Japanese soaking tub

[88V8]

I do like a nice bath.
In our previous house I had a decent size bathroom built, which unfortunately I wasn't able to take with us when we moved



and in our little cottage there is a mismatch between my height and the width of our bathroom, so when bathing my knees are around my ears, and there is no room to rejig the layout.

After some rootling around I come to the option of a Japanese soaking tub such as this.

There is a potential issue if one of the users - OH - is not so tall.
Any other problems?
Any experience?

The process would also include the removal of the separate shower cubicle, so this tub with a hand shower would be our standalone.

V8

[Lootman]

We have researched them as my wife has wanted one (and a high tech toilet) ever since we went to Japan a couple of times last decade.

In my opinion the problem with them is not being short but being tall, because a tall person will be more "scrunched up" in a soaking tub, and a shorter person can lounge in one a bit more.

As part of the plan for that we took the bathtub out of our main bathroom and installed a huge shower cubicle in its place. The idea then is that when we redo the second bathroom it will have a soaking tub, and just a shower attachment, as you are considering.

[UncleEbenezer]

and in our little cottage there is a mismatch between my height and the width of our bathroom, so when bathing my knees are around my ears, and there is no room to rejig the layout.

I had a somewhat-similar issue when I moved in here. A bathtub the entire width of the bathroom, which I hadn't realised was seriously undersized. No idea whether you might have any scope for a solution along similar lines to mine?

Got around it by taking some space from the adjacent ensuite shower room, which was the same width as the bathroom! Taking 30cm from the shower room - just for the width of the bathtub - leaves ample space for a large shower cubicle, and a standard-sized bathtub.

Schematically, * is the shower cubicle in its reduced space, while $ is the extended bathtub and ----- the now-staggered partition wall.

===============|
| * |          |
| * |
----|          |
| $ |----------|
| $ |          |
| $ |          |
| $ |          |
==========   ==|

[9873210]

Have you checked the amount of hot water it would need compared to the tub it's replacing? If you want to fill it up to your neck for a good soak you need to make sure your water heater has enough capacity.

[quelquod]

Have you checked the amount of hot water it would need compared to the tub it's replacing? If you want to fill it up to your neck for a good soak you need to make sure your water heater has enough capacity.

Very valid point. The previous owners of our bungalow had installed a large sunken bath and when we moved in we found there were 2 hot water storage tanks with independently controlled heating from the gas boiler as well as separate immersion heaters to feed the 2 independent hot water taps needed to fill the thing. We dumped it and someone stole it from the skip outside our house.

[88V8]

We dumped it and someone stole it from the skip outside our house.

Interesting language there.
Does taking away something dumped in a skip count as stealing?

When it comes to skips, I prefer the word 'rescued'.
There seems not an equivalent word for things dumped in one's (expensive) skip by others....

Have you checked the amount of hot water it would need compared to the tub it's replacing? If you want to fill it up to your neck for a good soak you need to make sure your water heater has enough capacity.

Yes, it would need a larger cylinder or rather a taller cylinder given the space available in our poky little bathroom. And an upgrade from single immersion to double.
A single immersion will heat one gallon in about four minutes, so with two - and there will be a power feed from a redundant electric shower that I could use for a second immersion - that would be about a gallon in two minutes so I would get a second bite at the hot water, as it were.

and in our little cottage there is a mismatch between my height and the width of our bathroom, so when bathing my knees are around my ears, and there is no room to rejig the layout.

I had a somewhat-similar issue when I moved in here. A bathtub the entire width of the bathroom, which I hadn't realised was seriously undersized.
Got around it by taking some space from the adjacent ensuite shower room, which was the same width as the bathroom!

Thankyou, your diagram reminds me of a telex operator we had a few years ago who was a dab hand at telex pictures, he had a super version of Marilyn Monroe.

The shower room is just the other side of a (concrete block) wall, alas it is also the toilet and immediately the other side of the wall is the loo pan with the sewer pipe buried in the concrete floor, plus the incoming water pipe ditto.
Of course, nothing is impossible, but...

I had contemplated going out through the external wall, just a hole the size of a bath, but that is stymied by a retaining wall and a huge clematis which I am not prepared to sacrifice.

There seem to be few purveyors of soaking tubs. I have found another one whose options include a walk-in.
Or there's this one where the door opens inwards.
I've always regarded these as rather geriatric and therefore of no possible interest to me, but some mornings as I creak down the stairs I wonder whether it might actually be quite sensible.

Any experience? Of walk-ins, I mean, not of creaking.

V8

[9873210]

Have you checked the amount of hot water it would need compared to the tub it's replacing? If you want to fill it up to your neck for a good soak you need to make sure your water heater has enough capacity.

Yes, it would need a larger cylinder or rather a taller cylinder given the space available in our poky little bathroom. And an upgrade from single immersion to double.

An alternative to a bigger tank would be a hotter tank. This may be useful if you are space constrained. This should use a thermostatic mixing valve to control the temperature of the water supplied to all hot taps to prevent scalding. There are limits to how far you can push the temperature so you would need to consult the regs, or a plumber with a copy of the regs and a little imagination.

[csearle]

Moderator Message:
Discussion about whether taking something dumped in a skip counts as stealing continues here. - Chris

[modellingman]

There seem to be few purveyors of soaking tubs. I have found another one whose options include a walk-in.
Or there's this one where the door opens inwards.
I've always regarded these as rather geriatric and therefore of no possible interest to me, but some mornings as I creak down the stairs I wonder whether it might actually be quite sensible.

I have no idea of your age but, for me, one consideration would be how easy it is for me or my wife to get into, or more importantly, out of a deep soaking tub. One thing is almost certain if you are more than 30 is your ingress/egress ability is not going to improve with time.

modellingman

[UncleEbenezer]

There seem to be few purveyors of soaking tubs. I have found another one whose options include a walk-in.
Or there's this one where the door opens inwards.
I've always regarded these as rather geriatric and therefore of no possible interest to me, but some mornings as I creak down the stairs I wonder whether it might actually be quite sensible.

I have no idea of your age but, for me, one consideration would be how easy it is for me or my wife to get into, or more importantly, out of a deep soaking tub. One thing is almost certain if you are more than 30 is your ingress/egress ability is not going to improve with time.

modellingman

That applies to a regular bathtub, too. Hence why we were getting more worried as my dad advanced through his 90s, and relieved when he got a walk-in bath to avoid that risk.