I know I like my bath tubs. So for me, I wouldn't like it. However everyone is different. If the bathroom downstairs was adjacent to the bedroom, I'd put a door in the bedroom to the bathroom and then close off the orginal door. That way you could say that's a master suite.

cpowers21 said "I'd put a door in the bedroom to the bathroom and then close off the orginal door. That way you could say that's a master suite."

I disagree. If that's the only bathroom on the main floor, making the "master suite" would mean that every visitor to your house (and every family member doing stuff on the first floor) would have to go upstairs or traipse through the bedroom to use the bathroom. I'd find that mightily inconvenient.

On the tub vs. shower thing, I personally wouldn't want to lose the tub; and I don't think 5 x 8 is THAT small of a bathroom -- I don't know that removing the bathtub would make a big impact on the available space either.

But I know lots of people prefer a step-in shower to a bath, so I could see changing to a corner shower if you really wanted shower-only.

I'd make it a shower. You already have a tub in the main bathroom. How many guests actually take a bath? Most will take a shower. So long as you have one bathtub in the house you will be fine.

We have five bathrooms; three full, two half or rather, that is how they are listed in this area. In actuality we have five baths; two full, one 3/4, two half. The cleaning ladies wipe out the dust from the tubs weekly. You have a tub upstairs so make the downstairs whatever you want it to be. I'd also look for a place on the first floor to fit a half bath so your guests no longer need to use the bath by that bedroom. If you had a half bath, you could indeed make that a master suite.

Since when is a bath with a shower not a full bath?

By that standard, several of the rentals I lived in years ago didn't have a full bathroom!

thanks for the feedback.. but any of the suggestions about reconstructing the 1st floor BR to a master suite is way off base that room is 8X10 my master is 2X that on the 2nd floor. And adding another 1/2 bath to the floor is never going to happen.

The point of the post was does going from 2 full bath to 1 3/4 bath make the house less desisrable to new buyers?

Not for me it wouldn't.

In my area it would decrease your potential buyers. Searches are done by # of bathrooms, and so a family looking for two baths won't get your home on a search if it's listed as 1 and 3/4.

In my area a bath with a shower counts as a full bath on the MLS. In fact on a search it doesn't matter what type of bath it is, full or half it will come up as simply a bath on the MLS. In the listing information it breaks down how many full and how many half baths in the home. If you are concerned about resale you could ask a Realtor in your area how your MLS counts baths.

It wouldn't bother me at all, I rarely use a bath, much prefer a shower myself and I would think any Mother bathing young children would stay in the bathroom with them all the time so having the only bath on the 2nd floor to me wouldn't be a problem. In fact, when I think of it that is how my present house is, we moved in here when our youngest was 4 and it was never a problem.

We are remodeling--and getting rid of the bathtub in the guest bath. It is being replaced with cabinets and a counter. The shower will be enlarged and a seat will be added plus an extra hand shower. We are eliminating the shower door entirely. I can't remember any guest ever taking a bath. If small kids visit they can use my bathtub, as they would be grandchildren.
It depends on how long you live in a house whether you worry about resale value or not. If you move every 3 years it is a factor, but otherwise, you need to be comfortable, and fit the house to your life. You may be ahead of the trend anyway. I remember when somebody told me 15 years ago that "nobody will like granite and marble in the kitchen--thats for courthouses". I always thought grout was a pain to clean.

In my area they never call it 3/4 bath if there is a shower but no tub. They are very common and do no lower resale value at all. I prefer a shower over one of those tub/shower combos.

As folks get older, it is easier to step into a shower versus step into the tub. Also those shower units are great for washing your dog so doggie doesn't have to step over the tub ledge. Also small kids could enter the shower easier without stepping over the tub ledge.

I've never heard of a 3/4 bath. It's a full bath in areas I know (Tx, IL, OR) if it has a toilet, sink and tub and/or shower. A half bath is just a toilet and sink. As long as the second bath has a tub, having shower in the other bath wouldn't bother me at all. I would prefer it to a clawfoot tub that I am finding in a lot of houses in OR. The clawfoot tub needs a separate shower or you have the shower curtain circle around you and stick to you. Ugh! :)

In CA, baths are either half (toilet and sink) or full (same as above with shower and/or tub). Back in NY, they did differentiate, and a bath with a shower only (no tub) was a 3/4. That said, many people are swapping out their tubs for showers...as long as there's at least one other tub in the house, you should be fine.

"The pull of that tub on the first floor for young families is a real selling point here. Any mom who has had to run up stairs constantly to stay with pre-schooled aged children in the tub, while trying to do laundry and get supper on the table can appreciate the usefulness of a main floor tub. "

Yeah, um, no.

As a mother with two little kids, I NEVER used the full bath on the main floor for bathing. If I'm making dinner and doing laundry, there's no way on God's green earth I've got kids in a tub as well. Kids in tubs need to be watched.

If their bedrooms are upstairs, then that's where I bathe them. No slipping of wet feet going upstairs, no water tracked through the house to their bedrooms.

However, my caveat to this is your house wouldn't be on my buyer's radar because I need a kid's bathroom with a tub upstairs, and if I could find a house in your price range where I didn't have to bathe my kids in the master bathroom, I'd take it every time.

However, my caveat to this is your house wouldn't be on my buyer's radar because I need a kid's bathroom with a tub upstairs, and if I could find a house in your price range where I didn't have to bathe my kids in the master bathroom, I'd take it every time.

As I understand it, there is no master bath in this house. There are 2 bathrooms, one upstairs with a tub that is shared by the family, and one downstairs, currently with a tub, that the OP is considering replacing with a shower only.

Common wisdom these days is that as long as there is one tub in the house, you're fine transforming the other(s) into a shower only. Our house has two full baths, one upstairs, one downstairs, no master. If we could justify the expense, I'd much prefer to turn the tub/shower combo into a nicer shower only. We can't justify the renovation, so things are staying as they are. Guests use the downstairs bathroom all the time, but for showers, not baths (as far as I know).

When my child was small, I used that ground-floor tub all the time. How? As a great place to have an extra changing table for the baby! Useless as a tub. Who wants to take or give a bath on the first floor when the bedrooms are upstairs?