The Optimal Choice for Your Master Bathroom

As you know, I love, love your questions, feedback, comments, opinions and more. And so a few weeks ago, I was thrilled to get the following question from a homeowner in the Wellesley/Weston area.... "Have you ever covered whether a master bathroom must have a jetted tub? When searching for my current home, I HAD to have a jetted tub because it represented to me what I didn't have in my small starter home. The 'forever' homes seemed to have a master bath with a jetted tub. I have a nice tub in my master bathroom, but I never use it. And since space is limited, and I can't just add a master shower to the existing master bathroom, I'm thinking about taking out the tub and putting in a shower. What do you think?"

From my perspective, there are two ways to look at this. The first is from a re-sale perspective. And then the answer is easy — keep the tub! And I say this because if you have the space for a tub, then you can likely add a hand-held or wall-mounted shower fixture and consequently have the 2-for-1 tub/shower option. Not only does this appeal to all buyers, it also appeals to all of those living in the household — females, males, adults, teenagers, young children and everyone in between.

The other reason I say this is because when I show a house that doesn't have a tub in the master bathroom and just has a shower, it can be a negative for some buyers, particularly for the women who like to end their day with a relaxing and stress-relieving "tub." In addition, bathtubs are essential for bathing young children, and if the master bathtub is the only tub in the house, then I strongly suggest keeping it. Otherwise when you go to sell your home, families with young children will not have a bathtub in which to bathe their little ones, which is problematic. And so for the reasons above, certain buyers will discount a property that only has a master shower because of the concessions they will have to make to their way of living.

The second way to look at this is a from a home enjoyment scenario. And then my answer is a bit different.... If you are going to live in your house for the next several years and never use the tub — or when you do use the tub, you think with increasing irritation how much more you would enjoy a luxurious shower — then you should probably just take out the tub and put in a great shower. Or vice versa — take out the shower you loathe each time you take one and put in a great bathtub and relish your "tub" time. There's something to be said for living in and enjoying the house that fits your way of life and preferences.

As an aside, I think that if we all had the space and resources — as well as the time and energy for that matter — we would all very likely want a luxurious bathtub as well as a separate steam-generating lush shower. But often this is not the case. And when it's not, my question for you is... which is the optimal choice for you — a master bathtub or shower? I can't wait to hear....