Looks like it would take a lot of water to fill it to a comfortable depth for a bath. And I'd worry about leaking.

How high is the curb?

It seems as though it might have the disadvantage of a walk in tub since you couldn't open the door until the water drained.

Do you fill it while you are in there?

Most people don’t want a 20K shower in the average suburban home. A 10K regular waterproofed shower is enough of a challenge for your average contractor.

If you want to do a remodel that ends up with actually workable components, on some semblance of a budget, don’t specify things outside your contractor’s comfort level. He’ll charge extra and still mess it up.

You might just buy yourself a walk in tub, ready made. OR, you might find someone that will create a faux marble surround for the place where the tub was, on 3 sides, with a drain where the tub was, and faux marble on the floor. We have craftsmen in the area that do good work with these, the shower spout can be attached by hose to the tub faucet or you can pay for plumbing up to the shower head.... It works very well as a shower and if you want to sit, you can purchase a shower chair at most Medical supply stores. Most people just put a shower curtain across the opening as they did with their tub, but others can pay for glass doors to be created... I don't recommend a built in bench, it makes the area tooo crowded, and they are cold and really not more than a narrow bench at the most.. I don't think what you have pictured looks like more than a inside hot tub without the jets. Few people use their jetted tubs unless they have medical issues with sore muscles, etc. If this is what you want, I hope you find someone that can create and install it successfully. Looks like a future insurance claim in some ways....flooded house...rotted floors...popping up tile and grout. Futuristic, it is fun to see in pictures!

Also looks like a pain to clean.

Roman tub showers were the rage in the 60’s. And people ripped a lot of them out within 10 years for a reason.

Unless the bottom part is a solid surface, this kind of tile bottom tub give me the heebies. I can't imagine that feeling comfortable on my rear end.

Yeah, I'm shying away from the walk-in tub option and I like the aesthetic of the glass since it doesn't visually reduce the size of my already tiny bathroom. As for the curb, I'm not sure actually. I would imagine I get to make that decision and it would have to be between 17-19". It might not apply if this isn't designated a "tub" per se.

T.F.W, actually no. Can you give me some more information on that? I didn't even know that was a thing :)

And yeah... I don't see it being super comfortable with the flat surface, but I rarely take baths anyway. I like it because it's unique and kinda trick.

But to bring this back, has anyone actually tried this specific setup from this company? I saw someone was talking about $20K suburban roman showers from the 50s, but that has nothing to do with this configuration and heavily based off of assumptions and triggers.

The previous owners put a roman tub in my master bath and I hate it. It’s tiled (built in the 80s). But even if it had beautiful marble, it’s a ginormous space to fill with water. It’s not a comfortable place to bathe—sitting in a big rectangular box vs. a more cozy tub. (Most tubs are narrower and the one in our guest bath even slopes in the back to make it more comfortable to recline). I can’t speak to the do-dads of the new technology (aside from mentioning that anything that moves can break, so there may be repairs down the line). Have you been able to sit in one (even clothed in the showroom) and get a sense of whether this actuallly feels relaxing? I hate my roman tub—-only tried it once and am looking forward to tearing it out with the remodel. But...some people like these things—you may be in that camp. Or you can do the tried and true shower over bathtub.

I have a regular 1970s Roman bath, and I hate it. I don't see why the glass would make it better.

Random thoughts:

- In our daughters' college town we've frequently stayed at a hotel with a HUGE two-person tub. While it looks cool, the reality is that it takes forever to fill, and (because of the large surface area) you can't get the water really hot. Your example shows an oversized tub that'll have a similar problem. Tubs are proof: bigger is not automatically better.

- However, if you read the details on the website, it says you can adjust the length and width of the tub, so you could have an averaged sized 60x33-ish tub with this design.

- The tub's backrest appears to be "too straight" for comfort.

- I wouldn't want this tub-shower system to have a window because of the shower ... and I wouldn't want to skip the window because of the tub. No win situation.

- This looks better than the walk-in tubs we see advertised all the time because you can step over the glass enclosure ... if you watch the video, you can see the girl doing this. However, it doesn't look handicapped-friendly because you still have to be able to sit down on the floor /get back up again.

- This shower-tub definitely has a flat floor ... not a step-down as shown in most of the above pictures. This is much safer.

- This would be a great place to bathe children. You could give them just a few inches of water, then sit on the shelf and watch them splash, but they wouldn't be able to (accidentally) splash water outside the shower-tub.

- The valve that keeps the water "in" must be something similar to rubber. Eventually it will grow old /crack /need replacing ... not a problem you'd have with a standard tub.

- The website says this product costs about $2400 + shipping (I think it's European, so don't underestimate shipping). Of course, this is far from the finished price ... that price is essentially just the glass wall. You'll still need tile, the shower fixture, and installation.

- Final thought: If you work as a midwife and want to offer at-home water births, you couldn't do any better than this product. Imagine: After a client leaves, you just splash in some Clorox and use the shower head to spray down the shower.

My assessment: Not the worst product I've ever seen, but I don't think I'd choose it.

