Bathroom remodel - Sunken Tub

17 years ago

Hi folks,

I'm completely remodeling a 30 year old So. Cal. house and I'm now in the Master bath. Previously it consisted of a sunken tub (well sort of - 8 inches below the floor) - it was a completely tiled rectangle and was probably used more as a shower than a tub (I presume) because the dimensions and boxiness of it would have made for an uncomfortable experience and a lot of wasted water to fill it 42" X 78" inside dimensions. The 'sunken' part is approx 8 inches below the house slab. Our thoughts are to fill it in with concrete and convert it to just a shower with a showerhead at each end and also a handheld shower close to one end. We have purchased a Hansgrohe Thermobalance III and the related heads and handheld. We are somewhat puzzled as to whether to bring the new concrete to the same level as the existing concrete floor and build the shower on top of that, with a step up as most new construction is done....... or keep it slightly sunken to eliminate a step up? Any and all comments will be appreciated because at this point we can go either way - what would benefits or downfalls be? We plan to tile 3 sides plus the ceiling and the entry wall will be all glass with a 32" door in the center. A link to a picture of the present stage of construction of the shower is below.

Thanks, Al

Here is a link that might be useful: Home Galleries

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (2)

quiltglo
17 years ago
Can you make it level with the bathroom floor with just a slight grade to the drain? I would not make the step up if I could avoid it. DH had a hip replacement a couple of months ago (age 51) and we would have given our eye teeth for a shower totally level with the floor. Our bathroom was redone two years ago, and I'll be ripping it out and putting in a total access shower within the next 10 years.

You didn't mention your age, but us boomers are getting old, you know?

Gloria
DNT1
17 years ago
that sunken tub thing makes me laugh. In our current home we bought in 1990 the sales listing had noted a sunken tub as a selling feature well we both had a good laugh when we walked in the master bath and see a regular tub that they had simply dropped down into the floor a strange looking animal no doubt. The tile work in the bath is so nice I simply have not been able to force myself to tear it out and we are still fairly young but at some point stepping down into this thing will start to be dangerous then the real nice tile work will be removed and a full access shower will be a welcome change. Sunken tub floooey lol