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Plumbing Design Dilemma Bathrooms

Help with Bathroom design and soaking tub selection

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

I have 2 full bathrooms in my home. One has a standard tub and shower. The second bathroom has a pink, shallow 1960s alcove tub with a shower.

I want to replace the 1960s shallow tub with a longer, deep soaking tub.

I would like a soaking tub that is 72" long, 36" wide with a min of 16" soaking depth.

Current layout looks like this:

Planned layout looks like this:

I have a tankless water heater. Plumbing for the current tub is in the back of the hall closet. Crawlspace under tub, so drain can be moved.

Current tub is a standard 32" width, but the alcove is 36" deep.

Would like to get advice on design, tub selection, potential issues, anything that I should be thinking about before buying the tub and getting started with demo.

Featured Answer

acm

5 years ago

Shelves open to the tub look nice but are nowhere near as useful as a closed closet where you can put towels, cleaning supplies, extra shampoo, and all the rest. Maybe you could do a narrow set of decorative shelves, like between two studs (toward the back), reducing the closet to 24" depth, which would be more useful space.

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Comments (7)

Buford_NE_GA_7A
5 years ago
I have the American Standard Evolution Deep Soak Tub. I have the 60x32 but they have a 72 inch model. I love it. The overflow drain is on the top rim, so you can get a really deep soak. I think it's about 18 inches. The drain is separate and I did have a hard time getting it in the correct finish. My contractor installed it and except for a tight fighting with the faucets, it was fairly simple.
Jennifer Hogan thanked Buford_NE_GA_7A
PRO
Doug Walter Architect
5 years ago
Jennifer: Sounds lovely! Most the three wall alcove tubs come in 32", but I know for one Jacuzzi makes one called "Nova" that is 36x72x 19" deep. What's also nice about this is it's not an integral apron front, but your chance to do paneling or tile on front of tub. One nice add that will increase your safety is to do a small (perhaps 24") grab bar mounted vertically at the head of the tub to assist with you getting in and out. They're available in numerous finishes and styles, and I lean towards the thinner ones, 1 1/4" diameter, as they look more like beefy towel bars and not hospital grab bars. Good luck!
Jennifer Hogan thanked Doug Walter Architect
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Jennifer Hogan
Original Author
5 years ago
Thank you !

Love the reminder to add at least 1 grab bar!

ACM - Thank you for the input on the shelves. Will give this some additional thought.
PRO
Doug Walter Architect
5 years ago
Acm raises a good point, especially if you are doing a tub/shower combo. You could face a closet/cabinet door toward the toilet for all the storage, but if you like, maybe do one or two open shelves up high facing tub, where you could store clean towels up out of the spray, and look nice?
Jennifer Hogan thanked Doug Walter Architect
Jennifer Hogan
Original Author
5 years ago
Thank you everyone! I am going to be including an option to use this tub for showering, but it will be a rare occasion. I live alone and my master bath has a rain shower, but both bathrooms have shallow tubs. I love soaking, so will use this once or twice a week to relax and possibly 2 weekends a year for overnight guests, who may shower.
PRO
Focal Point Hardware
5 years ago
hey check out this tub. http://focalpointhardware.com/mti-andrea-3a-sculpted-72x36-bathtub-p-10609.html this site has many more tubs in case you wanted to choose between options

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