Question of the day: If you have only one bathtub in your house, should you make it a deep soaker tub? My two cents: No.
This issue — which I’ve run into personally before — came up when Elishia commented with a question on my 2010 story Choosing a bath tub big enough to soak in — I change my Kohler recommendation.
Elishia asked another reader, Patti, about the American Evolution bath tub (shown above – update: link now gone) she was considering. Elishia asked:
Patti, how are you enjoying the Evolution bathtub? I’m just about to buy the same one. I’m debating between the 72 and 60″ at the moment. The 72″ says it takes 110 gallons to fill up! That seems like A LOT Of water and might make me way less likely to take a bath. So I’m heading towards the 60″ which fills at 87 gallons. That is still a lot of water, but I’m guessing it’s at least 10 gallons less since I don’t need to fill it all the way up. I was also thinking that the 72″ might be too long for me at 5 7″ and that I’d slip down into it without my feet touching the end.
It will be in our second bathroom with a shower over. I’m guessing it would feel too deep to want to shower in there daily, but on occasion wouldn’t be a big deal. Are you showering in yours too? How is the depth for stepping over?
Sounds like Elishia has a normal-sized tub in her other bathroom.
That said, I wanted to spotlight this subject because I have two good friends who installed deep soaker tubs in bathrooms where daily showering was the norm — and they deeply regretted it.
Install a soaker tub — or a “normal” tub?
Disclaimer: I am not a professionally trained bathroom designer. But here are my thoughts based on my personal experience with this issue:
- I have two friends who have used soaker tubs in their bathrooms. Each of the two bathrooms were used daily by two people — but almost always to shower, rarely to soak. These friends both reported that the tub was a real hassle to get in and out of for showering. They both told me they would never ever do it again. About 10 years later, one of my friends actually gutted the bathroom and started over again because installing that soaker tub had been such a mistake.
- One of the two bathrooms was initially installed for two children, when the children were young. This also became a regret. The soaker tub was too big, too deep, too difficult for the parents to reach in and out to help their young children bathed. So instead, the family hauled the kids two stories down — to the basement bathroom, where there was a normal-sized tub to bath them in. Later, when the children were old enough and wanted to shower on their own — well, see the first bullet in this list, wrong product for this use.
- I definitely think it’s good to have one tub in the house — specifically, for children to use or, if you don’t have children, in case you ever sell your house to someone who does. But as per the bullet above, for children, you want normal-sized tubs, not soakers.
- All that said: Heck, soaker tubs are great — if you (1) already have one normal-sized tub in the house and (2) have one bathroom large enough for both a walk-in shower and nearby, a stand-alone soaker tub. My aunt Mary Anne has a soaker tub in the corner of her master bathroom. When I was staying with her a few years ago, I used it. It had jets even. It was heavenly.
Finally: Important safety advice to consider: Consult with your own professional about installing safety grab bars. This is an important piece of advice for all tubs and showers, but I would surmise, all the more so the deeper the tub.
Room for only one “normal” sized bathtub — but want to make the water fill deeper for occasional adult soak time? Try one of these thingies; I have a similar brand and it helps:
Kelly Wittenauer says
Another important consideration is weight. Not just the tub itself, but the person & the water too. 110 gallons of water is alot of weight!
Remember reading that one of the financial failures of the Lustron Corp. regarded bathtubs. They spent big money for a huge machine to stamp steel into tubs, which were porcelain coated. They planned to make money selling the tubs to others, as well as using them in their Lustron homes. But the tubs wouldn’t sell, they made them 5’1″ instead of the then standard 5′.
We are strictly shower people – never spend time soaking. We put good size showers in our master & basement bathrooms. But chose a standard size tub/shower combo for the hall bath. As Pam noted, no tub makes a home difficult to sell to those with small children.
sherree says
Just a thought: After my father suffered a stroke, the only choice to bathe him was in the main floor bathtub. The walk in shower was in the lower level and he could not navigate the stairs. Had the tub been a tall sided soaker, I don’t know what would have been the answer. It took 2 adults just to get him in and out of an older regular sized tub, even when using a handicap transfer bench. So maybe when planning bathroom remodels the “stand alone shower” bathroom should be easily accessible to the living areas and on the main floor?
VaseyDaisy says
We had no choice when we renovated our bathroom. The only original part of the bathroom was the bathtub, but the house flippers had drilled big holes in it (for a terrible shower door) and it was not salvageable *sob*. We were constrained by width, but I got the deepest tub I could find and we love it! However if the bathtub had been salvageable, I would have kept it in a heartbeat. Those old cast iron tubs are gold.
Judy H. says
I’ve got little one to bathe. I’d never be able to get on my knees and reach over the side of a big soaker tub to bathe them. Worse yet, would be standing and bending over the side of the tub to give them a bath! Aaaa! My arms, my BACK!
