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Bathroom reno/remodel. Keep bathtub, or create water closet.

Patrick Green
last year

We’re planning out a master bathroom remodel and looking for advice between keeping a bathtub vs making a water closet. To preface this, we do have a hot tub outside. Our current tub has been used sparingly since we moved in, as it is small, and I’m 6’3”; and, we have a hot tub.

The ideas at hand are either to keep the space for a new free standing tub, and slightly enlarge the shower, or move the shower to where the tub is for a much larger shower, and turn the current shower area into a water closet.


I’m asking these questions to get people’s opinions on the long term home value. I’m ambivalent either way, but would a buyer favor a tub over a dedicated water closet? The home has two and a half baths and the other full bath has a tub, so no need to worry about a tub for kiddos.


The bathroom has an L shape, the photos attached only show one side of this L. The current tub area is 84x54. This would make for a nice large shower, but potentially run into some minor issues. The ceiling above is slowed because we are on the second floor and the master has vaulted ceilings to the roof. There is also a window here which would need some reconfiguration. One of the options my wife has always discussed is a steam shower, which I don’t know if that will happen (leaning no) but it would for sure use up a lot more energy and take longer to fill up with the larger size, and not ideal with a vaulted ceiling. But by moving the shower here, we gain a water closet where the current shower is. The toilet is kind of in the middle of the room, sticks out a bit from the wall. Not the best toilet area in my opinion.


The current shower is 38x47. There is a wall directly behind the shower insert, and I believe it was just built out to accommodate the shower. If we kept the shower here I would expand the size by taking that part of the wall out, making it 64” from shower head to back wall, and take another 12”inch or so away from the second vanity as I do not need a large vanity. This would still lead to a comfortable size for two people if needed, and still retain the tub.


I guess my main question is, would buyers rather have a tub or a water closet in the master if they had to choose? We’re not planning on selling but I don’t want to make an error and lose out on potential value. See all the photos below to help in your opinion.


Thanks in advance







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