What’s a bath worth?
That is a quandry at my house. I plan to upgrade the teenagers’ bathroom and they are adamant that the shower-over-bath has to go, and a ‘proper’ walk-in shower installed in its place.
But that will leave the house without a bath. Will it impact the value?
According to build.com.au, if you have a large home with three or more bedrooms, install a bath. However they also say that adding a bath to a small bathroom will mean space and functionality are sacrificed and it may lower the value.
That value depends on the market for your house. If a family, especially with young children, is likely to be interested, then a bath is pretty much a necessity. However for young couples or mature buyers, you could get away with not having a bath. Its absence may even be a bonus for someone with mobility issues.
In an interview with stuff.co.nz, interior designer Nicola Manning advised against trying to compromise with a shower over a bath. "If you're having a shower you have to step over the bath – this can be dangerous, especially for elderly. You'll have to use either a shower curtain or a glass screen which can often leak. And there's limited choice available for shower bath options in shape and quality – most are acrylic,” she said.
Wesley Sinclair from Highgrove Bathrooms believes you should definitely have a bath if you can fit it in.
“Not only to relax and unwind at the end of a long week but aesthetically the right bath can do wonders for even the blandest of bathroom spaces. If not just for the resale value alone, including a bath in your plans is a great idea,” he said.
“Having a bathtub is also especially useful when you have young children in the family - it becomes much easier to get them cleaned up and there’s no doubt that all kids love to have a splash around.”
Mr Sinclair said to create a bathroom space that is still luxurious, walk-in showers with a frameless glass panel shower screen and large rainfall showerheads are currently a very popular choice.
However you could also investigate using a smaller bathtub.
“There are also many stylish ways of increasing much valued open space in the bathroom without having to sacrifice the bathtub - with frameless showers and wall hung mirror cabinets/vanities, in-wall toilet cisterns, space has never been as optimised as it is, now so do your research and look at how you can make a small bathroom into an oasis,” Mr Sinclair said.
In the meantime, I’ve come up with a solution: a free-standing bath to the corner of my bedroom. I can’t face twinter without a bath, and this solution should keep everyone happy.
Mobility: Walk-in showers work well for older people or those who might find it difficult to get in and out of a shower over a bath.