Do you have a specific tub in mind? We have a Bain ultra air tub and I couldn't imagine showering in it every day. The acrylic bottom along with the added height of the side.... to me it seems like an accident waiting to happen. I guess it would depend on the height of the tub you had in mind. In regards to the automatic air purge, it only happens after the air cycles off. You wouldn't be turning the motor on when you shower so the automatic thing wouldn't happen.

@jewelisfabulous - ahh, so nice to have a window! I'd like to hang artwork, but I'd be a bit concerned it might fall and damage our new tub! @monicakm_gw - thank you taking the time to attach a photo. What a serene bath tub you have! You just gave me a great idea for the 3 walls that will be bare since we won't be tiling all the way up to the ceiling. A towel rack would look great on the back wall :) 1. Did you mean your tub is 19" in height (from the floor)? 2. If it's not too much trouble, I'd love to see what your faucet for the bath tub looks like!

We’d all love to have enough space and money for separate bathtub and showers in our bathrooms (and a big shower, not those claustrophobia inducing standard shower stalls), but for many its just not a feasible option for various reasons. As such, we are faced with the choice of shower only, tub only, or the frequently derided bath/shower combo. Everything is a compromise somewhere and with the tub/shower, the complaint is you can’t really get a good shower or a good bath with one. What is one to do? I faced that decision when I remodeled, so I set about figuring out how to make the tub/shower give you both the best possible bath and shower experience that can be had given the limitations of the form factor. This guide is to share what I learned as others look to remodel or build new. 1. The first thing to consider is the tub itself. As already indicated, a bath/shower is a compromise by nature. The goal is to figure out which part of the compromise is the most livable and doesn’t greatly affect enjoyment. Unfortunately, the one factor that can’t be avoided is step-in height vs bathtub height (this excludes the new walk-in tubs, which are another thing altogether and which I won’t address here). Given that showers tend to be more common than baths, the compromise here will be more in favor of the shower. The traditional alcove style cast iron tub height was 14.5 inches. It made for a really shallow bath but an easier step-in. With soaker tubs of the alcove and drop in variety, you typically see tubs with heights of 20 to 25 inches, which can be quite uncomfortable/cumbersome to step over. My advice for a shower/tub is to have the step-over height in the range of 16-18 inches (tub height excluding tile flange, sometimes listed heights include the flange so one needs to examine specs closely). This makes for a reasonable step-over height, while providing a deeper potential bath soak. I say potential because with tubs, the external dimensions often mean little when it comes to internal basin dimensions (more on that in moment). Note that soak depth can be increased through various methods of bypassing the overflow drain (I’ll leave others to debate the merits of doing so). In the design of the tub, you want the outside tub wall/ledge to be relatively narrow. A wider ledge just makes it more difficult to step over. For those with lower mobility, mount a hand rail on the wall vertically for support. 2. Since you can’t have a deeper tub, how do you make a better bath experience? By getting a wider tub, which actually improves the shower experience as well. This is where internal dimensions are critical. Tubs that may have the same external dimensions can have widely different interior dimensions. At this point the only thing you need to look at external dimensions is for space requirements/installation issues. What you need to be looking at primarily is internal dimensions. You need to try to find specs for internal basin at the bottom and internal basin at the top. While length is important, there tends to be less variation in that spec, where it is most critical is in width. The wider the better, though I recommend a minimum of 25” at the bottom and/or 27” at the top. For bathing the bottom measurement is more important. You should also look at soaking depth. Shoot for a minimum soak depth (depth to bottom of overflow) of 12”. Again, the bypassing of overflow valves can provide deeper depth but that is another subject. For length, shoot for minimum of 44” at the bottom and 52” at the top. The best tub I found that meets all those requirements was the Kohler Expanse (available in two sizes, and is also available in a heated model) and I highly recommend it, but if that is not an option for you, the other specs provided will help to give some guidance. 3. With the tub chosen, when it comes to installing, I advise a good mortar bed. The goal here is to have the bottom of the tub feel rigid. I hate stepping in a cheap tub or shower stall base, and feeling any flex in the material as you step around. A higher quality tub will tend to be less prone to this as the walls tend be made thicker, but good support underneath is a must. Also, make sure to insulate the tub when you install it. This can be accomplished through various methods, spray in or otherwise. The easiest is just to use unbacked fiberglass matting. Insulating the tub keeps the tub water warmer longer and also provides sound deadening (it helps to get rid of the cheap, hollow, plinking sound of water hitting fiberglass/acrylic). 4. For a surround, definitely go with tile rather than your acrylic/fiberglass stalls/etc and make sure to take the tile all way to the ceiling. The tile will make the space seem more luxurious and by taking it to the ceiling it adds a feeling of expansiveness/quality that just improves the shower experience. 5. Shower spout should be mounted at a minimum of 78 inches high. The valve/controls should be between 32 and 36 inches. Any higher and it becomes difficult to reach when in the tub and any lower and taller people will end up stooping to reach it. 6. Do not use glass doors for a tub/shower combo. It is a hard surface that will restrict the space and make the shower experience feel too closed in. With a tub preventing the glass from extending to the floor visually, they also lose a lot of their aesthetic appeal over how they appear in a walk-in shower. Instead, use a curved shower rod. It will help to widen the shower space. You can shower without feeling you will be bumping the shower curtain. Use double shower hooks that allow you to hang a curtain and liner on separate hooks (Moen makes really nice double hooks). These greatly simplify the hanging and removal of the curtains for cleaning and make shower curtains much more livable. (As an aside: This may be common knowledge, but when using a liner, unless you love splashing water outside the tub, the liner goes out when bathing, and in when showering. Bathwater should be kept pretty shallow for kids, which will help keep the water in the tub and is safer.) From my own experience, I love showering in my tub/shower. It is basically the equivalent of a 3x5 shower and it feels like it is inside. The only difference is that I have to step over the tub to get in and out, but it is low enough and narrow enough to not be bothersome. My wife loves the giant bathing space that is the equivalent to most garden tubs in interior width and length, if not depth (but still deeper than the typical, basic bathtub).

Our hall bath is set up like yours without a wall between the tub and toilet I did not plan this it was how it was put in in the twenties. You will need a two piece curve bar with a ceiling mount bar. I find two shower curtains with an opening in the middle of the front of the tub the best for keeping water from splashing out with my kids, oldest is 9. I have a cheap Costco railhead/ hand held combo which when aimed properly is never an issue. Pardon my bath it is nearly a hundred years old and shows it age. :( toilet at end of tub with curtain only Shower head combo which has worked well in ours Shower curtain set up that after much trial and error works with the kids unsupervised. Without the curtain my toilet would be wet so you will need something there I believe, either glass panel with glass doors or two curtains and wait for doors. i actually prefer curtains to glass for bathing small children and I also prefer curtain to glass for kids and guest who most likely will skip the squeegee process.