Bath remodel house value question

[joesxm3]

Currently I have a toilet bath on first floor and a no swirling large jet tub with shower into it on the second floor. I am installing stair lifts for the 96 year old parents and am considering removing the tub and I stalling a walk in shower.

The question is whether having only a walk in shower and no tub hurts the house value?

I guess if I live here until I go out feet first it won't matter.

 

[jfn111]

I've sold a few houses with showers only and there wasn't a big difference in sales price vs comparables.
You will lose some buyers that have small children or those that enjoy soaking in a tub but someone else will think it's great.

 

[Aerides]

When we remodeled our primary bath to remove the tub and go with a big shower instead, I wondered if I'd miss it. We still have a regular bath in the 2nd bathroom, but I can't remember ever using it.

In general, for any remodel, build for yourself and your needs, unless you plan on moving in 5 years or less.

 

[pb4uski]

+1 For most people, I don't think not having a tub makes a difference in how they value the house, in fact, I think it is a benefit. I would prefer a house with no tubs.

A temporary plastic tub in the shower would work fine for the grandkids and neither DW or I tend to soak in a tub unless we have injured our back.

DW insisted in putting a jetted tub in the second bathroom of our 2010/2011 rebuild. Cost us $3,000 if I recall and it needed special plumbing due to the volume of water that it requires to fill it. We used it a couple times a year for the first few years and only as a shower since.

 

[Chuckanut]

I’ve seen some small tubs that are deeper than normal but not as long. That saves square footage for a second sink or bigger shower. These mini tubs have a built in seat and are probably about 2.5 feet in height.

I have a traditional tub shower combo and never use the tub.

 

[ivinsfan]

+1 For most people, I don't think not having a tub makes a difference in how they value the house, in fact, I think it is a benefit. I would prefer a house with no tubs.

A temporary plastic tub in the shower would work fine for the grandkids and neither DW or I tend to soak in a tub unless we have injured our back.

DW insisted in putting a jetted tub in the second bathroom of our 2010/2011 rebuild. Cost us $3,000 if I recall and it needed special plumbing due to the volume of water that it reques to fill it. We used it a couple times a year for the first few years and only as a shower since.

they can also be used for towel overflow storage....

 

[RunningBum]

I would want one bath tub, but it's not a must have. I assume it would be for a families with very young children. I rarely soak in one, but it's a good place to rinse large things out when it's too cold outside, and fill large containers that don't fit in a sink. I've done both in the last week. I'd find another way if I didn't have a tub.

My house I had custom designed and built 22 years ago has 3 tubs. It's no big deal but I'd rather have just 1.

 

[joesxm3]

The company that is doing the stairlift also has a company that does walk in showers. My friend's parents bought a stairlift from them and gave good recommendation.

I spoke to the guy this morning and he says that what they do is use some sort of marine fiberglass sheets that link together and are installed over 1 inch marine plywood.

They would rip out the existing wall tile and install their stuff. So it is not like a bath-fitter company that just puts some cheap plastic over the existing stuff. He said it takes two and a half days.

When I was asking about this before the suggestions seemed to show walk in showers that were based on tile with some sort of film over the floor to make it water proof.

The web site for this company is nestairlifts.com if you want to look at some pictures.

Any thoughts on having the fiberglass enclosure instead of tile? I suppose that the tile is more of a high end solution.

 

[tmm99]

I take a bath everyday. So does DH. We couldn't live without a tub...

 

[ivinsfan]

I take a bath everyday. So does DH. We couldn't live without a tub...

The question is perfect house,perfect location, perfect price. It has no tub..do you just walk away

 

[W2R]

+1 For most people, I don't think not having a tub makes a difference in how they value the house, in fact, I think it is a benefit. I would prefer a house with no tubs.

+100000000 Me, too.

I'm no realtor, just a 74-year-old woman living alone. Personally I GREATLY prefer a big, stand alone, walk-in shower to any tub whatsoever. Or even better, a roll-in shower in case I need a wheelchair later on as I age! Wow, now that's perfect IMO, maybe with a built in bench, numerous strong grab bars, a non-skid floor, and a shower head on an extra long hose (mine is almost 7').

I remember that 20 years ago people used to say that moms required tubs to wash their kids and pets, and so you had to have at least one tub in the house or the house value would drop tremendously. I didn't believe it then, and don't believe it now. But it could be true; like I said, I am not a realtor. My present house has a tub in one of the bathrooms and in the 8 years I have lived here, I have never used it even once. It just gathers dust. The stand alone shower with sturdy grab bars in the other bathroom was very appealing to me as a buyer.

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

20 years ago when my house was being built I had the option of having a large jet tub in primary bedroom/bathroom or tub/shower combo and a larger bedroom space. I opted for the bedroom space and have never regretted it.
I’ve used the bathtub a handful of times. I consider sitting in water a complete waste of my time. Same reason I have a pool and not a hot tub.

Now that I’m 20 years older I’m hoping to get my bathroom remodeled and a walk-in shower installed to replace the shower/tub combo.
I want one with a bench and a niche for shower paraphernalia.

I will still have a bathtub in the main bathroom but honestly I would be fine without it.

I say remodel to suit your needs. When it’s time to sell I would suspect that there will be people who don’t care about bathtubs at all looking at buying a house.
No matter what you do someone won’t want your house because of it.

 

[Ian S]

We plan on a remodel of our master bath within a couple of years. The jetted tub will be eliminated in favor of an expanded shower. We never use the tub and if I really want a bath, we have another bathroom with a regular tub. I used to groom our dog but always used the shower for that anyway. Now he goes to the groomer as it's not worth the $$ savings any more.

 

[retire48in2018]

This might be region or area specific

We were working on updating a home and had several realtors advise us - and - in that area, tubs were a must vs large walk-in showers, etc.

They were thinking not only of young families with children, also multi family living, etc. that’s why I think it might be region specific and possibly home size.

 

[pb4uski]

^^^^ I think that is the conventional wisdom and what most realtors would say, but it might be changing.

 

[retire48in2018]

We pushed back on those realtor statements. But they insisted, in that area with this size of home - tubs were required - especially in owners suite and at least one of the other bathrooms.

We were surprised. But all 3 realtors were adamant.

I think it was that area with its demographics and size of home (2200 ft^2 with 3 BR, 2 full bath and a half bath). They said both need tubs.

Lots of multi generation and younger families were in that neighborhood- so we accepted that recommendation.

 

[ncbill]

A tub in at least one of the non-master bathrooms for kids, sure.

Here everyone rips out the oversized "garden tub" in the master bath and converts the space to a tiled, walk-in shower.

Remember to make the threshold/transition as flat as possible.

 

[Out of Steam]

A tub in at least one of the non-master bathrooms for kids, sure.

I think this is the right answer, especially in a larger house.

But for seniors who need a large walk-in shower, my view is to build it. It can be a safety issue not to.

 

[SnowballCamper]

Part of the reason we had a home built is because the homes built to realtor recommendations don't really suit us. If you're not likely to have to move for work, then just build/remodel to get what you need.

 

[Music Lover]

A somewhat similar story, just before my wife moved in I turned my 3 bed, 1 bath house into a 2 bed, 2 bath (ensuite). A couple people suggested that I was hurting resale value but most of the others thought otherwise. For everyone that wants a 3 bedroom house there is someone who only needs 2 bedrooms and would not hesitate to give up one of them for an ensuite.

If you have multiple bedrooms in a family neighborhood then having a tub in one of them is probably a good idea, but I don't know your neighborhood.