Question: My husband and I recently purchased an older Montecito home that has been partially remodeled, and now we want to completely redo the master bathroom.
I have seen so many beautiful pictures online of soaking tubs, and I think we have available space for both a walk-in shower and a large tub.
What are your thoughts about installing a soaking tub in our new dream bathroom?
Your Handyman: Great question! I also have seen many of these enticing pictures of smiling people luxuriating in their soaking tubs surrounded by heaps of bubbles, rose petals and candles, while sipping flutes of champagne and eating strawberries dipped in chocolate.
It is a very romantic scene that undoubtably leads many to incorporate a soaking tub into their bathroom remodel plans. However, sometimes this type of marketing doesn’t always tell the entire story.
I was raised under the adage that if I didn’t have anything positive to say then I should just keep quiet. But since you’re asking, I’ll offer you my opinion on soaking tubs even though, like most people, I also enjoy chocolate-dipped strawberries and champagne.
Soaking tubs are the only large home improvement item that many people seem to regret installing for numerous reasons. We have removed many of them, and I have consulted with numerous homeowners whose tub needs service but cannot be easily worked on.
Here are the complaints I hear most often:
In most cases there just is not a safe way to get into and out of these tubs without risking a slip and hard fall inside the tub or onto the tiled bathroom floor.
Some of the larger tubs can be almost 30 inches in height, making entrance and egress a wet tricky slippery deal especially after sipping a little bubbly.
Grab bars are always a good idea for any age group to make a shower safer, but I haven’t seen a grab bar set-up that works for a large tub.
Temperature Control
Most people want their bath water on the hot side, and some of these larger tubs can hold up to 100 gallons of water.
The typical 50-gallon tank water heater found in most homes will struggle to fill such a large tub, and even with a tankless heater it may take quite a while to fill, depending on the gallons per minute rating of the heater and the size of the hot water pipe. That all allows time for the water to cool down as it fills up.
Maintenance
All plumbing fixtures are going to require some type of service over time, especially with the mineral rich Santa Barbara water as the tub spout develops a drip or the handles work their way a little loose with use.
If the tub is set into a tiled platform, there will have to be an access panel right next to the valves or even the longest armed plumber in Santa Barbara will not be able to get his hands and tools onto the valves to fix the problem.
Designing such an access panel that is not very noticeable into a tiled surround can be a bit of a trick, and I can only remember seeing one tub that had such a panel.
If the tub has water jets, there needs to be access to the pump and plumbing for its eventual service needs. With no access panel then the only option is to start tearing into the tile work, which will probably be a problem to rebuild in an attractive way.
Another factor if you are considering a tub for a remodel is whether the doors and hallways in your home are large enough to allow the new tub to be carried into the bathroom and set into place.
I witnessed an instance in which a homeowner purchased, had delivered and unpacked a large tub only to come to the unfortunate realization that it was too big to physically pass through the bathroom door.
Here are a few other home improvement items that in my experience don’t seem to work out so well:
Retractable Screen Doors
Great concept but they always seem to get damaged and become a maintenance problem. People seem to not see them and walk through them and kids and pets can give them a beating.
Trash Compactors
Interesting idea for a kitchen appliance but people don’t seem to use them very often. We have replaced many with a simpler low-tech retractable drawer with a trash and recycling bin that can be purchased online as a kit.
Casement Windows
A casement window swings out like a door, opens and closes with a little hand crank. Over time, due to minor house settling or hardening of the weather stripping from exposure, they can become difficult to close completely and are difficult to service.
Who wants another maintenance headache? My opinion is that casement windows are to be avoided.
A horizontal slider or vertical sash window will be less troublesome over time and will be just as attractive.
