PDA

View Full Version : Replace tub with shower?



Mike Cornelsen
03-05-2008, 10:27 PM
I added a shower over the bathtub back in the mid-80's. I can't recall taking a bath in 23 years (that will generate snide comments http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/icons/icon7.gif), only showers. It's time for complete bathroom remodel and I'm considering removing the bathtub altogether and replacing it with a walk-in shower, something along the 60"x32" size. Anyone got rid of their bathtub and later regretted it? Only adults, no kids to bathe and I figure I'll die in this house so resale value is of no concern.

Doug Jones from Oregon
03-05-2008, 10:33 PM
Mike, I'm going to speak on maybe an unexpected angle to this.

I have over the last couple of years, become mobility challenged to the point that stepping over the tub edge or even standing in the tub to shower is difficult. Getting out of a bath itself would be near impossible so shower only for me.

My recently deceased father had the same problem over the last few years (we actually installed one of those open the door tub/shower systems for him).

I guess my point is that as become an older society, there are more of us that experience a difficulty with dealing with the tub, and many that no longer desire a bath (after all, we do have those hot tubs out back, right?).

I personally would consider any house I looked at as a plus if it had not only a walk in shower, but, if spaced allowed, a roll in shower so if one was chair bound it was convenient.

What's the loss here in a large roll-in shower if not needed....two can shower at once?

Doug

Lee Koepke
03-05-2008, 10:35 PM
:D
check with the wife.

we have a small shower (for me) and a whirlpool tub (for her) .. I offered to remove the tub, build a larger shower and increase our vanity to give us more room.

I lost that battle ... :D

Matt Meiser
03-05-2008, 10:38 PM
My parent's took out a tub around 1990 and installed a shower that size and I don't think they regret it. We have a shower that size in our master bath and I love it. In the past 6 months I remodeled both bathrooms and the showers were the only thing we didn't change in each.

We did put a separate tub in our bathroom. I think I've used it twice in 6 months and my wife has used it a couple more times than that. Some friends that have both told us when we were planning our remodel that they could count on their fingers the number of times they'd use their tub in 10 years.

Mike Cornelsen
03-05-2008, 10:41 PM
Excellent consideration. I'm no spring chicken myself (sorry, I've been reading the hilarious Missouri chicken post). When my dad got up there in years, we installed grab bars around the tub for him. A large shower would have allowed him extremely easy access and he could have taken a chair in with him.

Ken Fitzgerald
03-05-2008, 10:44 PM
You might want to check with some realtors. IIRC in some areas, a shower is considered a half-bath.....the same bathroom with a tub is considered a full bath.....

Mike Henderson
03-05-2008, 11:41 PM
When we did a remodel of our master bath in the house we lived in some years ago, we put in a large shower with two heads (with pressure sensing controls so the temp remains constant). Both my wife and I were working and both got up about the same time. That way, we could each shower without waiting for the other. And the shower didn't have to be that much larger.

Worked very well. I'd do it again if we were both working.

Oh, and no tub. Everywhere I've lived, a half bath only has a toilet and sink. If it has a shower or a tub it's called a full bath.

Mike

Michael Gibbons
03-06-2008, 2:56 AM
We have 2 1/2 baths in our house. The hallway bath has a regular old tub with a shower head in it. Thats the one my wife uses because she works days and I work afternoons so she doesn't want to bother me with noise. My bathroom has a double wide shower that has 2 seats in it which is nice since I don't bang my head when I have to pick up the soap or shampoo bottle. I would like to take a scalding hot bath but either the tub is too small or I'm too BIG.:D plus I don't think there would be room for my rubber mitre saw.

Joe Chritz
03-06-2008, 4:14 AM
That is about the size of my shower. Granted I have a big whirlpool corner tub which gets used like a hottub. I could live without a bath no problem.

I did my shower as a full custom. PVC liner, tile, etc. It was a big project but looks very cool when done.

Joe

Mike Cutler
03-06-2008, 5:32 AM
Mike

I'm in the middle of a bathroom remodel myself,and will have no tub in the house at the finish.

The "Old Real Estate Sales" philosophy was that a tub was a selling point for people with children, and would devalue the home of not present.
In speaking with every person we know that has infants and toddlers, none of them use a bathtub. They site the safety concerns( drowning), The amount of water it takes to fill the tub, and the associated impact on their water bill, and the recovery cost of the hot water heater to reheat 25+ gallons of water as reasons for not using the tub.
All of them purchased a portable bath that worked from the kitchen sink to wash infants and toddlers. The kiddies went from being washed by the kitchen sink to using a shower.

Personally, I may put in a seperate whirlpool bath at a later date, but I don't see a negative associated any longer with not having a bathtub.
I think the last time I took a "bath" I was 9 (40+ years ago).

Mike Cornelsen
03-06-2008, 7:19 AM
Thanks everyone. I appreciate the feedback. I'm in the very earliest planning stage; still just rolling ideas around in my head (and not much room to roll either!). Grab bars were already in the mix but thanks to Doug's response, I'm going to look at hand-held shower heads with a vertical height adjustment bar too.

John Bartley
03-06-2008, 7:46 AM
In the plans for our retirement house we are including a walk-in shower, large enough to set a wooden chair into as part of the en-suite bathroom unit for our bedroom. There will be no tub. The guest bathroom (accessible to all in the house) will be much smaller with a conventional tub and overhead shower in the tub. In the en-suite unit we want to be able to either walk or wheel into the shower, and then sit down to shower should we feel the need.

cheers

jeremy levine
03-06-2008, 8:07 AM
We also removed the bath from the mater bathroom, and installed a large shower.
No regrets, I love a shower with some space.

