As time goes on, your family might outgrow some aspects of your home. Take a hall bathroom for example. We have many customers ask “Should I change the tub in my hall bath to a shower only because we never bathe in it, we always shower? And how will that affect resale value?” There’s no straight answer to this question but there are many things to consider.
What is important to you?
When customers ask questions, we stray from answering them without understanding the customers wants and needs. Is resale value important, what is the budget, have you thought about functionality, is safety a main concern? These are all good things to consider in this situation.
How Important is a Bathtub for Resale?
In terms of resale value, normally, the hall bathroom is considered the children’s bathroom and should always have a bathtub. It would certainly be detrimental to resale value to convert the bathtub to a shower only. If you were to sell your house to a family they would need to have the tub for the children.
Budget
Changing a bathtub to a shower is considerably more expensive than just updating your current setup. Converting your tub to a shower would require alterations to the drain and water pipes. Additionally, a shower would need a set of glass sliding doors whereas your current tub could have a shower curtain rod or sliding glass doors. A less expensive route to consider for a bathroom remodel would be to replace your current tub with a more modern look & feel. However, sometimes the budget is not the main concern, in these cases, with all else consider we would recommend moving forward with the conversion.
Functionality
When I ask customers why they want to convert their bathtub to a shower only, a common response is that “The kids are grown and no one ever bathes they always shower, so why not just make it a shower.” While I understand this, I explain to them that even if you never use it as a tub, a tub is a shower base with a high stepover. It would be considerably less expensive to replace a tub with a new tub than to convert your bathtub to a shower only. Also, by replacing your old tub with a new tub you still have the option for a nice bubble bath!
Safety Concerns
Sometimes we find that safety is the main concern. We have had comments such as, “The kids are grown and gone and I am using the hall bathroom regularly as a shower and I am having a difficult time stepping in and out and I worry about slipping.” When safety and ease of use is the primary concern rather than resale value, you have a valid reason to do a tub to shower conversion.
As we age our biggest safety concern is falling and the bathroom is the most common place that falls take place. More and more people stay in their homes as they grow older, it’s called “aging in place”. A shower with a low stepover and safety grab bars is safer and easier to use than showering in a bathtub. A shower can also have a corner seat and a hand-held shower head in case standing becomes problematic with age.
If safety is your main concern check out these 5 remodeling tips to make your bathroom more accessible.
Need Help Finding Your Why or Already Know? Contact us Today
So the most important thing to consider when discussing a tub to shower conversion is the reason why. There are no right or wrongs when thinking about a tub to shower conversion just things to consider. Contact Metropolitan Bath & Tile today to get started on your bathroom remodel.
