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Was in a new home the other day and I noticed in both of the full baths, there were no bathtubs, only showers. Is this the new thing now?
Perhaps it was a custom home built just for the owners?
Personally we haven't used our bathtub in many years and don't plan on using it anytime in the future. Never like sitting in my own dirt.
However, what if you have kids? Seems like a bad resale idea.
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Worrying about what a future buyer would want should be low on your list unless you are a very short term owner. Enjoy your house the way you want it to be. They will probably redo it anyway.
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i have seen it in homes that are in communities that don't want to be family friendly. Tubs are needed for children IME no tubs results in considerably fewer children moving in. In my Sacramento rentals tubs are required in San Francisco not so much as people with children are in short supply in SF
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looking at condos for my mom, and a brand new one has a tub only in the second BR
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I suspect the decline in popularity of tubs is:
1) partly a cyclical trend not necessarily related to people's lifestyles. I remember when jetted tubs were a must-have item like granite, stainless appliances, robin's egg blue fixtures, etc.
2) partly reflects the increasing number of aging homeowners unable to easily get into and out of a tub.
3) partly a result of environmental awareness-conditioning. Everybody knows taking a tub is bad because it uses a lot of water and a lot of energy to heat the water.
OTOH, SWMBO is a die-hard bather. And she demands a much nicer tub than the standard builders porcelain-on-steel.
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We're very close to deciding to take out the one-piece fiberglass tub/enclosure in the secondary bath and making a walk in shower. Mother-in-law is having a harder and harder time getting around and in and out of the tub but is quite resistant to just using the shower in the master bath for whatever reason. LOML would rather have the shower anyway and figures the jetted garden tub in the master would satisfy any future buyer's need of a tub. I don't care about buyers because I'm kiinda thinking I don't wanna move anymore if they don't tax us out of the neighborhood. Existing resale and new construction has just gone crazy the past several months. Good and bad I reckon.
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I think bathtubs are only an issue for families with small children. Almost everyone else takes a shower as far as I can tell.
So this eliminates some, but not most buyers.
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KC said:
We're very close to deciding to take out the one-piece fiberglass tub/enclosure in the secondary bath and making a walk in shower. Mother-in-law is having a harder and harder time getting around and in and out of the tub but is quite resistant to just using the shower in the master bath for whatever reason. LOML would rather have the shower anyway and figures the jetted garden tub in the master would satisfy any future buyer's need of a tub. I don't care about buyers because I'm kiinda thinking I don't wanna move anymore if they don't tax us out of the neighborhood. Existing resale and new construction has just gone crazy the past several months. Good and bad I reckon.
My mother-in-law stayed with us for a few years before she passed away (93) and needed special care which I'm glad we were able to provide, and one thing we had to do is install a large shower for her to sit in using a shower chair in order to bathe her. A tub was just down right dangerous and near impossible to lift her out of.
The wife and I saw it as a future investment for us as well. I guess this answers a question. A large shower could work for even kids, using the shower head on a hose I suppose.
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Not new it's just that homeowners and builders stopped listening to the real estate agents that said you need tubs everywhere and listened to the people that live in the houses.
The argument for kids isn't much of one imo. Kids are only small for a very short time and there is little reason to do any construction that will only benefit a minority of people for a very short time. Tough it out for a couple years and you will forget it was ever an issue.
Besides if building houses really meant that families with small children wouldn't live there I'd want to see whole areas with houses without tubs...
Seriously tubs are a way outdated fixture for most and I'd expect CA to eventually ban them because a shower uses less water anyway. Those big garnered tubs were popular with the agents but most people that bought those rarely ever used them and if they did use on a regular basis they found out really quick that it was expensive to operate. Lots of water and they generally require two waterheaters in the house to supply enough hot water.
I see tubs vanishing more and more as most new builds may have one in the guest bathroom and may are remodeling to go without a tub as well. O e realtor I know has seen an increase in value of homes with a walk in shower and no tub.
