Have you ever seen a house listing that advertises a half bath? Or maybe it lists a three-quarter bath, or even a quarter bath? What do those terms even mean? Whether you’re buying or selling a home, it’s helpful to know just what goes into defining a bathroom. Here’s the scoop.

Full bathroom

First, let’s start with a full bathroom. A full bathroom is comprised of four parts – a toilet, a sink, a bathtub and a shower. In order for a bathroom to be listed as a “full” bath, it must contain all four parts. Of course, a bathroom can contain other fixtures as well. This includes a linen closet, a bidet, or his-and-hers sinks. But those are just icing on the cake. As long as a bathroom contains the four essential items of shower, bath, sink and toilet, it’s a full bath.

Three-quarter bathroom

A three-quarter bathroom, as you might suspect, contains three of the four components of a full bath. In most cases, the item that is missing from a three-quarter bath is the bathtub. Three-quarter bathrooms typically feature a sink, toilet and shower stall. However, there are some three-quarter bathrooms that have a bathtub with no shower. If you have this type of bathroom and are listing your home for sale, it’s easy to upgrade to a full bath. Simply install a showerhead over the tub and enclose the tub with a curtain.

Half bathroom

A half bathroom is commonly referred to as a guest bathroom or even a powder room. They contain half of the components of a full bath. In most cases, this would include a toilet and a sink. Half bathrooms are commonly located on the main floor of a home and are used by guests. Half bathrooms can definitely increase the resale value of your home. If you’d like to add one, it’s often easy to locate them in a rarely used closet.

Quarter bathroom

It’s rare that you’ll find a listing with a quarter bath, but they do exist. Quarter baths contain one of the four elements of a full bath. This is usually a toilet or a sink. It’s odd to find a toilet without a sink for washing up, or a room that only contains a sink. In some cases, you may find a listing for a quarter bath that contains just a shower. This is more common for homes that have a pool. The lone shower will be located near the pool so that swimmers can rinse off afterwards.

Do two half baths equal a full bath?

You may be wondering how multiple half baths are represented in a listing. Generally, they are not added together for a final count. For example, if a home has two full bathrooms and two half bathrooms, it will be listed as such. Those two half bathrooms will not be added together to create three full baths for the listing. The idea in the listing is to accurately represent what the home contains.

So there you have it. Now if you see a listing, or are preparing to sell your home, you know exactly how each bathroom should be defined.

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