I despise the look of claw feet on anything, but I love a good soaking tub. 
There are plenty deep soaking free-standing tubs that meet my criteria. Virtually every new construction we toured had a master tub.
I just put in a soaking tub. I love it. I take a bath almost every night. I donāt, however, like garden tubs. Also, as others mentioned, if a family has young kids they usually want a tub. I used to count the minutes until it was bath time and I couid put kid in tub, where he wouid happily play for a good hour while I sat on floor and read my book.
I chose not to get jets in my tub. Hate that too.
A few years ago we redid our upstairs guest room. I called several locally prominent RE agents. The concensus was a house needed at least one tub upstairs but converting the other Guest bath to shower was a plus. Removing the tub from the master is a bigger gamble.
Personally I hate the space our jetted tub takes up. Havenāt sat in it in a decade. But if I were remodeling for resale, there would be a great big tub thereā¦
We have a stupidly shallow tiny jetted tub that has started to leak from the jets. It wasnāt our choice, it came with the place. The replacement will still be small because thatās all that will fit, but it will be luxuriously deep. In the meantime, itās showers only with tape and plastic covering the jets.
The builders put the jetted tub in the master because they thought it would impress buyers. They might have been right, if they had not installed a joke of a shallow tiny version.
Anyone have a deep 5ā alcove tub that they love?
We are making progress. Last year, we got a new roof and new countertop in the kitchen (sparkly granite), and now we just finished a new composite deck. Next up is a new refrigerator because the old one doesnāt match but more importantly, the ice maker died. After that, we really need new light fixtures as ours are all 90ās bright brass. That has taken my husband a little longer to get on board with as he doesnāt get the style thing.
Yeah, the tub isnāt even jetted, I have to climb in and out of it to open the window. And I have to vacuum it. I hate it LOL.
^me too. It gets dusted. I hate that I have to get into it to get to the window.
I will add that Gāson and another baby girl who visits both adore that tub.
It is a swimming pool to them. Baby girl had her first bath with her very postpartum depressed mommy
in that tub. It was bit of a turning point for mommy. First time she actually enjoyed her baby.
Sigh. So while I do not like it and in 14 years have used in less than 5 times I guess it has had a
purpose.
I have a question about those banisters with horizontal metal cables. As I look at the catalog from House of Forgings, all I can think of is little kids climbing the horizontal cables as if they are a ladder and flipping over the top. Are these things as safe as vertical balusters?
For my bath remodels that I mentioned upthread, I replaced the tub in my master with a shower, and kept (replaced) the tub in the upstairs āmainā bath. Iām not keen on baths, so this works perfect for us.
My mom lives nearby and has a 3br, 1.5bath late 50ās ranch (my childhood home ) and is dying to remodel her bathroom. And she REALLY wants to take the tub out of the main bath and put in a shower. That would leave the house tub-less. Half of me says, āBad idea, you need a tub in your homeā - but then I realize Iām only thinking about resale, not what SHE wants, or what would be safer for her as she ages. Itās a conundrum, for sure.
No horizontal slats are never going to be as safe as vertical ones. They are like magnets for small fry. Some building codes still forbid them. They were forbidden in the 2000 version of the International Building Code, but then (probably under pressure from the industry) allowed back in with the later versions of the code. Many states use the IBC with amendments. The other thing that can happen with the cables if not installed tight enough, is that you can stretch them to allow an opening greater than the 4" minimum: http://inspectapedia.com/Stairs/Cable_Railings.php
glad for this thread as itās given some good ideas and good links. I have a list of small updates iām doing to my honey-oak coated house. (2 kids in college so canāt do too much!) hereās what iām looking at to give a little punch. Updating kitchen backsplash to a long subway tile. Replacing stairway baluster/newel post, adding built-in bookshelves to office (well, its a formal dining room used as an office); looking at replacing master bath laminate vanity tops with granite remnants, and adding wood trimmings to the back side of the scuffed up kitchen bar and painting it (same color as my subway tiles. super light warm gray).
i had the kitchen cabinets bid out for painting; and it just is not going to give that lovely coralbrook kitchen that i admire; so iām going to hold out for new cabinets down the line. I just wish we were handier here. Iām afraid to try big things on my own and having it go bad!
