Allen Kitchen & Bath's Makeover Minute

Sometimes Less Tub Means More Bathroom

A Brookfield master bath makes room for a much larger shower by finally letting go of an underused tub.

It is one of the most common requests we hear. The tub looks nice, but it never gets used. In this Brookfield master bath, we removed that unused tub and deck entirely, opening up space for a shower made for daily life. The result feels less like a renovation and more like the bathroom finally catching up to how the owners actually live.

A Shower Built For Every Day

The old layout gave the tub and its deck a lot of real estate for something rarely used.

We removed both completely, freeing up space for a shower large enough to actually enjoy. It is a trend we are seeing more often.

Nearly one in five remodeling homeowners are now enlarging their shower by more than half, trading soaking tubs for showers built for daily life.

A Shower Built To Last

The new shower is built in solid Durasein surfacing, covering the base, walls, and niche in one seamless material.

A tile inlay adds texture to the wall panels and the back of the niche, and a heavy clear glass pivot door with a step up panel finishes the look.

It is spacious, easy to clean, and built for daily use for years to come.

What We Found When We Opened The Walls

Removing the old wall tile and wallpaper exposed something the owners could not have known about: insulation that had deteriorated over time. We had planned for this possibility, so replacing it was simple and straightforward.

New wallboard went up on every wall, giving this bathroom a better foundation than it had before, not just a new look.

A Floor That Needed More Than Tile

The old room and shower floors had two inch thick ceramic mud set tile, which meant the floor needed to be built up and new subflooring added before anything new could go in.

It is not the most exciting part of a remodel, but it is the part that makes everything else possible. A solid, level floor now sits under every tile, and under every step.

Warmth From The Ground Up

The Bertch Riverside cherry vanity with a Dawn stain pairs with a Durasein Leaden countertop and two rectangular undermount sinks.

New wiring powers front and back lit mirrors above each sink, added wafer lighting, and a second can light to brighten the shower. Heat wire under the new 12x24 LVT flooring means warm feet, even in a Wisconsin winter.