Bath or Shower?

If you are planning to buy a rental home, or you're thinking about what to do with one you have just acquired, this is the place for any questions about starting out in the rentals business.
RichardHenshall
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Post by RichardHenshall »

e-richard wrote:... and my wide on a girlie weekend ...
Not a Freudian slip, I hope? :wink:
kg1
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Post by kg1 »

We are just across the water from IOW and have a separate shower and large bath. Both are used but the shower is used more.
Fleur
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Post by Fleur »

I believe all properties on I.O.W. are on water meters so maybe a shower would be a sensible solution.
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Moliere
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Post by Moliere »

It's a tough choice - pity you can't have both.

Mrs Mols won't stay anywhere without a proper bath, but if your space constraints are such, given your projected market, I reluctantly have to side with the big shower brigade - a shower over the bath is totally naff, and no good to man nor beast.

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French Cricket
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Post by French Cricket »

Or even to woman. At least not to this one :lol:

My other pet hate is that tiny type of shower cubicle that you can barely turn round in without bruising your wotsits on the taps and have to wash your hair with your shoulders because it's too small to lift up your arms. Ditto small baths. :evil: :evil:

So I'd say whatever you go for, make it generous. One good thing is better than two mean ones.
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Moliere
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Post by Moliere »

Completely with you, FC, if you're gonna do it, make it big and spacious.

Mols
Jumping is just dressage with speed-bumps.
Beach Balls
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Bath or Shower?

Post by Beach Balls »

Many thanks for some interesting opinions.
The bathroom is not big sadly enough for a shower and bath, so if it was a bath it would be shower over the bath.
I have a 'P' shaped bath at home that does work well (agree with the comment about the problems with curved glass screen on them) I however don't think it would look aesthetically pleasing in a cottage bathroom with more traditional looking sink & loo and the widest width of the bath, once the shower screen was attached would get in the way of the window (I will see if I can post some pics) So normal width bath with shower or shower in the footprint of bath (700x1500/1700)
Agree with the mobility issue a good reason for a shower, but if they had issues, they would never make the stairs!!!
I only have showers at home and do enjoy a bath on hols, but also enjoy a really nice shower area.
OK so off to learn how to post photo's!
Many thanks for everyone's views
X
Last edited by Beach Balls on Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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B&B netherlands
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Post by B&B netherlands »

here another supporter of you, FC and mols, shower over bath is nowhere to be found (normally) in dutch houses, it's a shower OR a bath. i'd say 80 % showers, nowadays people who have the money (or the bank willing to provide it...) 'sacrifice' a bedroom (!) to have a luxury bath etc. fitted... houses from the 20s and the 30s of last century (villas) used to have baths. builders from the 60s on, designed 'showerrooms fit for a family of 6'.

i had both, when i started up in may 2009... but wanted a private shower space for myself, this is (60's design!) just barely 2 meters long and 85 cms wide, doesn't have a window, and the sink next to the shower and no toilet... so not presentable for guests.

so the beautiful bathroom with jacuzzi, toilet and design sink combination and towel rack i initially had built for myself in a 200 x 220 cms bedroom, was 'adapted' to guests, also wanting to shower; a rain shower was installed over the bath. no complaints, ever, whatsoever. 90% of guests showered, the rest took the time for the jacuzzi... i have 2 bedrooms available, 1x double bed, 1x two single beds.

right. so i regularly faced the situation of 4 guests wanting to shower in the morning, in a time span of 30 minutes. i can't clean in between, being busy to prepare breakfast. you can imagine what i found, after guests left...

so for me the choice was (in a very basic barren space used for storage in the attic, under the roof!) providing a walk-in showerroom, NO shower cubicle (how do people wash themselves in THAT??? i can't! unless i can leave the door open!!!) that looks quite large, but is only 200 x 175 cms... proper roof built, double glazed window installed with partly matt coloured stick-on decoration, massage shower column (looks great!!!), glass separation wall but NO door, sliding entrance door (!), hanging toilet and simple washbasin with mirror and lights.

my guests are astonished. wow! great! we love it! beautiful design! (which took me quite a while to do; an electric boiler had to be installed as well, to prevent a drizzle shower when guests shower at the same time in 2 bathrooms)

the only drawback (because of the smallish washbasin and low tap...) is that guests cannot fill the kettle there... so i (standardly) supply a bottle of flat water in the minibar - 25 eurocents for 1,5 liter...

i'm a 'shower person' myself. in high season, the jacuzzi (with rain shower) is for the guests. out of season, i use it, or offer it to friends and family... who LOVE the luxury of bubbling away, with a glass of wine... 24 water and air jets, large enough for lovebirds to enjoy together... ;)
Beach Balls
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Bath or Shower?

Post by Beach Balls »

If I've done this correctly you should see the pics, if not HELP! What do I do!

http://s1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff5 ... h%20Balls/
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B&B netherlands
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Post by B&B netherlands »

oh dear, oh dear... a typical english bathroom... i feel really sorry for you...

i've had mixer taps in my very simple personal bathroom(s), in different flats since the beginning of the 70s. even the newly built flat me and my parents moved into, in 1959 in amsterdam, had mixer taps in kitchen and bathroom!

i remember the wash basin and bath in the old house (built in the 1930s) of my husband's aged parents... with exactly this kind of taps. bands of rust along where the taps ran, in the bath tub. i never ever used it ('i took a shower last night!')

comfort...? or 'stylish'? is the cottage very old, and the style likewise, i could understand and 'like', given the choice.

but i'm dutch....
onestep
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Post by onestep »

Is there room in that alcove for a shower? It's a tricky decision but I think it would be worth investigating. That way you get both :)

We took a bath out of our cottage & installed a roomy shower cubicle. It makes the bathroom feel very spacious. Our market is solely couples though (& longer term will be for my parents when they are old & decrepit!)
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French Cricket
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Post by French Cricket »

onestep wrote:Is there room in that alcove for a shower?

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo :shock: :shock:



Sorry. I'm off to take my tablets now, nurse.
RichardHenshall
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Post by RichardHenshall »

There appear to be two doorways (in addition to the alcove). Do you need them both? Could you use the one that we can't see for access? If so you could put a shower cubicle where the open one is.
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greenbarn
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Post by greenbarn »

If it was in my house I'd rip everything out and put in the biggest shower I could.

If it was my rental property I'd leave it as it is, cover all bases and save a lot of money. The only thing I'd think about would be replacing the taps with guest-proof ones, ie quarter-turn disc valves and not screw down valves that somebody will over tighten and wreck the washer (drip, drip......)

But - IIRC you said it was initially for your own use, so if you really can't bear the idea of a few days with a shower over bath, or conversely with no bath, then that needs considering. If you go for a big shower and no bath, my guess is that it will lose you some potential bookings (which you'll never know about); if it's a really nice shower and shows up well in photos, that could be a clincher that decides a guest to book your property and not the one down the road. Swings and roundabouts.
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French Cricket
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Post by French Cricket »

A thought.

Given that you're aiming at the couples market, Beach Balls, you're definitely going to want that elusive wow factor, one that will come over in your marketing photos.

So ... what about having a fantastic shower in the bathroom, and a freestanding bath in the main bedroom, if it's big enough?
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