Bathroom remodel - Is a tub important?

[Janet H]

Looking for general opinions about a bathroom reno project..

This winters plans for "the house of many projects" includes a reno of the main bathroom which currently has double sinks, toilet and a large jetted tub that needs to go. It is the only tub in the house but it has no shower. I am considering replacing this with no-lip walk in shower and then a separate small Japanese style soaking tub.

Space limitations will not accommodate a large tub and a separate shower and there is the added problem of this being a log house. One wall of the room is bare logs - not shower friendly (likely why there was never a shower here before).

How important do you think a tub is to maintain house value?

The soaking tub size that would fit in this space is fairly small - nice for kids or dogs and maybe tiny people.

Is a tiny but deep tub better than none at all?

 

[MC Rider]

How important do you think a tub is to maintain house value?

If every house in your 'hood had a tub regular people can use, you would be advised to have a normal size tub. If you don't people will look at it as an oddball with no good tub. Maybe you can do a shower over tub?


I am a wannabe retired soon 30 year RE appraiser fwiw.

 

[RobbieB]

Tub is nice but not essential. Unless you like to soak...

But you seem to be interested in flipping.

 

[Golden sunsets]

On resale, you will limit your pool of buyers without at least one tub, preferably in a hall bath. If you don't care about resale value, then remodel to your own preferences

 

[njhowie]

We have an older home with 3 bathrooms. Two have walk-in full size showers, one has a regular size tub with shower. I prefer the walk-in showers, but the tub has been useful when needing to soak sore muscles.

I don't think that not having a tub takes away from the homes value. Very minimal if at all. It's primarily going to be location and that it's all in good shape. Whoever buys it will renovate and install a tub if they really want one.

For the heck of it, I googled, and this came back...

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/replacing-bath-shower-decrease-home-value-81551.html

 

[Janet H]

Tub is nice but not essential. Unless you like to soak...

But you seem to be interested in flipping.

Not interested in flipping...

This house is in a lovely area on 5 acres - built in 1991. The bath is original. We intent to stay here until we can't maintain the place. The house is an oddball house in the area and not in a subdivision. The property abuts a park

Basics:
House is about 2000 sq feet, 3 bedrooms (one is master w. shower), main bath and a great room. One level.

Other buildings on the property include a 26 x 30 studio and a stand alone shop.

All are D-log construction and the house has a concrete foundation with 3.5 ft crawl space.

The bath in question is an odd size. We are going to widen the entry door a few inches but there is a supporting wall mid bathroom that can't be removed and the exterior wall is log /window. Plumbing and electrical runs could be altered but not added to log wall. Moving toilet is anticipated.

Marginal drawing attached.

 

[brett]

Prior to doing a kitchen reno and a bathroom reno we spoke to a neighbour who happened to be an experience realtor.

I expected to be transferred at some point so we wanted to get every dime back. She advised us to spend with the value of our home in mind.

One other thing that we did not know....it was a city bylaw or something that each home had to have one bathtub. Strange, but that is what she told us

 

[Katsmeow]

The question is whether you have a tub in the rest of the house. The general rule of thumb I was told was that you want one bathroom with a tub. It does not have to be the master. This is because some people want tubs for small children. We have a guest bath with a tub/shower combo so when we remodeled our master bath we completely got rid of the tub and have a large walk in shower (no lip). We don't regret it. When we were looking for houses we did see a couple where the master had no tub and it was a plus for us. Of course, some people absolutely do want a tub in the master but most really don't want one or don't care (i.e. they never use tub).

Anyway if you have another bathroom with a tub then I wouldn't (and didn't) worry about having any in the master bath. If you don't have another with a tub then I would have a separate tub in master if possible.

 

[ivinsfan]

Just me but I'd just go with the shower. Deep narrow tubs are safety hazards IMO

 

[Janet H]

Anyway if you have another bathroom with a tub then I wouldn't (and didn't) worry about having any in the master bath. If you don't have another with a tub then I would have a separate tub in master if possible.

This bathroom has the only tub in the house. It's a hall bathroom that serves 2 (unused bedrooms) and the main house.

The master bath also needs a reno and has a walk-in shower and no tub., but that's another project

 

[MissMolly]

A tub is essential to families with young children. You may be cutting down on potential buyers in the future if you don't have a tub.

 

[CardsFan]

OP,

Sounds like you already have a different house than normal (log built, etc.), so I would do what suits you. Personally a nice large shower would entice me more than a jetted tub (we have one, I have used it maybe 10 times in 10 years. DW a little more).

I have not seen the type of soaking tub you describe, but that might actually interest me more. Good luck.

 

[skyking1]

My thought is to make it exactly what you want, and give zero consideration regarding resale. If it took 15~20K off the price to re-do the room with a tub, that is just a small drop in a big bucket. Enjoy your home as you see it, not as some prospective, hypothetical buyer.

 

[RetiredHappy]

We just bought our current home in January. Previous owners had converted the large bathtub into a walk-in shower and turned the walk-in shower into closet space in the master bathroom. The home has a large guest bedroom with a walk-in shower in the ensuite bathroom. There is also a separate casita with a shower over tub and it is also ensuite. We just completed a major bathroom remodel and kept the layout of having no bathtub in the master bathroom. At one point we toyed with having a small walk-in bathtub on one side of the large walk-in shower as there is room. But we were far along in the remodel that we decided not to change our plan. We now have 3 showers in the walk-in shower, a large rain shower in the middle and 2 2-way shower heads off on each side. It also has a nice built-in bench. We also did a remodel of the large guest bathroom but left the casita bathroom alone. We live in a resort community with mostly retirees and we are not concerned about resale value since we plan to live here for the next 30 years or so, or until we die.

