I LOVE to take baths.... so a house without a tub will not appeal to me at all!

Of course, you need one with kids....

I rarely post here, but I lurk on a daily basis. I too live
in a 2 BR 1 bath home. I also have kids and pets. If this
house did not have a tub, we would have passed on it.

I really think that if you only have one bathroom, it must
have a tub.

We'll be renovating within the next year and the tub will
be where I'll be doing my dishes while the kitchen is under
construction.

I don't look at a tub as a romance item, but rather a
necessity.

I'm sure you will get opinions going both ways on this.

Thinking of what Tim and I would love - a tiled/glass walk-in shower...this might also appeal to the group you mentioned as your type of buyer but that could go either way.

Thinking of what most buyers might want, a tub for sure - I think that would appeal to the wider demographic of buyers and especially those who do have children and/or pets. It is also something we would consider when buying a house because you do always have to think of what is best for resale.

Our last house had a tub/shower combination in one bathroom and a walk-in shower in the master bath - the catch is that the walk-in shower was only 24" X 24" (seriously). We are slim people but it was really too small for us. If you put in a walk-in that's prefabricated (like this one was), make sure it's a decent size for sure.

There have been several threads on a similar topic on this forum. Generally, the consensus has been that you need at least one bathtub in a house.

Ditto on passing up a house with only one 3/4 bath (which is what a bathroom with only a shower is called) - we wouldn't even LOOK at it, since we have neither the inclination or the money to dive right in and remodel to suit our needs. As scampi says, a tub is not a romance item for us, it's a major necessity.

Work up your existing floorplan and post it over on the Bathrooms forum. (If you don't know how, you can produce a floorplan at BHG.com's Arrange-A-Room utility. To share it, use your PrtScr key to take a screenshot of the finished plan. Open your Paint or similar program and paste the screenshot into it with the Paste command in the Edit menu. Crop off all the extra stuff and save it as a .jpg file. Open an account at picturetrail.com or photobucket.com and upload it there; the site will provide you the correct HTML tag to use to post the photo to the site.) It's a good active forum and you will find lots and lots of help in shoehorning everything necessary into a very small bathroom.

Then again, if you're not sure you're moving and might be there for a couple of years - and if it can be done relatively inexpensively, put in what you want and would enjoy for yourselves right now. From what I read when we were selling, preferences in bathrooms are so different that whoever might buy your house in the future could possibly redo everything completely anyway. And there's a good chance that someone in your market might prefer a shower only, too.

If you're doing this KNOWING you're going to want to move soon then I would probably go for appeal to the widest demographic...

We have a two-bedroom, one-bath home. Remodeling the bathroom is our last major project & your post is timely for me. Our designer is coming out next Tuesday to get started. We have made the decision to forego the tub thing & just install a great walk-in shower.

Our potential market, should we decide to sell, are second home buyers or retirees. We live in the heart of an historic New England tourist trap of a village. This is not a family home location & never will be no matter what we do with the bathroom. Adding a second bath is NOT an option for us. FEMA & our local officials will not allow us to increase the existing footprint because of our location in relationship to Long Island Sound. People in my area are aware of the building restrictions.

If I were remodeling a home that might sell to a family, I'd probably keep a tub in the plans.

Tricia

Why not try for the largest tub that will fit...with a shower head as well? Best of both worlds...and you won't limit your market...as most people will not consider it at all unless there are both...as they will think of resale as well..

Since it would be a remodel, you can include some great built in shower jets/massage features for not much extra cost...and have a spa like experience...

You also might want to visit the bathrooms forum to get some ideas on space utilization...and also pick up an inexpensive design program, that would allow you to play with the space to see what would be possible...you might be surprised at what you can do that could look fabulous. :-)

If you only have one bathroom, I think a tub is a must.

I'd pass by any home that didn't have at least one tub. I think you'll reach the wider range of buyers by having a tub.

I'd want a tub, but it wouldn't be a total deal breaker if I LOVED the house... however, if my parents were looking, they'd go for the walk-in shower because it's hard for them to get in /out of a tub & would like to not have to remodel themselves if one of them eventually needs a walker or something. A nice size shower stall was a must when we moved them to a smaller house a couple of years ago. So, I guess it could work either way - with tub you might loose some retirees, with shower only, the families might be out.

You need a tub! A tub is used for SO many things beside taking baths or bathing kids!

Bathing the dog, hand-washing clothes, cleaning random stuff...

You need a tub!

No, you don't NEED a tub! The dog goes to the groomer. I hand-wash in my large kitchen sink which is much easier & "random stuff" can be cleaned elsewhere.

Do what is best for your neighborhood as well as what works for you. There's a buyer for every property. Each decision brings some potential buyers in & takes some away. Oh well....

Hoping you create a wonderful new bathroom that you'll enjoy as long as you're in the house.

Tricia

The heck with the dog, or hand-washables....

*I* NEED a tub!

Sometimes a long hot soak is the only thing to loosen stiff joints and sore muscles.... (and I won't fit in a sink! LOL!)

Check your local plumbing code. Most require a minimum of one bath tub in all residential structures.

I agree with Tricia completely. You don't *need* a tub. Your universe of buyers consists for the most part of single people, couples without children, and retirees. I belive that the majority of people **in that sample** would prefer a nice, tiled, walk-in shower rather than a bathtub.

I would not buy a house that didn't at least have one tub. It is just not practical if you have kids or pets or if you like soaking. Try to squeeze in a larger tub and shower head combo. Better for resale. NancyLouise

I too think you "need" at least one tub in your home for resale. Without that tub, you are definitely shrinking your pool of potential buyers.

I can't remember the last time I took a bath. I lived single for years and maybe took a bath once every two months, if even that. Waste of water, IMO. My mom has lived in a house for five years with one bathroom where the tub and shower are completely separate. She has NEVER used the tub! As a single person and now as a married person, I'd be fine with just a nice big shower. In fact, I'd LOVE a shower built for two! :-) I'd go for a nice, big, tiled, walk-in shower, maybe with a built-in seat or two. Do people still wash their dogs in the tub??? We take ours to a groomer every other month and wash her with the hose in the backyard if she gets stinky/dirty in-between groomer visits (except in the winter, of course, but she doesn't get too dirty in the snow!).

It seems to me you could get away with a shower BUT it's going to have to be heads and shoulders above the rest for you to capture the audience your home would appeal to.
A prepackaged walk in shower isn't going to work. Many retired adults have special needs. Getting in and out of a tub can be hard for them. So your shower needs to be big enough for large people to move in comfortable. Wheelchair accessable would be prefect. It should have a seat for aging bones to rest on or shower from and good sturdy handrails to help pull them up. Keep the height you must step up or down to get into the shower as low as possible a ramp type entrance/exit would be the best.
Small details like these can make a difference to someone whose looking for a retirement home...especially if they have one of their parents living with them.

I do have young children, but even if I didnt, I would still have to have a tub in at least 1 bathroom....