This is the tub I just put it. Itās 19" deep.
The tub I replaced was 15" deep so not one of those really shallow tubs and it was in pretty good condition, but since I was gutting bathroom down to the studs, tub got replaced anyway.
When Sās GF first came to visit, she said āWhatever you do, never get rid of that tub!ā I told her not to worry, I am devoted to it myself. 
I see pictures of lovely, deep free-standing tubs now, So much better than the old standard shower over tub thing, which were always too shallow. Even worse: the ones with non-skid patches. Not pleasant to sit on!
@JustaMom5465 :
For your mom there may be a compromise, they have these āstep throughā tubs that basically have a step through door. It can be used as a tub, or can be used as a shower, and she wonāt have to step over to get in. I donāt know how good they are, just wanted to mention it as a possible compromise.
We have a big tub in our master bath, it is a Kohler jacuzzi tub. We havenāt used it in a while, because the faucet on it leaks, the guy who looked at it said that the valve base itself needed to be replaced, and of course Kohler (who I would not recommend any of their plumbing stuff, caused me nothing but grief) said the tub was discontinued a while ago and they donāt have that part any more (like, do they think bathtubs, especially high end ones, arenāt around for many years? ). I am going to get a really good plumber I found to look at it, to see if they can rehab it, if I need to replace it I might end up turning the space into a laundry area, would likely cost me the same as replacing the tub.
We are in the phase where all the deferred projects are happening, now that my S is out of undergrad and we donāt have the heavy financial burden. This year we had a furnace replaced (old one died), had the roof done (one of the rooves was like 34 years old, double layer, that held up remarkably well), gutters replaced with high end ones with leafguard, and new soffits that are open to allow the attic to vent properly. Now we just have a new dishwasher, kitchen floor, kitchen cabinet doors, and the dining room/main living room floors are gonna need it, tooā¦not to mention some repair of water damage, replacing too narrow stairs, and a ton of other things:)
I donāt get those step in tubs. If you want to use it as a tub you have to get in before you start filling the tub and canāt get out until tub is fully drained. Who wants to sit in tub getting cold while it fills and drains?
I love your tub, Emily. Super nice. We inherited a real Jacuzzi jetted tub here in House2. The inspector could not check the motor if it was connected properly because the āgutsā were hidden in a secret compartment accessible only from the outside. Mr. told her not to worry. He climbed on the roof and checked - everything is fine. The tub is large and deep and really is fine, but keeping the jets clean will drive me nuts. So it will eventually be replaced with something like Emilyās tub. Just a tad bigger.
re the step in tubs, my mom is in no way shape or form ready for one of those, basically she just wants a shower, but Iām just thinking ahead. I donāt quite get the step in tubs either and sheās put her foot down that she would never have one in her house, haha.
Week three of our major remodel. The framing was done so we are starting to see what was on the plans. They put up two new beams (so that we could take down walls) and framed the new shower, closets, kitchen island, etcā¦ So far we really like the contractor. Even though we are living in a construction zone, and there is a ton of dust, they are leaving the house very neat every day when they leave.
@emilybee That is a very nice tub. I like the high horizontal overflow, and the depth! Iām hoping itāll be a fall project.
Colonial oak cabinets. Beige/tan cultured marble vanity with scalloped sinks. Gold tone faucets and towel rods. Can you guess the decade my master bath was last remodeled? I just signed the order for replacement shower/cabinet/vanity top/fixtures, for a staggering price, in my mind, but then maybe I want prices to go back to 1980s levels. No change in layout, just replacing the fixtures.
On a somewhat related note, I texted the contractor to let him know I had ordered the materials and to get me on his schedule for late August if possible. And what word did autofill suggest when my text started āI just signed the order for the mā¦ā?
(25 bonus points if you correctly guessed āmermaid.ā)