You’ve seen them on Pinterest. Maybe you’ve scrolled past a dozen "wet room" photos on Instagram and thought, that looks expensive. Honestly, the shower with tub inside—often called a "wet room" or an "integrated bathing suite"—is more than just a flex for luxury homeowners. It’s a massive shift in how we think about the footprint of a standard bathroom. Instead of cramming a tiny glass box next to a dusty garden tub, designers are literally putting the tub inside the shower enclosure.
It works. Mostly.
But there are things nobody tells you about the humidity levels or the grout maintenance until you’re actually standing in there with a squeegee.
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What a shower with tub inside actually solves
Most American bathrooms are built with a standard layout that hasn't changed since the 1970s. You have the vanity, the toilet, and a combo unit or a separate stall and tub. It’s cramped. Putting a shower with tub inside a single glass-enclosed zone (the "wet zone") clears up significant floor space.
It’s about visual flow.
When you remove the physical barriers between the bath and the shower, the room feels double its actual size. Designers like Joanna Gaines or the team at Studio McGee have popularized this because it allows for a freestanding tub even in a medium-sized bathroom. Without this layout, you’re usually stuck choosing one or the other, or settling for a cramped version of both.
The "Wet Room" vs. The "Enclosed Suite"
People get these confused constantly. A true wet room is waterproofed from floor to ceiling, usually with a center drain and no glass. A shower with tub inside, however, is typically a defined area—often 5x7 feet or larger—behind a glass partition. One side has the showerhead (or two, if you’re fancy) and the other has the soaking tub.
It’s a suite. It’s a destination.
The cold, hard reality of the "Drafty" problem
Here is something your contractor might not mention: it gets cold. When you have a massive glass enclosure housing both a tub and a shower, you have a huge volume of air to heat up. In a standard small shower, your body heat and the steam warm the space in seconds. In a large shower with tub inside, that steam dissipates.
You’ll want a heat lamp. Or heated floors. Trust me on the floors.
According to the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA), radiant floor heating is one of the fastest-growing requests for wet-zone installs. It’s not just for luxury; it’s a functional necessity to keep the "wet zone" from feeling like a cavernous refrigerator in the winter. If you’re skipping the heated floors to save $1,500, you’ll regret it every January morning.
Waterproofing: Where the money actually goes
If you think you can just slap some tile on the wall and call it a day, you’re asking for a mold nightmare. A shower with tub inside requires "tanking." This is a European method of waterproofing that involves a liquid membrane or specialized sheets (like Schluter-Kerdi) applied behind the tile on every single surface.
Everything gets wet. The wall behind the tub? Wet. The ceiling? Steamy.
- The Curb Problem: Do you go curbless? It looks sleek. But it requires "notching" the floor joists to create a slope for the drain. It’s a structural headache that adds $2,000 to $5,000 to the labor cost.
- Drainage: You generally need a linear drain. Why? Because a standard center drain requires the floor to slope from four directions, which makes the tub sit at an awkward angle. A linear drain allows for a single, flat slope.
- Grout: Use epoxy grout. Regular cementitious grout is porous. In a high-moisture zone like this, standard grout will turn orange or black within six months regardless of how much you scrub.
Why the freestanding tub is the only real choice here
You can’t really do an alcove tub inside a shower. It looks weird. It creates "dead zones" where water gets trapped between the tub wall and the shower glass. A shower with tub inside almost demands a freestanding pedestal or a clawfoot.
Cleaning behind a freestanding tub is a pain. You need enough clearance—at least 4 to 6 inches—between the tub and the glass or wall so you can actually get a mop back there. Otherwise, you’re just breeding a colony of dust bunnies and soap scum in a spot you can’t reach.
Maintenance is a different beast
Let’s be real. You’re going to be cleaning a lot of glass. A standard shower has maybe 15 to 20 square feet of glass. A shower with tub inside can have 40 to 60 square feet.
If you have hard water, this layout is your mortal enemy.
The steam from the shower travels and settles on the tub, the fixtures, and every inch of that glass. You have to squeegee. Every. Single. Time. Or, you spend the extra money on factory-applied glass coatings like ShowerGuard that help repel the minerals. It's an upgrade that pays for itself in sheer hours of labor saved.
The Accessibility Paradox
The shower with tub inside is ironically great for aging in place, provided it’s designed correctly. If it’s curbless (no lip to trip over), a person can roll a wheelchair right into the shower area. However, the tub remains an obstacle. If you're designing for 20 years from now, ensure there is enough room to navigate around the tub to reach the shower bench.
Architects often refer to "Universal Design" principles here. The goal is a space that works for a toddler's bubble bath and a senior's safe shower simultaneously.
Breaking down the cost: Is it worth it?
A mid-range bathroom remodel usually sits around $25,000. For a shower with tub inside, you’re looking at $35,000 to $60,000.
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Why the jump?
Plumbing. You aren't just moving a showerhead; you're often rerouting the main stack to accommodate two high-flow drains and separate valves for the tub filler and the shower. Then there's the tile. You’re essentially tiling an entire room-within-a-room.
- Plumbing Labor: $4,000 - $7,000
- Waterproofing & Tile Labor: $8,000 - $12,000
- Materials (High-end tile/fixtures): $10,000+
- Custom Glass: $3,000 - $5,000
Choosing your fixtures wisely
Don't put a cheap tub filler in a wet room. Because the filler is inside the shower area, it’s going to get sprayed with soapy water and body oils. Cheap finishes will pit and corrode. Look for PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) finishes—they are molecularly bonded to the metal and are basically indestructible.
Also, consider the "splash zone."
If your showerhead is directly across from your tub, you're going to get cold spray in your bathwater. Ideally, the showerhead and the tub filler are on the same wall or perpendicular walls, aimed away from each other.
Final considerations for your layout
Most people regret not adding a handheld sprayer near the tub. Even if you have a massive rainfall head for the shower, you need a way to rinse the tub after a bath. Scrubbing a tub without a sprayer is a workout nobody wants.
And lighting? Put it on a dimmer.
There is nothing worse than trying to take a relaxing soak in a shower with tub inside while four recessed LED "cans" are screaming at your eyeballs from the ceiling.
Actionable Next Steps
If you’re serious about this layout, start by measuring your space. You need a minimum of 30 square feet for the shower area and another 15 to 20 for the tub.
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- Check your floor joists. A cast iron tub filled with water can weigh over 1,000 pounds. Putting that inside a shower requires a reinforced subfloor.
- Consult a plumber specifically about "drain venting." Large wet rooms often need specialized venting to prevent the "glugging" sound when both the tub and shower drain at once.
- Choose your tile size. Large-format tiles (12x24 or 24x48) mean fewer grout lines. Fewer grout lines mean less scrubbing. But, you’ll need a pro who knows how to "envelope cut" those large tiles to create the necessary slope toward the drain.
- Get a quote for a commercial-grade exhaust fan. You aren't just venting a shower; you're venting a massive humidity chamber. Aim for a fan rated for at least 100-150 CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute) to prevent peeling paint on the bathroom ceiling outside the glass.
The shower with tub inside is a bold design choice that radically changes the utility of a home. It’s a luxury move, sure, but when executed with proper waterproofing and a smart layout, it turns a chore into an actual experience. Just don't forget the squeegee.