24/05/2025 23:42

Get a walk in shower installed in the same footprint as a bath. Get the plumbing installed for taps etc where they need to be but capped just behind the tiles. Remember where the plumbing runs and make sure you keep spare tiles.

Enjoy your shower.

If when you come to sell it turns out that having no bath is a problem, have the shower replaced by a bath. If you plan your refit now with a view to making that easy you won't need to redo the full bathroom again.

We did it the other way - swapped bath for shower. We got one with the exact same footprint so we didn't need to redo any of the rest of the bathroom, not even lift any of the floor tiles. Just took the bath out, installed the shower tray and extended the tiling that was already there round the bath down the exposed walls where the bath had been. All the plumbing is still there for a bath so if it turns out to be enough of a problem when we come to sell to justify the spending we'll just reverse the process.

Original poster
Craftysue · 25/05/2025 08:53

It's a decent sized bathroom and we already have a walk in shower so I'll probably get the same setup as we're got now.
Thanks for the opinions all👍

OP posts:
TheNightingalesStarling · 25/05/2025 08:56

With multiple bathrooms at least one needs a bath.

(We chose shower instead of bath but its our only bathroom and efficiency was more important with two preteen girls.)

SarfLondonLad · 25/05/2025 11:15

Five bed here. We're having a new bathroom and the bath is coming out to make room for a larger shower.