refurbishment dilemma

[bandontherun]

I am just about to do up quite a nice cottage in an upmarket London postcode for letting. The bathroom is teeny tiny and its not practical to nick a bit of floor space from one of the two bedrooms.

At present there is a smallish corner bath and I can't decide whether to do away with a tub altogether and put in a seriously top end shower or replace the small bath, like for like with a shower mixer and screen/curtain.

The bathroom is unfortunately just not quite big enough for a standard bath. All suggestions specs etc welcome!

[Scrungy]

I am just about to do up quite a nice cottage in an upmarket London postcode for letting. The bathroom is teeny tiny and its not practical to nick a bit of floor space from one of the two bedrooms.

At present there is a smallish corner bath and I can't decide whether to do away with a tub altogether and put in a seriously top end shower or replace the small bath, like for like with a shower mixer and screen/curtain.

The bathroom is unfortunately just not quite big enough for a standard bath. All suggestions specs etc welcome!


You should try to provide a bath, whenever possible, to give your tenants choices but in some markets (such as young prof sharers), it might not be that much of an issue.

Is making one of the bedrooms en-suite possible? Then turn the existing bathroom into a cloakroom with WC & basin. This would suit a couple or small family.

I have seen homes with a half size bath plus a shower over but I don't know what these baths are like to use.
I suppose however that it could be a reasonable compromise in a young profs market, since they will be mainly using the shower.

I would also ask the letting agents who cover your intended market what their opinion is, after they've seen the cottage.

[Snorkerz]

Target market? Families need baths, young pros may be content with just a shower.

[mind the gap]

I would also ask the letting agents who cover your intended market what their opinion is, after they've seen the cottage.

I wouldn't. They are unlikely to have a clue, to be honest. They are not design experts and many of them struggle to find the right keys for the properties they manage, let alone the right bathroom layout.

I agree with Snorkerz, but OP, please supply the exact measurements of the bathroom (and current layout from corner bath clockwise) and and we can perhaps suggest the best option!

[Ericthelobster]

I have seen homes with a half size bath plus a shower over but I don't know what these baths are like to use.
I suppose however that it could be a reasonable compromise in a young profs market, since they will be mainly using the shower.That's often not a bad solution... 'half-size' is a bit of a misnomer though in that you can get tubs of almost any length you want if you look hard enough. I was faced with a similar dilemma once, but found a tub exactly the right length (ie as large as humanly possibly) for the available space.

I don't think a smaller-than-normal tub would be an issue at all for a young family (might even be a selling point - needs less hot water to fill!)

[bbva]

My 1 bed flat in London has a bathroom of 2.1m X 1.2 m - tiny. It has a small bath (1500 x 700) and a basin unit from IKEA (600 x 400)running down one wall. The bath has a shower mixer and curtain (has window so can't put in a screen). The toilet is squashed between the bath and wall. Tiled all the walls floor to ceiling with white brick tiles and put huge floor to ceiling mirror in. I prefer having the choice of bath and shower.

[bandontherun]

thanks for all suggestions. It is exactly 2400 x 1220 mms. I have ordered a 1200 length rectangular bath in which one can stand and shower; and was surprised to find that there was a fair amount of choice of different types. The eventual choice came down to one supplier only who could promise immediate delivery, with others talking about some time after the holidays