Bath tubs vs shower (Cincinnati, Loveland: houses, buyers, construction)

[dadof2divas]

We have a quad level house. The main bath has a tub/shower and the second is just a half bath. I want to put in a shower in that bath "1/2 to become full" and redo the other bath, remove the tub and put a shower in there since we all use that bath room. Are people really looking for tubs now in houses? All the bedrooms are on the top floor and this is where we take the most showers at. Any recommendations out there?

[progmac]

you will get a much greater response in the "House" forum (http://www.city-data.com/forum/house/)

i personally couldn't live without a tub in at least one bathroom because of the kids.

[Scott SW Ohio]

I renovate houses for resale and have a fair amount of experience putting in bathrooms and then seeing how that impacts saleability. I ran into a number of buyers who saw a bathroom with just a shower as less than a "full" bath. Not everyone thinks this way, but some do so I put in bathtubs, if space and arrangement allows.

[CarpathianPeasant]

Cheap places skip the tub.

[kjbrill]

When you have young kids it is nice to have at least one bathroom with a tub. But when you get older a tub is actually a liability, easy to slip getting in and out of.

We have two full baths on our 2nd floor where the bedrooms are. One is directly off our master bedroom. It is actually in two sections. There is a partial wall divider with an open spindle top. Inset into the divider is a bath base cabinet with a lavatory. Behind the lavatory is a wall mirror and to the side a recessed medicine cabinet. The original lavatory sink was a cheap stamped metal porcelain coated one set into an also cheap plastic laminate countertop. The porcelain on the sink began to chip and then of course the metal began to rust. After becoming disgusted with it I took a set of measurements, went to Lowe's and ordered a cultured marble top with integral basin. I know it came from a Cincinnati company, I believe in Loveland, but I cannot remember the name. One of the best decisions I ever made. Had it fabricated and delivered. One of the son-in-laws came over and we hoisted it into place. Kind of underestimated and could have another couple of hands. I have been retired 10 years and we did this before then. I wondered how durable cultured marble was, and there must be umpteen variations. But this looks and shines like the day I put it in. So nice to not have any dirt catching corners. The basin appears integral though I am sure it was glued in, perhaps with the same plastic resin. The backsplashes are liberally filleted in the corners, easy to clean and nowhere for mold to grow.

Next to the lavatory is a door into the rest of the bathroom housing the commode and shower. It was always a shower, being only 4 ft long. Typical conrtractor construction, cheap tile glued onto standard wallboard. That's right, standard wallboard, no green board or anything else to resist moisture. For years I endured it also. Mostly the tile grout cracking and letting water behind the tile. Then the tile would come loose. I would take it off and do a half-ass job of plastering behind the tile. But also remember, at that time we had 4 kids and probably at least 2 in college.

So finally I bring all the trash cans inside, remove the commode for reinstallation (not going to throw away a perfectly good commode) and begin to remove everything else down to the studs. I go out and buy cement board, definitely a good product and water resistent. But then I find the fastners will not penetrate flush with the surface unless you first countersink the hole, twice the work. I put cement board on the floor too as I am going to retile it and that underlayment looks suspicious. Finally I have everything put back together. First thing which happens is the corners of the shower crack, I am sure due to movements in the walls. Maybe I needed to install corner brackets at the corner studs to keep them from moving? So right away I have some of that beautiful silicon caulk corner beading running down the corners and also across the top of the shower basin. Now it has been several years, and I have not had the water problems we originally had so hopefully things are stable.

But if I were doing it over, this is what I would change. Construct the shower out of a basin pan and wall panels all made from the same cultured marble. Require the installer to give you a guarantee there will be to perceptible joints between the wall panels or the basin pan for some reasonable years - say 10. Believe me trying to keep grout joints clean is a royal pain-in-the-ass.