As a buyer, I wouldn't want a wet room, and would rather have the shower where the sauna is. The tub looks fine - if you have the $$, a replacement would update the room.

Saunas can either be a big selling feature or a turn off to buyers. Your sauna looks stunning.

Personally, a wet room would be a turn off to me.

Since you are ripping up walls and moving plumbing, can you move the vanity over to the wall which currently hosts the shower and put the shower were the vanity currently is? You would get a bigger shower than in the sauna area and there is lots of room for a vanity.

If you put the shower where the sauna is, the bath tub kind of becomes disconnected from the rest of the room (10 feet from the vanity to the tub). If you put the shower where the vanity is and the vanity bridges the distance between the shower and the bath, it would probably be more cohesive. Plus, then there would be something to look at (the vanity) when you come in the door other than a blank wall. Of course, this idea will probably cost more money.

Again, why are you renovating?

Real estate is very neighborhood-specific. You might want to talk to an experienced, locally-respected realtor to see what is expected in your neighborhood. In my area, a wet room would be a huge problem for re-sale. It's a very very specific construction decision that most buyers won't even understand. And if they do understand it, almost all will hate it, and will see this as a do-over for them, resulting in you losing a lot of money on this reno. Bathroom renovations are very expensive, and it is exceedingly rare to re-coup your costs.

You haven't explained why you need to re-claim that shower space for the bedroom. Maybe if you post a more expanded floorplan which includes the bedroom, and what your layout challenges are, the pros on here can help you with that problem. I see a very nice bathroom that looks like it doesn't need any renovations. Depending on your real estate market a sauna might be a huge selling point, or not. If you can get away without having to re-claim the shower space into the bedroom, then I'd just update the lighting, add colorful art, hang a towel bar or ladder-type storage, and get new fluffy towels, put some greenery, a tray or an orchid on the vanity, add a nice rug in front of vanity, and that's it. I like the big mirror, but if the realtor thinks it's dated for your neighborhood, you could change that, but I would leave it alone.

Again, please post why you need to re-claim the shower space. You could save yourself multiple thousands of dollars if you don't really need to do that. Think what you could do with thousands of dollars in your new home.

Are these pictures of the existing bath??

Change the mirror and the lights and leave it alone - it looks great!

Thank you. The main issue driving this renovation is that we need to move the shower so that we have a regular sized secondary bedroom. They are both currently awkward and smaller dimensions. I drew up the entire second floor layout below. Thanks!

Ha okay I hear the dislike of wet rooms. I thought these pictures looked awesome. But if they are too polarizing for buyers I certainly should not do it. I agree with your layout thoughts, Kirsten. Thanks for the idea!

IMO leave it as is there is no way that bedroom will be a good size no matter what . The redo of a bathroom is ahuge expense and certainly having a wet room is not ideal IMO why not just list for less save your self the hassle and move on Wet room are ridiculous unless just the shower no tub who the heck wants to wipe down the tub everytime they shower.Best to ask your realtor ROI for a bathroom redo I will bet you will not get your money back

The advice to speak with several realtors is good. If this is for resale then get multiple opinions from your local RE pros. Then your road map will be clear. You are going to get a million different opinions on here that won’t mean beans....Is that even a saying? :)

Yes I always get varying opinions on here and appreciate that fact. It can provide some new ideas I haven't thought about. Obviously no one online can know the 100% right thing without seeing in person and knowing the local market; I spoke with a few realtors and they all agreed I needed to 'fix' that bedroom by moving the shower, but they were all torn on where exactly to relocate it within my bathroom. GOOD news, the posted dimensions on the 2nd bedroom were incorrect. It is actually 10'6" wide, not the afore posted 9'8".

I've seen plenty of houses where the non-master bedrooms were smaller than the biggest rectangle you can draw in yours - bedrooms that are 9 x 9. Often there is a huge master suite and tiny other bedrooms. We like larger bedrooms than that, but it appears (at least here) that some people are okay with smaller ones. Maybe good "staging" can help sell it. E.g. a cozy sitting area or a study area in the thin part by the window. Biggest downside of that bedroom is that the closet looks pretty small.

