Long story short, the Wife and I are working with a designer to renovate our master bathroom. It's a smaller space and oddly shaped (shaped like an L) which presents some constraints and currently everything is put in like a tetris game (2 sinks, walk in shower, toilet, bath in the corner. The designer suggested that taking out the bath tub is a good way to open it up more and allow for a much better design. That is undoubtedly true, but, I worry about what not having a bath in the master bathroom will do to re-sale value.

We do have a bath in the guest bath, so there is one elsewhere in the house. It's about a 20 year old house in central Houston (it's a tall skinny town house).

Any thoughts on this? Obviously houses without baths in the master bathroom exist but it seems to me like that is fairly uncommon and could cut off some future buyers.

From my experience, a tub is a nice to have or a "oh yeah, there's the tub", but nobody really uses it that much. Guys for sure don't. Gals *sometimes do?

How big is that guest tub?
Standard 30x60? Glass doors? Curtain? Soaking?
Is this a neighborhood where the buying market will attract young families? A tub, which you do have, is as must for the kiddos.

Kenneth_2003 said:

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How big is that guest tub?
Standard 30x60? Glass doors? Curtain? Soaking?
Is this a neighborhood where the buying market will attract young families? A tub, which you do have, is as must for the kiddos.

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It's a shower/tub combo. Not huge but definitely big enough for a kid or a dog to be cleaned off in. No glass doors, just a curtain.

When we redo our master tub will be gone. That being said. Next to our master is a second downstairs master that doubles as a guest bath. There's a tub there.

Our kids are grown but as long as there's a tub in the house for resale I say do it.

SJEAg said:

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My wife uses ours all the time - basically whenever she isn't washing her hair. Maybe she's weird but no bath in a master would be a deal killer for us (well, her).

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Same. All the time. We were going to forego the tub on our renovation as we have 2 others, but we want one in our area instead of having to go elsewhere in the house.

There have been several discussions on this and it almost always boils down to personal preference. Even though my wife takes a lot of baths, it still wouldn't be a deal breaker on a home purchase so long as there was a decent one elsewhere in the home.

What about a two story with the master downstairs and 2 bathtubs upstairs? I'd love to get rid of ours in our master when we remodel.

Looks great!

How wide is the door on that standup shower Steve?

We have a similar setup and I was worried the clearance in front of the toilet wouldn't be enough

Look closely and we custom cut the door smaller than the right glass panel. Opens and closes both ways. So a little 'off'. But that lets the door swing out not hitting the toilet. Wife hates the sliding design since the slide really looked heavy and industrial. This is much cleaner

As you can see it really opened up a small space for a master.

Yeah, I like that idea a lot.

I think I'll steal it. Thanks!

When I redid the master bathroom I kept it, largely because there was nothing else that could have been done with the space without changing up a window. It was in a corner adjacent to the master bedroom so even using it as an entry to the room would've been inconvenient.

I've used it to give the kids a bath, wash the dog, and hand wash laundry but that's about all.

Red Pear Realty said:

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From my experience, a tub is a nice to have or a "oh yeah, there's the tub", but nobody really uses it that much. Guys for sure don't. Gals *sometimes do?

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I'll have to disagree. I'm a guy and use my tub regularly (my son and I both do). It's unlikely I would ever buy a house without a tub in the master. And yes I realize I am in the minority.

jtraggie99 said:

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Red Pear Realty said:

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From my experience, a tub is a nice to have or a "oh yeah, there's the tub", but nobody really uses it that much. Guys for sure don't. Gals *sometimes do?

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I'll have to disagree. I'm a guy and use my tub regularly (my son and I both do). It's unlikely I would ever buy a house without a tub in the master. And yes I realize I am in the minority.

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First time for everything!

And I'll just add this, being that I'm taller 6'01", those builder grade hall baths just don't work for me. And my current bedroom and bath layout allows me to see my TV from the bath. I mean, what's not to like, soak in the tub with a beer or a bourbon while watching TV. Guess that's just me though...

Get rid of the tub if it doesn't really work.

You might lose a few buyers, but you'll pick up the other group that would have passed on a small stall shower or tub/shower combo.

We ditched our tub/shower and were able to expand to a much nicer shower. We absolutely couldn't have done both in the space we have.

If you don't have a tub, the shower better be big enough for two with proper water coverage as well. We have a rain head and then the handheld on a rail that acts as a second shower head. Plenty of coverage for 2 to stay warm in the water.

Red Pear Realty said:

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From my experience, a tub is a nice to have or a "oh yeah, there's the tub", but nobody really uses it that much. Guys for sure don't. Gals *sometimes do?

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Speak for yourself! I enjoy deep tub epson salt bath's with a nice whiskey and watching the office on the ipad lol.

That being said, as a 6'5" fella - I don't fit properly in a normal bathtub, so it's a love hate relationship.

Sea Speed said:

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Couples showers

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Proper shower design does encourage it for sure.

There is a good chance we will remove our big tub, put in a bigger shower and a linen closet when we redo our master. While I used to use the tub - it certainly isn't worth the smaller shower and the dust the tub collects.

I sell new homes for a builder in San Antonio.
Haven't put in a tub in a master bath in close to 2 years. We offer a big Mudset 'spa shower' that we can do in a one head or two head version. It's a huge hit. Ladies HATE the garden tubs, especially if they have owned 2 or more homes with a garden tub and shower. Pain in the butt to clean, big dust collector, takes up too much room, but mostly 'I never use it!' They say they used the first one some, but less over time and now never. People see the big shower and the experienced multiple homeowner is thinking not only does it look awesome, but it's something that we'll use. Plus, as the kids start to leave I hear sentiments about 'we're not getting any younger' and buyers are thinking about mobility issues, diabetes, parents becoming a part of the picture, etc. A big shower and no tub makes a lot of sense.

The only buyers who are saying they want the tub are the ones who have never had one/always wanted one.

I think it's not a negative to get rid of the tub unless you think you're going to resell your home to a first time buyers kind of resale. Most homeowners that are in those kinds of neighborhoods sell rather than remodeling.

Martin Q. Blank said:

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The only time a bath is needed is for kids. Nobody uses them anymore in the master.

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Speak for yourself! I have a huge soaker tub that I use frequently in our master.

histag10 said:

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Martin Q. Blank said:

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The only time a bath is needed is for kids. Nobody uses them anymore in the master.

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Speak for yourself! I have a huge soaker tub that I use frequently in our master.

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Notwithstanding any one homeowner's personal preference, I think the point here is that over large numbers of people who are making buying decisions about what's important in a home, you'll find fewer that think it's important to have a tub in the master than those who don't. Especially when you are talking about buyers who have had one previously.

***Edit to say if you are talking upper end of the spectrum of high end homes, where price is a low factor and the home has surplus space to add a tub, AND everything else about the home is luxurious, yes you probably help yourself by having a luxury, stand alone, vessel type tub. That's a small slice of the market.

I would kind of disagree. If you don't have space for a decent shower and tub, then having a nice stand up shower probably makes more sense than having a crappy combo.

However, it's always better to have both if possible. Even folks that don't anticipate using the tub much might get skittish about a home that is missing one.

It's similar to suburban homes with small backyards. Even if you don't anticipate wanting a pool, the next guy might.

Steve:

Do you have an idea how much the show door cost ?

Today's cost? No idea. We paid around 1200 installed 3-20.