Eliminating the bathtub in the master

[PNWGuy]

when we remodeled our two bathrooms last fall, we took out the tub in the master and replaced it with a nice, large walkin shower. The hallway bath, we put a jacuzzi tub. If we do want to take a bath, then we just use the hallway bath. Given location and other amenities in our house, I can't see it being a deal breaker, but who knows.

[AZ Tracy]

Originally Posted by dura

How about having the tub inside the shower area?

Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Example 4 Example 5

We are probably going to do it this way as our master bath is longer than wider, and we've already redone the guest bath where we removed thew tub, moved the toilet over, widening the tub area, and put in a walk-in shower. We love it, and so we'll likely do a walk-in shower in the master but stick the tub inside the shower area so we still have a tub.

Interesting - I've never seen this in a home before.

[R_Cowgirl]

I would have agreed with the "must have a bathtub" until I moved into a house without one in the master bathroom. Occasionally i want to take a bath and I just use the one in the guest bathroom. What I have in the master bathroom is a huge two-person sized shower with a built in bench in one corner. It's a beautiful roomy shower. It was also built with a few of the disability type amenities, so the former owner must have been older or had some issues getting in and out. IMHO, having those handles, the ability to roll a chair into the shower, and the extra bench all trump the bathtub idea. As long as there's some other place in the house to soak in a tub if the mood strikes you, who needs the hassle of breaking down walls to add a fancy tub.

Just to add to this thought - my brother redid his house and added this huge jacuzzi type tub. The shower is stand alone right next to the jacuzzi. When I was there I asked him how he liked his tub. His response -"... too much hassle to fill up, too much money to fill up. We've used it twice since we remodeled three years ago." Hardly worth the money or the hassle.

Maybe in this 'Green' conscious world we will find people less interested in using up 50 gallons of water just to sit in it for 15 minutes and then send it down the drain. That's not counting the 5+ gallons of water you flush down the drain waiting for it to heat up. Granted, the average shower uses about 30 gallons of water, but because it isn't sitting there all in one 'bucket' we aren't as aware of that...

[Zippyman]

Originally Posted by thinkalot

A forward thinking senior would know that while they may prefer a shower now, a tub is necessary for when they can no longer bathe themselves. An aide will not get in the shower with them.

Most old people I know still take baths. They have grab bars all around to avoid the slips and falls. Why would anyone of any age step out of the tub with nothing to hold on to. When I sold my last house every person commented positively on the grab bars.

The grab bars are an excellent idea, no matter your age, but I disagree about home aides only helping people in tubs.. I've worked in several ltc facilities, and none of them had tubs. A shower chair, and a hose on the showerhead is how it's done, and it would be a thousand times easier in an oversized shower stall. Trying to help someone into or out of a tub would be a recipe for a back injury.