The bathroom redo is going to be pretty expensive so there's a pretty big risk that you don't get the money back in the sale price.

Yes, that closet is tiny- not even a real closet I think. I have corrected the dimensions and added more for the bathroom. Thanks!

For resale they said - make that bedroom larger but did they say - keep a tub in the master? Could you do a shower where the tub is and just close off that shower and give the space to the bedroom side?

yes, I could get rid of the tub and put a shower there. again, a few realtors said that is a mistake for resale at this specific price/market, but another said get rid of it. There is so much space in the master- I am mocking up the idea from @Kirsten now...

You have plenty of room for the layout you show in the example pics, it truly would solve the bedroom problem. We have a shower and tub sharing “splash space” and it works out really well! We had a massive whirlpool tub with deck and replaced it with a shared shower & tub space. I haven‘t checked if the tub gets wet from the shower (I don’t think it does) but a little water doesn‘t hurt a tub anyway. We don’t have to wipe the tub down after a shower.

However you are looking at a massive project, the entire space has to be gutted and waterproofed (the existing jacuzzi & deck isn’t waterproofed), There will have to be a curb and raised floor in that area which is fine (no curbless entry without truly tearing the house apart).

ETA our layout is a little different but we did the tub with a tile skirt, like your middle example. Not a fan of freestanding tubs in a shower, too much residual space in a wet area, I would waterproof and skirt a tub there.

Here is a general layout idea you guys mentioned. Thoughts? Shower mock up is 5x6' but should go maybe 4 x 6 instead? Frameless glass light and airy. Could leave the tub as it lies.

I would definitely move the shower to give that space back to the bedroom. Do you use the sauna? If not move the shower there.

Thanks @maavernon. No I never use the sauna. I feel that the shower placement could be a little strange right inside the doors in the sauna location though. Perhaps a little narrow too at ~3ft?

I would furnish that as a child's room with a captain's bed lengthwise in the narrow space with storage underneath. I could even see a tall bookcase at the end of the bed leaving a large space, 8 x 10 or so for desk, chair, dresser etc. The sleeping area would be a little half hidden cozy nook. Spend some money on a wall sconce reading light for the bed area so it doesnt seem dark. Or, stage as a den with twin size loveseat sleeper sofa against the window wall and use a bifold door to access the closet space.

I don't think there is any money to be made messing around with that bathroom. Anything you change with will not match up with the rest of the room and that only highlights what you have not done. Doing it right will be very expensive, doing it on the cheap won't look as good as your current space.

Since you mention that you will never use the sauna, I presume you must have purchased the house after a previous owner redid the master suite. If so, you have proof that someone will be willing to overlook the two awkward bedroom spaces and buy the house anyway.

If you are going to live there for an extended time, a 50K remodel makes sense. You’re buying 10 years of comfort and usability, Remodeling for resale is throwing money away. It makes it nicer for the next owner. And you pay for that. Not them. https://www.remodeling.hw.net/cost-vs-value/2019/ 

OP, you’ve gotten a lot of feedback here. What is your ultimate goal? Usually when people sell a house their goal is to sell as quickly as possible and for as much money (return) as possible.

Goal: Quickly.

The planning for the remodel and search for contractor, getting on contractor’s schedule, choosing materials, then plus the actual remodel time will take at least several weeks, and maybe several months. So doing it undermines the “quickly” goal.

Goal: $$$.

Depending on your area’s labor costs, if you want a wet room, requiring all the demo, reframing, plumbing re-routing, waterproofing, tiling, new tub, fixtures, glass, etc, plus bedroom changes, you might be looking at 30Kish as a minimum. Even if you got 60% return on your investment ($18,000), you are just handing your buyer a giant wad of $12,000 cash upon closing.

Is your goal to sell quickly and for the most money (return)? Or is your goal to sell more slowly and for less money (return)?

If you were remodeling for your own enjoyment, planning to be there at least for several years, then I’d say go for it. But you haven’t stayed that as a goal. You specifically stated that your goal is to sell.

