I'd love to have the Tea-for-Two Bathtub by Kohler. Or at least I think I do. It's awfully high for shower use: it presents a 24 inch stepover instead of the usual 15 inches or so. That's 9 inches higher. But to go along with that, the water height is about twice as high as a typical shower bath, as is the volume of water it can hold. It's a true bather's bathtub, available in alcove style for shower use as well, and the 3 corner alcove version nearly always becomes a shower-bath. The front and back are both sloped for comfortable bathing either way. The length is long (66 inches) enough that the space lost to end contouring is not much lost on the floor, it has a respectable 45 by 20 inches of floorspace.
But not only does the stepover present a long-term challenge (I think I could manage fine, now and in the future, with some added grab bars), but the installation poses huge challenges. I would have to bump out the closet in the master bedroom to make 6 inches more room for it. And, worst of all, I'd have to move two drains in the slab floor, for the new tub itself and the toilet. In addition to it costing a lot of money, I worry that it might not be done correctly, causing drain leaks in the future, or it might weaken my already overstressed slab.
[Update: I might not have to move the drains after all. After seeing that a neighbor has recently had expensive foundation repair, I don't really like the drain moving idea. House foundation is already overs stressed, cutting more holes won't help. However, it turns out that existing bathtub is nearly 18 inches from the toilet center. Code is 15 inches. That means I could use a 6 inch wider tub. Assuming I can get away with nearly. I would still need to bump out the closet wall--no big deal--and possibly the exterior wall--that does worry me but not as much as new drains. So this is back on the hoped for agenda. Tea-for-two with grab bars everwhere needed, and possibly a 6 inch step up on half farthest from the toilet.]
On Saturday, just before mowing the front lawn again, I noticed what seemed to be my neighbor's house collapsing. It seemed like roofing material was spontaneously falling off the back neighbor's roof. I went to check the front of their house, and there was a sign for a slab repair company. It looked like the roof was sinking slightly, as if the interior had lost support. But later I saw there was someone actually working on the roof, very slowly. Possibly the same person who years ago was working underneath their slab (it looked like he was digging a basement) leading to the needed slab repair.
Anyway, that got me thinking about the wisdom of moving the two drains for a larger bathtub. What would be the next best bathtub option?
I think I've found it, the Kohler Highbridge bathtub, available in 60" x 32".
It doesn't hold much more water than the standard bath, but the water height is 3-4 inches higher. It has a nice sloped back, on the non-drain side only. It's only 60" long, but loses only an inch of floor length to the Tea for Two (which has end sloped on both sides...uselessly in a shower-bath). It has a 17 inch stepover, two inches higher than standard (but you are getting more than 2 inches of water depth). That's nothing compared with the 9 inch height increase of the Tea for Two.
I think I could squeeze this in without moving drains or walls, but it would be a tight fit, and professional advice needed. If it could spare moving the drains and walls, that's at least a $4000 savings (maybe $5000 or more) and also a lot less worry. The tub itself is nearly $1000 less expensive.
With much lower stepover than Tea for Two, many people might consider this a better choice for the shower bath, if they consider Tea for Two acceptible at all.
But not only does the stepover present a long-term challenge (I think I could manage fine, now and in the future, with some added grab bars), but the installation poses huge challenges. I would have to bump out the closet in the master bedroom to make 6 inches more room for it. And, worst of all, I'd have to move two drains in the slab floor, for the new tub itself and the toilet. In addition to it costing a lot of money, I worry that it might not be done correctly, causing drain leaks in the future, or it might weaken my already overstressed slab.
[Update: I might not have to move the drains after all. After seeing that a neighbor has recently had expensive foundation repair, I don't really like the drain moving idea. House foundation is already overs stressed, cutting more holes won't help. However, it turns out that existing bathtub is nearly 18 inches from the toilet center. Code is 15 inches. That means I could use a 6 inch wider tub. Assuming I can get away with nearly. I would still need to bump out the closet wall--no big deal--and possibly the exterior wall--that does worry me but not as much as new drains. So this is back on the hoped for agenda. Tea-for-two with grab bars everwhere needed, and possibly a 6 inch step up on half farthest from the toilet.]
On Saturday, just before mowing the front lawn again, I noticed what seemed to be my neighbor's house collapsing. It seemed like roofing material was spontaneously falling off the back neighbor's roof. I went to check the front of their house, and there was a sign for a slab repair company. It looked like the roof was sinking slightly, as if the interior had lost support. But later I saw there was someone actually working on the roof, very slowly. Possibly the same person who years ago was working underneath their slab (it looked like he was digging a basement) leading to the needed slab repair.
Anyway, that got me thinking about the wisdom of moving the two drains for a larger bathtub. What would be the next best bathtub option?
I think I've found it, the Kohler Highbridge bathtub, available in 60" x 32".
It doesn't hold much more water than the standard bath, but the water height is 3-4 inches higher. It has a nice sloped back, on the non-drain side only. It's only 60" long, but loses only an inch of floor length to the Tea for Two (which has end sloped on both sides...uselessly in a shower-bath). It has a 17 inch stepover, two inches higher than standard (but you are getting more than 2 inches of water depth). That's nothing compared with the 9 inch height increase of the Tea for Two.
I think I could squeeze this in without moving drains or walls, but it would be a tight fit, and professional advice needed. If it could spare moving the drains and walls, that's at least a $4000 savings (maybe $5000 or more) and also a lot less worry. The tub itself is nearly $1000 less expensive.
With much lower stepover than Tea for Two, many people might consider this a better choice for the shower bath, if they consider Tea for Two acceptible at all.
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