During the course of the Indiana project a curious neighbor has frequented the job site. She has readily offered her opinion to the carpenters working at the house and they in turn share those opinions with me.
In the beginning she shared a lot of praise, saying that the family that lived there would be bursting with happiness to see what we had done with the house. These days she serves up opinions on paint colors and a little criticism.
Last week she walked in for her weekly tour. Upon entering the master bath, she exclaimed “oh mistake” and added “no tub in the master!”
Waterworks tub
Ms. Neighbor should know after research and deliberation we chose not to squeeze a tub in to that space. She might also like to know that most people that I questioned never used their jetted garden tubs. The real estate agent assured me that it was not a deal breaker.
Maybe Ms. Neighbor was comforted when her tour continued upstairs and she found a tub in the bath up there.
For the sake of comedy and a little irony, you might like to know that Ms. Neighbor’s house resembles the creepy Klopek house from the movie The Burbs.
Whats your take on the tub in the master? Necessary, obligatory, unneeded amenity? And I already know what your answer is Betsy!
I’m with Betsy 100%. A bath is a requirement.
I only take baths when I’m on vacation. So bath in the master: unnecessary and just something else to clean. But there should be a tub somewhere in a house–doesn’t need to be in the master.
I agree with Jill. There should be a tub in the house somewhere. I find it funny that Ms. Neighbor finds it necessary to not only walk into the house to check it out but to share her opinions. Wow sometimes I do not understand people.
Not a mistake. I would always prefer a large shower to a seldom used, water and energy guzzling, monstrosity of a tub that builders have been putting in houses. I think our “tub” is the least used square footage on our house!
i love a bathtub. wouldn’t live without one.
When my husband and I were choosing a floorplan in a condo conversion last year one of our decisions for the master bath was huge jetted tub or no. We opted for the unit whose master had a regular-sized tub/shower combo and the space where the huge jetted tub would have been is where a nice laundry closet resides. I knew we wouldn’t use it enough to waste the space plus the time spent cleaning it. The regular tub will be useful though for when we have kids as the second full bath only has a standing shower.
my parents put in a huge jetted tub when they added on to their old house, and in 27 years i think they used it like 10 times. it seems that most people prefer showers these days and only use tubs to bathe small children. and while a big jetted tub seems fun for kids, my brother and i actually didn’t like it because we couldn’t use bubble bath and jets at the same time!
Though I don’t think a tub in the master is a must (there’s no way we’d be able to fit one in the bathroom we’re hoping to eventually put in our master, this is a tiny home!), there really should be a tub in a house somewhere, if only out of consideration for future owners who may have kids, pets, or just like baths. The jetted tubs are a bit much for me (though I wouldn’t COMPLAIN should one magically appear in our little house!), but if someone wants one, I’m not going to complain about it.
SO not necessary. I never use my tub and it just sits there collecting dust. I would give anything to swap it out for a larger shower. I hate how everyone assumes you NEED a tub when in reality, hardly anyone uses a tub anymore. Good for you for going ahead with no tub I say!
Who has time for a bath? jeez.
I have a huge corner tub in my master bathroom….it takes forever to fill and then by the time it is, the water has started to cool and of course by that point our hot water tank is drained. If i were to redo the bathroom forSURE i would get rid of it an most likely just expand the shower. my husband (who NEVER uses the tub) is against that idea. if i had to compromise i would probably put in a free standing tub and a tankless hot water heater ;)
You have to do what you must with you space. If is small to start with, I would leave out the tub. Still, it is wonderful to have one, and I would never forego a separate tub if the room allows for it. BTW, tub/shower combos are awful in my opinion and should never be in a Master Bedroom. Now that would have been a big mistake! Best, Lynn
I don’t have much of an opinion on the tub, but it’s a must that whoever is remodeling my house be able to throw in a reference to ‘The Burbs’ whenever it is called for. Awesome.
I consider it a must have after having lived 5 years in 3 different homes without one. I wouldn’t consider purchasing a property without one. Alas, my next home has a tub in the master bath but it is not jetted. Unless it’s a deep soaking tub to the neck, jets are a must. I will miss my present tub immensely. Thankfully, it’s only for 1 year.
If you only have space for a glam shower, then do that! We’re ripping out our old tub when we redo the Master Bath, I never take a bath. As long as there’s a tub for the kiddies, I can’t see how it would hurt the home value.
Our master tub is used strictly to house wet towels and wash cloths until they make their way to the washer. The master shower however is used by all six of this family every day. That’s not to say that a tub isn’t necessary somewhere in the house, but a fancy master tub, is not. At least not for us.
We have a stall shower and a fairly large bathtub in our master. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to rip out the bathtub and turn that space into a shower for two. I would convert the stall shower into a linen closet (which we lack in our tiny house). Bathtubs are really nice, but I think I take a bath like once a year. And the guest bath is good enough for that.