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I'm assuming by "soaker tub" that you mean a large bathtub.
I have an oversized tub in my master bath and I use it almost every time I bathe. I have fibromyalgia and a bad knee, which makes it hard to stand in the shower sometimes, and also hard to maneuver around in and to get in and out of the smaller tub. The large tub also has hand bars built into the side to help with getting down and back up again! Nice.
So, I like my oversized "garden tub" (that's what they used to call them), but I don't care for the Jacuzzi part....I rarely use it and I don't like having to clean around the jets. Also, spiders like to make their homes in them sometimes and come out and float around in the bath water sometimes. Spiders don't bother me, but they might bother someone else. I hate thinking about the water that may be left in the jets when the tub is drained also. I never see any evidence of yuck, but still....
The jets can easily be cleaned by filling the tub and adding some household bleach and dishwasher detergent (yes, they can be safely mixed).
From Kohler:
Fill the bath with warm water to a level 2" above the highest jets, or leave water in the bath after using. Add 2 teaspoons of a low-foaming, powder automatic dishwashing detergent and 20 ounces of household bleach (5% to 6% sodium hypochlorite) to the water. Run the whirlpool for 5 to 10 minutes.
My wife and I have been looking to move from our townhome to a SFH and notice that most have a soaker tub. My question is who actually uses these on a regular basis? Everyone I have talked to says that they rarely use it.
Should we consider taking it out? If so what feature would be helpful in place of it?
If you have kids that are high school aged they will appreciate it if they throw a party when you are out of town. It is a good place to dump in a few bags of ice and put a keg.
It probably depends if YOU would use it. Some people really enjoy their tubs. On the other hand, many rarely if ever use them and they are a waste of space. When we built our house, we opted to put a large custom shower in the master bathroom. It has grab rails and is accessible if one of us should break a leg. We left space for a tub, if some future owner should want to install one; right now that space is occupied by a bench - we put our clothes there when showering... We do have a tub in the second bathroom; it is there mostly for resale value since neither of us likes baths.
I've heard that the trend in real estate is away from tubs in the master bathroom. Some homes do not have them at all, especially homes likely to appeal to empty nesters.
This is interesting. I have a condo, and I have lived here six years and NEVER used the bathtub. I am much taller than normal people and don't fit comfortably into tubs to begin with.
Within a couple of years I am going to be able to rip out and redo the bathroom (I have a 942 s.f. condo, 2 BR, one bath) and I seriously thought about just having a nice shower put in with no tub and wondered if that would affect resale.
Except for one family I know who has the same one-story model I have in this complex, those of us with this unit mostly live alone. If I sell it would therefore likely be to someone like me whose kid(s) is/are grown and lives alone. The second bedroom, in fact, has a single bed in it for when my daughter or someone else visits, but it's my computer and book room, and it has the sliders to go out to my patio and garden. The unit's not really set up for people with kids who need bathtubs. They usually buy the two-story model with the bath and a half.
We lived in a place in Austin that had these HUGE garden tubs in both bathrooms, and not enough hot water heater to fill the damn things. What a waste of space.
I would remove the tub and put in a large walk in shower. We have 4 bathrooms, 3 have tubs. We never use ours. So we are looking to remove it and make a large walk in shower.
I am a bath person and take one every night in my antique claw-foot tub.
A clawfoot or a standard tub are both so much easier to get in and out of than those monstrous soaking tubs. Especially the ones that are built up on a pedestal of sorts. I look at those and just shake my head ...
I don't have a master bathroom, so I'd never take out the tub. I do use it on occasion, when I need to clean the blinds.
This is interesting. I have a condo, and I have lived here six years and NEVER used the bathtub. I am much taller than normal people and don't fit comfortably into tubs to begin with.
Within a couple of years I am going to be able to rip out and redo the bathroom (I have a 942 s.f. condo, 2 BR, one bath) and I seriously thought about just having a nice shower put in with no tub and wondered if that would affect resale.
Except for one family I know who has the same one-story model I have in this complex, those of us with this unit mostly live alone. If I sell it would therefore likely be to someone like me whose kid(s) is/are grown and lives alone. The second bedroom, in fact, has a single bed in it for when my daughter or someone else visits, but it's my computer and book room, and it has the sliders to go out to my patio and garden. The unit's not really set up for people with kids who need bathtubs. They usually buy the two-story model with the bath and a half.
I think having a nice shower is ok for what you are describing. When I built my place a couple of years ago, I opted for a large walk in shower with a built in bench, beautiful tile, a frameless glass door, and nice shower panel. The bathroom isn't that large, so I would have had to squeeze in a tiny shower if I wanted to put a soaker tub in there, and as someone who only takes showers, that would be a waste for me.
However, I do have a second full bath with a standard tub/shower in it, which is appropriate for homes in my family oriented neighborhood as it's likely that when the time comes to sell, people with young kids will make up the majority of my pool of potential buyers.
Conventional wisdom says there should be at least one tub, and I tend to agree with that in general terms. But with a one bath condo in what is obviously not a family oriented building, I think a luxurious shower has more appeal to the majority of your potential buyers.
Mine isn't a waste of space. The dryer rack stays in there.
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