Even if you spend the $30K and get another $18 on the sales price, you then owe another 1k in commission to your realtor. Yep, no surprise that the realtors are recommending you update your bathroom

It makes the realtor's job WAAAYYY easier and more lucrative to recommend $$$$$ in remodeling. It's not their money on the line.

I recently helped my 82 year old Dad purge, clean and prep his large family home for sale. The realtor he chose (a friend of my youngest sister, who has almost no experience, but my Dad is a generous gentleman and believes in helping people who are just starting out) came over, walked through the house with us. By the time we finished walking the house she had recommended over $100,000 in "surface" changes (such as all flooring, all counters in kitchen and baths, all sinks, faucets and fixtures, all doorknobs and hinges, all ceiling lights and light fixtures, total indoor and outdoor paint job, re-landscaping, replace all toilets, etc, etc, etc).

After she went away, I recommended to my Dad that he purge, clean and prep. He did that. We spent a few months going through the house, giving things to family members, moving things to his new really cute townhouse, selling a few things, and donating the rest to Habitat Restore. He hired his trusted handyman to do a small landscape spruce-up, restain the deck, wash the outside, and haul everything that needed to be hauled somewhere. After the house was cleared out, he hired painters, but it was so well cared-for, that the painters only had to do a partial job, and not much work on trim. Then he hired pro cleaners, including carpet cleaners.

In total he spent about 7K, including the moving costs to take all his furniture to his new townhouse.

His house sold on the first day it was listed, to the first person who walked in, for full price.

And yes, he let my little sister's friend sell it, because he is that kind of guy, even though she gave bad advice.

If he had done the $100,000 remodel recommended by the realtor, how much money do you think he would have lost? It's like throwing $100 dollar bills into a raging fire!

Thanks everyone. Poor realtors are taking a lot of heat here! Ha. Ok, my goal is to sell as quickly as possible when we decide to list. This house sat for a long time on the market because the bedrooms were too quirky and unusable frankly for most people. Also, you can't tell from the photos but the bathroom sub flooring has settling issues which has caused tons of cracks in the tile floor, the whirlpool tub doesn't even work, the shower granite was refinished with some terrible product by the previous owners which destroyed the tile, the cabinets are super low quality and painted as a DYI project by them, etc. In other words, it photographs well but you walk in and say, what happened here?! Again though the biggest issue in my opinion is fixing the bedroom layout, and thus we need to move the shower, and thus we should go ahead and renovate the bathroom. To answer a question before, I would prefer a lower net number after this reno than having my house on the market for an extra 6 months.

If you prefer both a lower number and a shorter sale time, then just lower the price 100K for the kitchen and bath renovations that you want to do. That should be enough to get it sold without going through the whole remodel bit.

Do you live there or are you flipping?

If you end up staying a while and do a remodel I think the one you posted Friday which keeps the tub and swaps the vanity with front of shower area / giving space back to that bedroom looks decent. I would turn that other area into a linen closet between shower and sauna. Or you could lose the tub and put the shower in the tub spot, possibly putting a film or different glass on the windows.

I live here, not a flip. Think of this as a 'love it or list it' dynamic going on in my house, if you have ever seen that show. I'm not really looking for realtor advice or ROI analysis with this question, I am looking to make sure I choose the right renovation design-wise and layout wise. Thanks!

You’re not looking for a return on your investment? Then why do you own a home in the first place; you could’ve been renting your entire life.

rgrondrod, do you know how long you might live in this house? With all the dysfunction you listed, I can see why you would consider doing this work - depending on how long you are staying. Five years or more of having a nice bathroom might be worth it.

Apparently I'm in the minority but I love wet rooms and can't wait to have one in my house!

I imagine we will be in the house another 1-3 years. Yes @sheepla I've been liking the idea more every day I research it! Happened to be at a friend's house yesterday who had one and I felt like it was a sign...

If you like it, then it's right for you. I think with your bathroom layout and all that empty floor space doing the wet room might use the space better. I really like the middle picture of the wet rooms you posted at the beginning. And honestly with the kids you have I'm sure they would like a big tub bath, mine definitely did when they were younger, and they splashed a lot! Then it might not look as awkward when you give that shower space back to the bedroom it must have come from originally.