1. That's not "trick"...it's a design that once seemed trendy and has fallen out of style for many reasons, both practical and aesthetic.

2. It would cost a lot more to build than a practical, conventional shower, and have only disadvantages in my opinion.

3. It wouldn't be comfortable as a tub.

4. You would need a monstrous water heater to raise the water level to what you would typically expect in a tub, so that would also increase the initial cost and the operating cost.

5. If the doors are keeping the water in, you would be standing inside for 10-15 minutes waiting for it to fill, and another 5 minutes for it to drain after you were done and wanting to get out.

6. It would probably be seen by future buyers as an undesirable and dated feature that could reduce the ease of selling the house.

Other than that, it's perfect... ;-)

Is this the only place for a tub. If you have another bathroom with a tub why not just use it when you want to have a bath or do a nice streamlined tub/ shower combo with a shower screen. I agree not something I would want and I do bathe everyday . A nic soaking tub would be my choice.

It's a DIY forum and people will comment about something they think is a bad idea. The reality is that many people pose questions about something they are interested in and don't have the big picture in mind. While their purpose may have been to get a single-focus answer, they often appreciate being informed about things they may not have been aware of, or possible downsides. People are free to ignore the free advice if it's unwelcome, but that's just the way these forums work. I've gotten negative advice in the past here and ended up appreciating it as it prevented me making a poor decision.

I’m actually also curious about this product as. A shower door/wall

im taking out the only tub in my condo to make it walk in friendly

2-4 weekends a year I have visitors with kids under 6 that want a bath for their kids, rest of time just adults using the bathroom

i was planning to get an inflatable or collapsible tub to put into the shower for the kids baths when needed on rare occasion but this looks much more sophisticated and I wouldn’t have to dry and store the temp tub

questions i habe are :

when using the shower does it make a huge mess bc it’s partial wall

how is the seal on the tub part and how often does it need to be replaced

how much is it

is it available in the us

are there any competitors with similar glass look or that have ufull glass doors

Stick with the blow up kiddie pool in the shower. Unless you own a two story condo with access to rearranging a bunch of plumbing from below, and are willing to lose ceiling height under the bath, you’re not likely to be allowed to make the physical changes needed to create this safety hazard. Plus the complete nutso Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous upcharge.

my mom and dad had a roman tub shower in a seventies house. the framing of the recessed tub hung below the ceiling of the walkout basement below. they put a pool table below the tub intrusion. prolem solved, except no way to put a light fixture above the pool table without swagging the lamp.
This was the bathroom I used (guest bath). I really disliked it. But, I'm not a tub lover. And, I got the privilege of cleaning all the grout in the tiny mosaics, as I was the primary user. And, it was too much for my mom to do.

Thanks for the advice!

am I missing something in the design though?

the way I see the pciture (and I watched the video on the manufacturer website) it is a flat floor and not a true “Roman style bathroom” with sunken tub and mosaics. Maybe their brand name is misleading? The way I see it is a flat walk in shower , with one glass panel tall, and another tha slides across. Making it into a tub...but all flat floor

theback wall of the shower has the tilted ledge , but I’m thinking that would be optional and you could just have a regular bench or wall?

and could use any tile not mosaic?

so I was thinking if I have to buy new glass doors for the reno why not these kind?

https://vimeo.com/204482026

https://www.romanshower.com.au/

R M-

One thing you may be missing is that designs like that require an enormous amount of hot water: even a very large water heater will be insufficient to fill it before the supply starts turning cold. You would need multiple large water heaters, or a tankless one, and then you would still have to be concerned with the fill time, the high energy cost each time it was used, and whether the structure could support the weight of all that water if it wasn’t on a slab.

Thanks!

r m, my advice, teally, would be just don't do it. Do you have another bath for a deep but narrow tub,?
The big wide tub my mom and dadvhad was never hot. I tried a few times, but a shower was such a better option. bigger surface meant great heat loss. lots of waste in water heating, wirhputvgreat comfort, later.

Notice that the FAQ on the site does not include information on the volume of water needed to fill the tub! Well, I did the math. Their smallest recommended size is about 65" long, 34" wide and filled about 16" deep for a bath. Note that this is not an impressive shower size. (The one in the ad is probably 60 inches wide.) That is 153 gallons of water. This 2 person air massage tub at 23" deep uses only 2 gallons more. There is a lot of cubic area lost to corners in a square tub.

The one below uses 2 gallons less than the smallest recommended size and depth of your "Roman Shower" and it has a depth of 19.5" inches. Note that the woman in the Roman Shower video seems to have only 8" - 10" of water when she leaves the tub.

Disabled, elderly, or otherwise less mobile people would have a heck of a time getting out of the "tub" with the Roman Shower, too. There is no heater for it, either. By the time it was deep enough for a bath, the water would have cooled a lot, warming up all the tile and substrate in the Roman Shower with its excess surface area with square corners. It may be a step above the home made sunken roman baths of the 1960s and 1970s, but it is nothing like a comfortable modern bathtub.

Hi @Emile - did you try this product in the end?