Tub-to-Shower Conversion

There is a bathtub in the hall bathroom of most houses in Essex and Union County. In a large number of those houses, nobody has taken a bath in it in years. It is used as a shower, awkwardly, by stepping over a fourteen-inch wall into a curved slippery basin.

Converting that alcove to a proper shower usually makes the room dramatically more usable, and it does so without moving a single wall.

Is it the right move for your house?

The straightforward case: you have more than one full bathroom, at least one of them keeps a tub, and the bathroom in question is used almost entirely for showering. Convert it.

The case for thinking harder: it is the only tub in the house, you have small children, or you genuinely take baths. A tub is also useful for washing a dog and for the occasional situation where sitting down in water is what is needed.

A middle path exists. If the house has two bathrooms, convert the one that is used daily and leave the tub in the other. That gives you the shower you actually want without eliminating the option entirely.

What the work actually involves

This is where the difference between a conversion and a bathtub liner becomes obvious. A conversion is a rebuild of the wet area.

Demolition

Tub out, surround off, walls opened to the studs in the wet area. Cast iron tubs are heavy enough that they are frequently broken up in place rather than carried out whole, which is loud but practical.

This is the diagnostic moment. In houses of this age we regularly find rotted subfloor at the tub apron where water has been running behind the surround for years, deteriorated plaster and lath, and galvanized supply lines that are closing up internally. None of it is unusual and all of it is easier to deal with now than later.

Drain relocation

A tub drains at one end. A shower drains near the middle. Moving the drain means opening the floor, cutting into the branch line, and setting the new drain with correct fall and proper venting.

Where there is an open basement below, this is ordinary work. Where there is a finished ceiling below, some of it comes down. On a slab, the concrete has to be cut and patched. The answer to "what is directly underneath this bathroom" determines a meaningful part of the cost, which is why we ask first.

Plumbing rough

The valve is normally replaced. A tub-shower valve has a diverter for the spout; a shower-only valve does not, and current requirements call for pressure-balancing or thermostatic protection. If you want a hand shower on a slide bar as well as a fixed head, the valve and supply have to be specified for that now.

Then the rough inspection, before anything is covered.

Pan and waterproofing

The shower floor is built with slope to the drain, and the whole assembly is waterproofed: either a sloped mortar bed with a liner or a pre-sloped foam pan with a bonded membrane, carried up the walls and detailed at every corner, at the curb and at the drain. This is the part that determines whether the shower is still sound in fifteen years, and it is covered in more depth on the shower remodeling page.

Tile, glass and finish

Backer board, tile to the height you want, to the ceiling reads better than stopping at six feet and is barely more work, then grout, sealing, and flexible sealant at every change of plane. Glass is measured after tiling because it is cut to the actual opening.

Design decisions in a conversion

Curb height. A standard curb of four to six inches contains water reliably. A low curb of two to three inches is much easier to step over and is what most people choose when they are thinking about the next twenty years. Curbless is the best to use, and it needs the shower floor recessed below the bathroom floor, so it depends on access to the framing.

Enclosure. A hinged glass door needs swing clearance, which in a small bathroom often puts it into the vanity. A fixed panel with an open entry avoids that entirely and makes the room feel larger. A sliding door on the 60-inch opening is the traditional answer and takes no clearance at all.

Niche. Almost always worth adding while the wall is open, since the alternative is a caddy hanging off the shower arm.

Seat. A fold-down seat or a small floating bench, if the household wants one. A full built-in bench in a 30-inch-deep alcove eats too much of the floor.

Blocking. Even if grab bars are not going in now, putting solid blocking in the walls while they are open costs almost nothing and saves a demolition later. We do this by default on conversions.

What this is not

There is a category of advertising promising a new bath in a day. Those products are acrylic or fiberglass panel systems installed over the existing surround, and there are situations where they are a reasonable choice: a rental unit, a quick refresh, a homeowner who explicitly wants low cost and low disruption.

What they do not do is address what is behind the wall. If the subfloor is rotted, if the framing is wet, if the supply lines are failing, a panel over the top hides it. And a genuine tub-to-shower conversion involves moving a drain, which is not a one-day operation under any circumstances.

We are not criticizing homeowners who choose that route. We are being clear that it is a different product than what is described on this page.

What drives the cost

• Drain relocation difficulty, open basement, finished ceiling below, or slab.
• Hidden damage at the tub apron and in the wall, which is common and unpredictable.
• Curb type. Curbless requires structural work that a standard curb does not.
• Tile selection and coverage, including height and pattern.
• Glass. Frameless panels cost considerably more than a sliding door.
• Valve and fixtures, particularly a thermostatic valve with multiple outlets.
• Supply line replacement if galvanized piping is found.

Related work

If you want the shower larger than the alcove, that becomes a full remodel. If the goal is primarily ease of use, see accessible bathroom remodeling and walk-in showers. If you would rather keep bathing, replacing the tub is the alternative.

Conversions across our service area

This is one of the most common jobs we do, in Irvington, Hillside, Union, Maplewood, Cranford and across our service area. Back to bathroom remodeling.

Every town has its own bathroom remodeling page covering the housing there and what it means for a project. See the full service area.