 

[Aerides]

For a guest/2nd/3rd bedrooms shared bath... yeah the tub might limit you down the road with potential buyers. The whole "no real tub in the house" thing. But a small tub that could work for a foot soak, sounds nice. In a normal selling market, you probably wouldn't lose value, but you might find a small percent of buyers find it a dealbreaker.

We got rid of the tub in our en suite bath when we remodeled, but left a regular bath with the standard shower above it in the guest/2nd bath. We figured that bath is more for utility vs. our personal taste. I can't remember the last time I took an actual bath here, but DH has from time to time when he had a pulled hamstring, that sort of thing.

 

[RetireeRobert]

Since this is a hall bath, I would put the small tub in it, as well as the shower. You may not plan on moving for a long while now, but plans change unexpectedly. I would consider eventual resale, and a home with at least one small tub gets a larger buyer pool than a home with no tubs at all.

 

[JT90505]

Things to consider.

Regarding home value, when we were shopping ages ago with a small child we would not have even looked at a house without a tub. I don't know how you would bath a small child without one, I'm sure it can be done somehow. A second group you may be eliminating as potential buyers are empty nesters who are considering grandchildren.

If you have adult guests with no kids, they will probably want a shower. With small kids, they will want a tub.

Regarding your drawing, are you open to tiling over the logs to get a tub/shower?

 

[RetireeRobert]

Things to consider.

Regarding home value, when we were shopping ages ago with a small child we would not have even looked at a house without a tub. I don't know how you would bath a small child without one, I'm sure it can be done somehow. A second group you may be eliminating as potential buyers are empty nesters who are considering grandchildren.

If you have adult guests with no kids, they will probably want a shower. With small kids, they will want a tub.

Regarding your drawing, are you open to tiling over the logs to get a tub/shower?

Yes, this ^ ^ ^. Lack of tub will shrink you eventual buyer pool at resale time. And resale time may arrive sooner than you ever expect, so it never pays to give short shrift to resale when you can solve a problem right now during a remodel.

 

[Jerry1]

I don’t think it matters one bit. If someone really wants a tub, they can put one back in. If the only people that look at your house when it comes time to sell are people that only want your house if it perfectly fits their needs and expect no renovations or compromises, then the pool of buyers will already be very small. There is almost always something that needs changed when a person buys a house - if for no other reason than to make it their own. Your house is a custom house that will only appeal to a certain group of buyers and I don’t think the lack of a tub will have any affect on selling your house. The worse that could happen is that you may have to come down on the price to cover the cost to put in a tub, but since you’re going to live there as long as you can, who cares? That amount of money in 10 or 20 years won’t matter at all.

I live by the rule that my house is mine. I’m of the opinion that a home is a hard thing to lose money on. For example, let’s say you bought the house for $200K and you put another $200K into it making it your home. Let’s say that puts you under water by $100K (estimated market value is $300K). You live in the house 10 years. You lost $100K? Yes, that’s one way to look at it. Another way to look at it is that it cost you $833 more per month to live in your house than it otherwise would have. Add to that your other costs - taxes, maint., etc. and I bet you that you still lived way cheaper than you could have ever rented for the same level of comfort and personal satisfaction.

Sorry, that’s a long way to say, it’s your house. Make it your own, enjoy it and don’t worry about making a financial mistake.

 

[skyking1]

^ What Jerry said!

 

[Janet H]

small kids, they will want a tub.

Regarding your drawing, are you open to tiling over the logs to get a tub/shower?

I am willing to tile the lower 3rd or so of the log wall - not high enough for a shower but possibly high enough as a splash guard for a tub. Just not convinced one will fit...
When I redid the kitchen in this house and added a backsplash along the log wall, I used thin cement board screwed to the logs and then tiled that. Eventually someone may want to redo this kitchen again and once logs have been covered with mastic, they cannot be easily salvaged.

 

[38Chevy454]

Walk-in shower and no tub is my vote for your bathroom renovation project. Those old jetted tubs are so useless. If you do decide to go back with a tub, make it a big enough one with shower as part of it.

 

[ivinsfan]

Nice kitchen design and man is it clean or what??

 

[RetireeRobert]

I am willing to tile the lower 3rd or so of the log wall - not high enough for a shower but possibly high enough as a splash guard for a tub. Just not convinced one will fit...
When I redid the kitchen in this house and added a backsplash along the log wall, I used thin cement board screwed to the logs and then tiled that. Eventually someone may want to redo this kitchen again and once logs have been covered with mastic, they cannot be easily salvaged.

View attachment 40296

Beautiful kitchen. You do nice work!

 

[mountainsoft]

For a public "guest" bath I would recommend a tub/shower combo. They might want to give the kids a bath, sit on the edge and wash their feet, etc. Or you might want to wash the dog, or fill the tub with water for an emergency. It leaves options.

As for a master bath, I would recommend a separate shower and soaking tub. Most of the time we just want a shower. Just turn the water on, step in, wash, and step out. But some times it's nice to fill a tub and settle in for a long soak. It's really nice to have both. You don't have to step over the edge of a tub to take a shower, and you're not fighting a shower curtain or door when soaking in the tub.