Shower, Bath, or Both? How to Choose What’s Right for You

If you're redoing your bathroom, one of the most significant decisions you'll make is whether to get a shower or a bath installed. This decision will make a massive difference to how you use your bathroom, how the room feels, how much your water bills will be, and how good your home will look to potential buyers.

There are a few things you can think about to help you make this decision.

Look At The Space

The first thing you need to do is decide how much space you have and what you can fit in your bathroom! There's absolutely no point in dreaming of a walk-in shower and freestanding bath if you have a tiny bathroom. That said, it's surprising how much you can do with a small space. Just be sure that you don't design a space that feels cramped, as you won't enjoy this, and if you are considering selling your home at any point, potential buyers won't either.

Modern bathrooms have many possibilities, so it's worth contacting a specialist like Kitchen Capital to help you work out what you can fit in the space you have available.

How Do You Use Your Bathroom?

Think about how you and the rest of the people living in your home use the bathroom. If you have young children, having a bath to wash them makes life a lot easier. The same goes for if you have a dog who likes to go and roll in muck! 

If only adults living in your house generally like to get in and out of the bathroom quite quickly, then a good shower would be more of a priority than a bath.

Initial Costs

Cost-wise, there isn't a lot in it when choosing between a shower and a bath. The price depends on how high end you go, of course! 

It's possible to get a pretty budget bathtub for around $150. More ornate bathtubs can cost thousands, however.

Budget showers can be as cheap as $50; however, you need to consider the glass enclosure and shower tray cost. When you combine all of this, budget showers and baths will likely cost a pretty similar amount upfront.

If you are on a budget, a shower might be a better way to go if you're looking to have a budget bathroom that doesn't look like a budget bathroom.

Ongoing Costs

Most people assume that baths use more water than showers and are therefore more expensive. However, that's not always the case. 

A bath filled to the level where the water is over your belly button will hold around 75 liters of water. 

A standard electric shower will put out about 4 liters of water per minute. This figure is more if you have a power shower; it can even double in price. That means that any standard shower that lasts longer than 19 minutes will use more water than a bath, and any power shower lasting longer than 10 minutes will use more water than a bath. 

When you are thinking about potential ongoing costs, you need to consider how long the people in your home take in the shower! And remember that while a power shower can be a great thing to have, if you combine this with a person who likes to take 20-minute showers (they exist!), you could potentially be using a whole lot of water.

Are You Thinking Of Selling Your Home?

If you are thinking of selling your home now or at any point in the future, it's a good idea to think about how the work you do on your bathroom will affect your property value.

To do this effectively, it's a good idea to consider your target market and what they are likely to want from their home.  

If you are living in a small one or two-bedroom property, the chances are that your target market will be single people or couples looking to buy their first property. In this case, having a shower cubicle instead of a bath shouldn't impact your property's value too much, as this target audience is unlikely to prioritize having a bath.  

If you live in a larger home where your target market would be people with a family, then not having a bath installed could affect the value of your home. For many people, not having a bath is a deal-breaker. 

Generally speaking, it's a good idea to talk to an estate agent and get their opinion on what would help your home sell if they were to put it on the market. If you have the room and the budget to install a bath, it's generally a good idea to make your house more attractive to potential buyers, provided that the tub is the right size for space and doesn't make it appear overcrowded.