Mitchell Andrus
03-06-2008, 8:20 AM
Check for code violations.... Some areas require at least one bathtub. You may not be able to sell it later on...

Jeffrey Makiel
03-06-2008, 8:53 AM
In addition to the other good comments above. Looking at it from a safety standpoint...

As one ages, a walk-in shower is much more safer than a tub. If one is disabled, a walk in shower with an inexpensive shower chair and a shower head on a flexible hose is the safest and most conveint method of bathing in my opinion.

Tubs are now available with doors, but they are fairly pricey. A door can also be cut into an existing cast iron or steel tub for about $1,800. Neither of these options are very handsome...just functional. However, a walk-in shower is more roomier, and the theshold height can be as little as 2" when using a low profile fiberglass receptor base.

-Jeff :)

Kenneth Hertzog
03-06-2008, 9:01 AM
Mike
I did the tub to shower change a number of years ago because the tub cracked around the drain and started to leak to the basement. I've never missed the tub. I put a shower head on a slide incase someone short wanted a shower ie: grandkids has worked out well
ken

Jim Becker
03-06-2008, 9:29 AM
In our addition, the new master bath ONLY has a shower...5' x 6'...and with only a slight curb to step over. Not even a door. You somewhat "need" to have one tub in a house for resale purposes, but there is no need to have one in every full bath. In fact, I consider a tub/shower combination somewhat of a safety issue even for a healthy adult or child due to the combination of a high step over and somewhat slippery surfaces...so even when there is a tub of some sort, a separate shower is still desirable.

The new guest bath also only has a shower (large, pre-fab unit) with a small step over and a molded in seat. This is to accommodate both the 'rents when they visit as well as our own needs deep in the future should we gain health issues that preclude climbing steps to the second floor.

Ben Grunow
03-06-2008, 8:03 PM
I have done this for my wifes grandmother and we used a fiberglass pan (they are available in corian as well) that was 60 x 32 and it is a great shower if only a little narrow. I would make it wider if 2 are going to be in it at the same time.

Mike Cornelsen
03-07-2008, 6:43 AM
Single bath dwelling. Checked my local builing code and I'm OK. "Every dwelling or dwelling unit shall contain a room, separate from the habitable rooms, which affords privacy to a person within such room and is equipped with a bathtub or shower;"

Ken Fitzgerald
03-07-2008, 9:00 AM
Mike,

I had a friend who built his own home and of course, the showers. He had a book he bought from Taunton publishers of FWW. The book is "Setting Tile" by Michael Byrne. At his urging I bought the book. I had done some small tiling jobs in our previous home. Using Byrne's book, I designed our downstairs bathroom shower, mortared the bed for the shower floor and layed the tile in the shower. One of the things great about the book is Byrne gives a reference list of suppliers. In this shower, each wall is a "floating wall". Where each tile wall meets the floor or another wall I left a 1/4" gap. This gap is filled with a color matched sanded caulk. The caulk and grout are color matched from the grout manufacturer. Only when the shower is wet can you tell where the caulk begins and the grout ends. Reason for caulking the joints......each wall can move as the wood frame expands and contracts over time. No cracked tile. Worked like a charm. Great book if decide to do your own tile shower.

Reason I did my own. The original shower drain was put in the concrete floor when the house was built in the mid-60s. I couldn't find a drain pan that would match the drain hole to the existing one. So I decided if I was going to have to tile my own floor, I'd move the drain and make a larger shower. It was easy using Byrne's book as a reference. Very good book!

Mike Cornelsen
03-07-2008, 9:14 PM
Ken: Thanks for the book tip. I've done a little tile work, flooring in closets, utility room so if I screwed the pooch, it wouldn't matter. Turned out pretty good. Originally I considered tile but didn't want to have to be regrouting in 20-25 years when I'm in my 70's. I'm going to a local plumbing supply house tomorrow morning to look at Swanstone panels. But I hadn't considered wall movement (the house was built in 1951) and the effect on solid panels. And thanks for mentioning drain location. Looking at the Swanstone specs and taking a rough measurement, the drain is right on the money in one direction, 3" off in another.

Ken Fitzgerald
03-07-2008, 9:35 PM
Mike,

If you decide to put down your own mortar bed.....I did after I moved the drain.....remember 2 things......1. The dryer the mortar the stronger it is and the easier it is to set the angle so the water runs to the drain......2. If you mix the mortar like you would most concrete.......the reinforcing wire will rise to the surface and you will lose your patience trying to keep it below the surface while the mortar is curing......Please don't ask me how I know this...


Seriously......the mortar and Byrne tells in his book....is supposed to be slightly damp...not really pourable ....you tamp it in shape/slope using a wooden skreed.....It works really well that way and it will keep the reinforcing wire submerged.....Otherwise you can learn like I did ....:o

Mike Cornelsen
03-08-2008, 7:51 PM
OK, I want to close this particular discussion. My initial conundrum was whether I should replace my 65 year old bathtub with a shower. Me, my bathtub and a sledge hammer are going to have a Come to Jesus meeting.

Ken Fitzgerald
03-08-2008, 8:29 PM
Mike....Good luck. Don't forget that a hand held grinder can do wonders on those cast iron models.

Mike Cornelsen
03-08-2008, 9:12 PM
Ken (and darn, I'm trying to close this thread!), I want to thank you for your sage advice in previous posts. Since my dwelling is 65 years old, I'm not anticipating much more settling and I "think" I will be OK wih a solid panels enclosing the shower. And your mention of drain location (I've already posted a new thread) was something I had not even considered. Thank you!