By You have decided to go all out on your bathroom remodel. Once and for all, you want the master bath of your dreams. Your interior designer, rife with ideas about how to incorporate modern design into your not-so-modern home, suggests concrete for the bathtub. If you are willing, she’d like to see the sink in concrete as well.
Concrete in the bathroom has never occurred to you. But now that it’s on the table, you are intrigued. Go with your designer’s suggestion and she’ll have Salt Lake City’s Modern Craftsman work on designing a piece of art you can bathe in.
The people behind Master Craftsman acknowledge that concrete bathtubs and sinks are not a good choice for everyone. But they are an excellent option for homeowners who have both the space and money. Below are some of the pros and cons of going with concrete in the bathroom.
Pro: Versatility
The first item on the pro side is versatility. Simply put, a concrete bathtub is not built in a factory and brought to your home. It is constructed in place. That more or less means you can have any design the space will accommodate. Concrete is versatile enough to be fashioned into a variety of shapes and sizes.
Pro: Durability
Next up, concrete is an exceptionally durable material. Provided it is mixed and poured correctly, all it takes to keep a concrete bathtub in good shape for decades is a good sealer over the top. Concrete does not scratch like fiberglass. It will not discolor like porcelain.
Pro: Modern Look
You might ultimately choose a concrete bathtub because you like the modern look it offers. Indeed, aesthetics are among the most cited reasons people choose concrete in the bathroom. Concrete bathtubs are sleek and sexy. They are the embodiment of clean lines and geometric shapes.
Pro: Larger Size
Because concrete tubs are constructed on site, actual size is generally a matter of the amount of available space designers have to work with. If you want a tub with enough room for no fewer than two to fully stretch out and relax, concrete is the solution. By contrast, you might have a challenging time finding a big enough porcelain or fiberglass tub among production model options.
Con: Cost
On the con side of the ledger, the item at the top of the list is cost. Needless to say, you will pay a lot more for a custom-built concrete tub than a fiberglass insert from the DIY store. A good concrete tub can cost thousands of dollars.
Con: Permanence
Concrete’s durability can be a negative in the sense that a concrete bathtub is a permanent bathtub. A porcelain or vinyl tub can be removed and replaced with very little effort. Not so with a concrete tub. Once installed, the only way to remove and replace it may be to gut the bathroom and start over.
Con: Catastrophic Failure
Concrete bathtubs and showers rarely fail when installed properly. But when they do fail, the failure is almost always catastrophic. This is to say that cracks and chips normally cannot be fixed with a little bit of filler. If a concrete bathtub cracks, it is possible you are looking at full replacement.
A concrete bathtub can be the centerpiece of an ultramodern master bath. Design and installation can be rather pricey, though cost might not be a concern for homeowners with means. As for your home, whether or not you go with concrete is up to you and your interior designer. Just remember that concrete in the bathroom is an entirely different experience.
