The standard tub size displaces more than 13 square feet of floor space; a corner shower stall unit, while it occupies about 30 percent less room, still takes up about 9 square feet. Since small full bathrooms can be as small as 36 to 40 square feet, positioning the bathtub is no easy feat. Because bathrooms tend to be small spaces with many elements, space planning is of utmost importance. Homeowners and designers working out bathroom plans often find themselves nudging items by inches rather than by feet in order to get things just right. Knowing standard bathtub sizes is the first step toward smart, effective bathroom planning. In practice, this may not be also possible, but even in small, cramped bathrooms, the toilet or vanity cabinet should be spaced at least 12 inches away from the edge of the tub, and the rest of the tub should have open floor space at least 24 inches wide.
Typical Bathtub Sizes
Averages and ranges for bathtub sizes for standard bathtubs, plus specialty tubs like oval, corner, and whirlpool bathtubs. In narrow bathrooms, a typical configuration is to situate the tub alcove so that the two long walls of the room form the ends of the alcove and the back wall forms the enclosure’s side. The room’s walls naturally form the alcove. This generally works well in a small 6-foot-wide bathroom that’s considered the minimum size for accommodating a full bathroom. However, in larger bathrooms, the walls are often too far apart to form a natural alcove. In this kind of bathroom, an extra partition wall might be constructed to isolate the tub alcove from a small privacy alcove for the toilet. Larger bathrooms have many more options for positioning the tub within the space. Bathtubs designed for alcoves generally have a finished front panel called an apron. The two side ends and the back side are open since these sides will be covered by the walls of the alcove. Alcove bathtubs range in size from 5 to 6 feet long, and 30 to 36 inches wide, which lets you choose a tub appropriate for your space.
Small Alcove Bathtubs
Very small bathtubs are not common but they are slowly gaining acceptance, largely because of the popularity of the tiny house movement. If you have a very small bathroom, your best bet is to forego the tub altogether and install a shower instead. But if you don’t love the idea of giving up a spa-like bath in your tiny bathroom, this size is your best option:
Length: 54 inchesWidth: 30 inchesHeight: 15 inches
Moderately Sized Bathtubs
Millions of bathrooms are outfitted with this standard-sized bathtub, which fits the natural alcove size in most bathrooms. In most remodeling projects, this will be the type of alcove tub you install, since other options would require a build-out to change the physical size of the bathroom itself.
Length: 60 inchesWidth: 32 inchesHeight: 18 inches
Long Bathtubs
This popular segment of the alcove tub market adds an extra foot to the length and several inches to the width of a standard alcove tub. This supersizing of the tub will accommodate larger sized bathers or two people. Or it is the perfect bathtub for people who simply want more space to splash about. This long bathtub will not fit in most natural alcove spaces, but it can be a good option for new construction projects or for remodels that involve moving walls for added space.
Length: 72 inchesWidth: 36 inchesHeight: 20 inches
In medium-sized bathrooms, the deck for a drop-in tub is sometimes fitted into an alcove, with the deck exposed only on one side. But in larger bathrooms, the tub deck can fit into a room corner and be left exposed on two sides. In very large bathrooms, such tubs can even be fitted into pedestal decks that are exposed on all sides. Drop-in bathtubs are usually best suited for larger spaces since the constructed deck takes up a considerable amount of extra space in the room. It’s standard practice to construct the deck for a drop-in tub so there are at least 6 inches of flat deck space around all sides of the tub. This means the deck structure needs to be at least 1-foot longer and wider than the tub itself.
Length: 45 to 72 inchesWidth: 30 to 32 inchesHeight:14 to 20 inches
Remember that during planning you’ll need to add a full foot to both the length and width to accommodate the constructed deck that surrounds the bathtub. Comparing a standard-size oval bathtub with a similarly sized alcove tub (60 inches), the oval proves to be up to 6 inches wider. For the drop-in variety of oval tubs, this means that you must build a wider apron for the tub to rest in, which you must plan for as you design the bathroom layout.
Length: 60 inchesWidth: 41 inchesHeight: 24 inches
Oval bathtubs may be an impractical choice for small bathrooms. Fitting one in can be tricky even in a medium-sized room. They can be quite effective in larger bathrooms, or medium-sized bathrooms with a long configuration, in which the extra width of the tub is not a problem. The thin acrylic shell provides ample interior space for hiding the tubes for the jets and the pump unit. Six-foot rectangular sizes are available, as well as high-sided whirlpool walk-in tubs.
Length: 60 inchesWidth: 32 inches to 36 inchesHeight: 18 inches to 23 1/4 inches
A whirlpool tub can be a viable option in almost any medium- to large-sized bathroom that can accommodate a standard alcove tub or drop-in tub. Marje / Getty Images For placement, it helps to think of corner bathtubs as square-shaped, not triangular, since they dominate a hefty footprint in the bathroom. Essentially, a corner tub is a square with one corner snipped off. A corner tub can be configured in several ways. Some tubs are indeed shaped with a triangular shell, but it is also possible to use a drop-in style tub that is fit into a triangular-shaped deck built into a corner of the room. Many standard-sized corner bathtubs can fit in alcoves, but they will take up a good amount of space. These are tubs best suited for rather large bathrooms.
Length: 60 inchesWidth: 60 inchesHeight: 22 inches
With a freestanding tub, it’s accepted practice to provide an extra 3 inches of space around the ends of the tub and 4 inches between the side of the tub and the wall. So if you want to fit this tub into a natural alcove space, it will need to be about 6 inches shorter than the alcove’s width (3 inches at both the head and foot of the tub). In other words, when planning the tub’s location in the room, use a footprint size that is 6 inches longer and 4 inches wider than the tub’s actual dimensions. The standard size for a freestanding tub is:
Length: 55 to 72 inches (about 4 1/2 to 6 feet)Width: 27 to 32 inchesHeight: 15 to 20 inches
However, remember that the tub’s style may change the space required in the bathroom. And remember that the tub will require extra clearance around the ends and sides of the tub. These are bathtubs that are best suited to large bathrooms, or to medium-sized bathrooms with a shape that accommodates such a tub.
