I know I probably went overboard, but I have been searching Houzz for shower/tub combos for myself if I decide to go in that direction. Most of these pictures have Master Bath titles - they tend to be small houses or apartments in large cities where space is an issue. They all have a generous sized tub. A few have extra shower bling and even a separate tub filler. All of them have material choices and the level of tile work that you see in a master bathroom. I'm sure that if I searched Houzz I could find just as many, or even more, remodels of small master baths where they have just built a walk in shower. I think the decision to do a shower/tub may be a personal choice because they want a soaking tub - since they are titled Master I'm assuming the bath is not the only bath in the house and they could easily just go with a shower. [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/lakewood-bathroom-contemporary-bathroom-denver-phvw-vp~564696) [Contemporary Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2103) by Aurora General Contractors Heritage Home Improvement [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/tamara-mack-design-interiors-traditional-bathroom-san-francisco-phvw-vp~1860108) [Transitional Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/transitional-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2112) by San Francisco Interior Designers & Decorators Tamara Mack Design [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/jackson-hole-residence-rustic-bathroom-portland-phvw-vp~1116073) [Rustic Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/rustic-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2111) by Portland Architects & Designers Howells Architecture + Design, LLC [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/bath-traditional-bathroom-charlotte-phvw-vp~1153799) [Traditional Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2107) by Charlotte Architects & Designers Don Duffy Architecture [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/tile-showers-traditional-bathroom-houston-phvw-vp~1597876) [Traditional Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2107) by Lake Jackson Kitchen & Bath Remodelers JC Remodeling & Restoration, LLC [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/icon-development-tofino-job-contemporary-bathroom-vancouver-phvw-vp~2443799) [Contemporary Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2103) by Nanaimo Tile, Stone & Countertops City Tile [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/riverside-drive-super-groovy-masterpiece-contemporary-bathroom-new-york-phvw-vp~2456534) [Contemporary Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2103) by New York General Contractors Rusk Renovation [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/burns-park-addition-and-remodeling-2000-and-2006-traditional-bathroom-detroit-phvw-vp~374078) [Traditional Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2107) by Canton Architects & Designers Studio Z Architecture [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/erica-islas-silverlake-contemporary-bathroom-los-angeles-phvw-vp~190979) [Contemporary Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2103) by Culver City Interior Designers & Decorators Erica Islas / EMI Interior Design, Inc. [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/hall-bathroom-traditional-bathroom-new-york-phvw-vp~678390) [Traditional Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2107) by New York Interior Designers & Decorators Nathan Cuttle Design [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/master-bathroom-highrise-new-york-city-contemporary-bathroom-new-york-phvw-vp~89484) [Contemporary Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2103) by New York Photographers Vanni Archive/Architectural Photography [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/carnegie-hill-residence-traditional-bathroom-new-york-phvw-vp~204853) [Traditional Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2107) by New York Architects & Designers Incorporated[[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/upper-west-side-nyc-apartment-renovation-transitional-bathroom-new-york-phvw-vp~6968329) [Transitional Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/transitional-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2112) by New York Architects & Designers John M Reimnitz Architect PC div> [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/mediterranean-bathroom-mediterranean-bathroom-san-francisco-phvw-vp~1042841) [Mediterranean Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/mediterranean-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2109) [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/nyc-bathrooms-traditional-bathroom-phvw-vp~7215764) [Traditional Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2107) by New York Design-Build Firms DELUXE Design & Construction [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/cat-mountain-greenbelt-homes-austin-tx-transitional-bathroom-austin-phvw-vp~834553) [Eclectic Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2104) by Austin General Contractors Greenbelt Construction This post was edited by Anna_in_TX on Tue, Feb 11, 14 at 6:40

Well, phooey. I taped it out in the bathroom with blue tape last night and it looked like it would fit, but with too many nos, I'm back to the drawing board. Interesting thought, Vix. Right now we don't actually have a toilet room, so much as a separate toilet "area" (there's no door, and the closet takes up too much room to add a door), but it's on my agenda to create one. In our house, it's very necessary. I generally use that bathroom to try to FIND privacy, only to have 3 people (and sometimes the dog) follow me into the bathroom. I'm looking forward to having a door that locks and a fan so that I don't have two little people handing me the TP and asking whether I'm doing number 1 or 2 (oh, and the 1 year old likes to flush while I'm ON the pot; so I've got my own special cold water washlet), while DH decides that he absolutely has to shave and brush his teeth at that exact moment. Now if I take a hike to the guest bath on the other side of the house, all three just follow me AGAIN. Sometimes when I have insisted on locking the door in the guest bath (no way to do that with our LOUVERED -- why??? -- pocket door in the master), my one year old plopped down prostrate outside the door and cried until I open the door. For my W/C, I want to put in a LOUD fan; no whisper quiet for me. Maybe I'll even add a radio. :) The way I'm seeing it, I can either get rid of the long vanity altogether and live with a fairly small vanity, plus a tub and shower, I can skip the tub and live with the kids' bathroom on the third level as the only room with a tub, or we can bump out that weird corner jog, which would give us an additional 49'' X 27'' space -- enough to fit a 5X3 tub, 5X3 shower and keep the two vanities. But that sounds very expensive and will require carefully removing and replacing the siding to match the existing. DH's response to all this was "why do we need a tub?"

Sorry, I guess I should clarify. (This is why I linked the product page, because I knew I would not be able to explain this properly.) The oval tub has a "preexisting" sort-of-deck with a flange on three sides, otherwise I would not be so daft as to try to put a shower over it. I like my kitchen ceiling where it is! Here, this is what it looks like: However, and this is what I was asking about with the deck question, from the instructions it appears that there must be some kind of deck on the fourth side which does not have a tile flange if one does not use the optional (icky) apron, but it does not say how wide this deck must be. We both would rather not have to clamber over a wide margin to get into the tub - DH has to use this for showering every day. I'm mostly a lay-backer, not a sit-upper - my shoulders and upper back get very very painful so I have to get them into the scalding water. Unfortunately there isn't enough room for the 5'5" tub that would let me keep both shoulders and knees underwater and actually cover up most of the protruding bits on the front, leaving pretty much just my head and hands (to hold my book, of course) out of the water. ;-) The room is only 60" wide - it was carved out of a bedroom - and even if we had budget to redo all the plumbing there isn't room to turn the tub round sideways. I dislike the look of "stuff" cluttering up tub corners so I'm considering a down-low niche for my shampoo/soap/etc. and a high-up one for DH's shower things, and there will pretty much never be any kind of decorative bits on the corners because they'd just get soaked with the shower spray anyway. Well, okay, maybe a rubber ducky. (But no flamingos!) :-) Those four were pretty much the only tubs I've found that fit the parameters of size/depth, cost (crucial!), and appearance. I'm a short-but-wide person and DH is medium-height(5'9")-and-wide and we both manage OK in a standard 60x32 oblong tub - 34" or 36" would be a nicer but pretty much all I could find in this price point were funky molded-up things that looked like they belonged on the space station. Yuck-O. The deepest of the four tubs is actually the oblong Bancroft at 15" water depth but I'm not thrilled with how it looks, the other three are 14" water depth. The oval looks like it would have less shoulder room but that's not the case? The one oval tub I've seen available for sitting in was just about big enough for a kindergartener to do laps in, so it's pretty useless for comparison!

There is a safety code: "The National Electric Code (NEC) from 2011 requires that any part of a light fixture must be a minimum of 8 feet above the highest portion of a tub's walls." Soaking tub walls are around 2’ high , so add another 8’…will there be room for a fixture? How about a lovely chandelier in the middle of the bathroom?