What is a full bath? We all know there are many sizes of bathrooms—full, half, and even three-quarters—but what do the other fractions mean? This is a typical question among house sellers, especially when it comes to selling and pricing their homes. So, whether you’re planning a makeover, selling (here’s how to locate a real estate agent in your area), or simply wondering about the number of bathrooms in your home, here’s a primer on bathroom sizes.
If you’re looking to buy a house, you might be disappointed to find that what you thought was a full bath was actually a three-quarter bath. Because the phrases “three-quarters bath” and “full bath” are often used interchangeably and occasionally to convey a difference in the contents of a bathroom, you should understand what these terms mean and how the terminology impacts the home’s worth and décor style.
What is a full bath
A complete bathroom consists of four components: a sink, shower, bathtub, and toilet. You can’t properly call it a complete bath if it’s less than that.
The arithmetic is straightforward: each utility is counted as a quarter, so you add and subtract a quarter for each one, as needed. As a result, a three-quarter bath is defined as a bathroom with a sink, toilet, and shower. A half-bath is a bathroom with only a sink and a toilet. A quarter-bath is uncommon for the obvious (and sanitary) reason that if you have a toilet, you need a sink to wash your hands, and a room with only a sink seems strange.
How to build a full bath
As you can see, a full bathroom may not include all of the fixtures you’d anticipate. A four-piece bathroom may appear to contain a shower and a tub, but it might also feature two sinks. You may need to view the house or determine what the bathroom arrangement is like from the listing photographs if the property listing doesn’t offer you the full story. It should be noted that a three-piece bathroom that lacks a shower or tub but has two sinks is not considered a complete bathroom. This is how you can build an ideal full bath.
- Space requirements: A complete bathroom is usually larger than a three-quarter bathroom. The master bathroom may or may not be a complete bathroom, although it is often larger than a three-quarter bath. Three-quarter bathrooms are generally smaller in size, with little wasted space. A complete bathroom may give a lot of space that isn’t taken up by fixtures.
- Bathroom decor: Due to the smaller size of a three-quarter bath, a strong or thematic décor approach works well and has a greater effect than a neutral three-quarters bath. A beach motif, for example, is achieved by painting the bathroom sky blue, beach images, and a graphic shower curtain. Another choice is a safari bathroom, which is decorated with huge framed photos, bamboo floors, and an elaborate vanity mirror and is painted in a bright red or brown. Full baths should be designed to show off their size with a more neutral color scheme and a double sink.
Half baths and Quarter Baths
A half-bath, often known as a powder room or guest bath, is a bathroom with only two of the four major bathroom components—usually a toilet and sink. In a multistory home, the half-bath is usually found on the main floor. It is utilized by visitors who stop through for a few hours.
Adding a half-bath to your house is one of the most profitable home renovations you can do, according to most real estate professionals.
If you spend around $4,000, which is really all it should cost to turn a closet into a half-bath, you’ll be OK. When you sell your house, all of this and more will be returned to you.
A three-quarter bathroom, as you may have guessed, lacks one of the four fixtures listed above. The tub is the most typical example. The most common features of a three-quarter bathroom are an upright stall shower, a basin, and a toilet. A three-quarter bath, on the other hand, may just contain a sink, toilet, and tub, with no shower, in older homes or condominiums. The new owner usually often transforms it into a complete bathroom by placing a shower head above the tub and surrounding it with a shower curtain in this example. That’s a simple and affordable method to give your bathtub a facelift, especially if the walls surrounding it are already tiled.
Home value for a full bath
The price difference between a three-quarter bath and a full bath is negligible. This means that a bathroom with a bathtub isn’t worth much more than one with just a shower. The value of the bathroom, on the other hand, is determined by a variety of factors, including the wants of potential homebuyers.
Families with small children may be hesitant to purchase a property if there is no bathroom with a bathtub elsewhere in the house. Furthermore, the worth of a bathroom would be determined by the existing number of bathrooms in the property as well as their location.
A house with two bathrooms and a half bath is unlikely to be valued less than a house with three full baths. If the house just had one bathroom, however, a full bath would certainly be more valuable than a three-quarter bath. In the same way, three-quarters of a bathroom would certainly be sufficient in a basement, but many homeowners want a full bath on the main floor. The worth of a bathroom is determined by the surrounding neighborhood, buyer expectations, and proximity to other bathrooms.
Finally, what about the rudimentary quarter-bathroom? A chamber that has only one of the four components, usually a toilet. For good reason, quarter bathrooms are uncommon. After doing their business, who doesn’t want to wash their hands? Another sort of quarter bathroom is a shower, which is usually situated near a pool for rinsing off.
These are the proper assessments of what is a full bath, and three quarter or quarter baths, and you can set up your bath according to your requirements.