Retroski says
Soaker tubs sound great in theory but now I see why they’re not. Japan does it right, though. A traditional Japanese bathroom has a tub deep enough to soak with your knees up, and beside it, a small area to shower. The idea is you clean yourself in the shower space, then soak in the tub. Families with this setup use the same soaking water (your body is clean, so the water is clean) and the water is very hot.
When I did a home stay in Japan the home had a tub like this, and it was so relaxing! The tub was recessed so no issues getting in/out. But “western style” bathtubs exist there too.
If you could set up a US bathroom to have a shower area next to a soaker tub it could work great, but yes, otherwise it sounds like a pain!
Bob Connor says
But I thought that most Japanese people lived in small apartments and did not have much space for a bathtub, so the whole family would go to a bath house in the neighborhood. In fact, one of the effects of the Fukushima nuclear accident was that there was an electricity shortage and no hot water and so, fewer trips to the bath house.
Retroski says
Actually, it depends. Tokyo is crowded, but houses, condominiums and apts with their own small bathrooms are very common living options, especially in the suburbs, smaller cites and rural areas.
The toilet is typically separate from the bathing area. This was true for the home stay I had and homes I visited.
The Japanese have an interesting relationship with their toilets; I saw everything from regular ones, to “squatty potties” in the train stations to fancy electronic ones with heated seats and push buttons with things like “bidet wash”.
http://m.sfgate.com/homeandgarden/article/The-japanese-way-2644438.php
Bob Connor says
I am one who wants a regular cast iron bathtub. Our 1972 house came originally with an American Standard CI tub. In the 90’s mom had one of those companies come to refinish the tub because too much Comet made it rough (don’t use Comet). The finish peeled off, making a bad situation worse. I remodeled the bathroom 10 years ago and installed a Sterling acrylic tub but it is impossible to get clean anymore, even if I use Easy-Off (I know, for ovens but it works on really grimy bathtubs too). Replacing this with a CI Kohler tub will have to be a team effort, fortunately my BIL is a weight lifter and he can help me. But really, why don’t the professional plumbers install them? I would think part of being professional is having a team they can call on for heavy work like this.
Tara says
We have a pink cast iron cinderella tub in our 1950 home. I absolutely love it! I don’t find it difficult to maneuver getting in and out. I haven’t had a bath in it but it’s very roomy for showers. Sadly I think it will have to be removed at some point as it keeps having rust staining from the overflow plate area and around the drain has signs of corrosion too. It will also cause us to do a complete remodel as there aren’t bathtubs made today that would fit in the space. I will hold on to that tub as long as I can. It was a selling feature for me when we bought the house!
AnnF says
You might be able to have it repaired and re-enameled. I hate to think of you removing such a beautiful and unique item!
lynda says
I agree about using at least one regular tub in the house. We remodeled 3 baths in our house. We put a nice sized shower in the master and took out the Kohler cast iron tub. We also replaced the hall cast iron tub with a soaker tub–I wish I had not. I never use it and it is impossible to bathe a small child in the tub. When the younger grand sons stayed here, their dad used to crawl in the tub with them so they would be safe. 3rd bath has a soaker tub also, but only 4′ long. Although it is a bit hard to get in and out of, it is a good choice for the small bath. It has a shower too. I have noticed that people rarely use the big soaker tubs. However, the kids seem to like them! Get an air jetted tub if you are worried about keeping the jets clean.
Maria says
I am the rare bath person. Love my 1959 cast iron tub! I have a coffin shower in the master (30″) so rarely use it. I also save water when I’m taking a quick bath — no loss of water waiting for it to heat and you can bath in inches of water if need be, but I love to lay back and soak. Also, because I have a modest home the bath was small enough to bath in when I had casts on both ankles. I could prop them on the toilet, then swing one over to prop on the spout and lay back in the bath/wash my hair. You have no idea how great that felt after 1 1/2 months with no shower — it was glorious!
(My sibling has a huge jetted tub and it’s not nearly as nice – give me cast iron small steamy bath standard tub all day long.)
BTW, whoever thought to put in these focal point tubs in newer homes never sat in a bath and froze because of how big and cold the room was.
AnnF says
My shower is pretty darn cold the minute I extend anything past the spray! If you are soaking in hot water, you are glad for the cold air.
Lynne says
When beginning this current remodel, we thought we wanted a cast iron tub. Weight wasn’t too much of a factor since there are no stairs or narrow halls to navigate.
We were told that the “new” cast iron tubs just aren’t like the “old” cast iron tubs. The finishes just aren’t as durable. They are seeing all sorts of imperfections, flaws, burrs and such before they are even installed. They are also saying that the finishes are failing after only a few years.
Now, maybe he just plain didn’t want to install a heavy cast iron tub, that’s true. But honestly, they just don’t make things like they used to.
pam kueber says
What! Ack! My Kohler Dynametric is doing great after about… 13 years or so!