Remodeling services
Tub to shower conversion: the drain decides the job
What changes when the tub comes out, the code lines that apply, and the questions that separate two bids. Plan your remodel: tell us the project and a person replies.
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Written by HyreRemodel Research Desk Primary-source research and fact checking
The short answer
Tub to shower conversion removes a bathtub and builds a shower in the same alcove, with a new floor pan or sloped mortar bed, a membrane, a shower valve and glass or a curtain.
The job is set by the drain: a tub drain sits in a different place and height than a shower drain, so it almost always moves.
What decides a tub to shower conversion?
A shower floor slopes to its own drain, usually centered or along one wall, so the old tub drain is cut out and re-piped.
Where the tub held water inside its own shell, the new floor needs a pan or membrane that turns up the walls and over the curb.
Taking out the last tub can matter to families with small children and to some buyers. Decide that first.
Plan your tub to shower conversion
Free, with no obligation. A person at HyreRemodel replies by email. Matching with remodeling contractors is not live yet.
Who converts a tub to a shower?
The usual reasons, and the one that should make you pause.
A low curb or a curbless shower removes the climb.
The tub is used only as a shower with a curtain that leaks onto the floor.
Loose tile or a cracked liner means the wall is being opened anyway.
Keep one in the house if you bathe small children or expect to sell to buyers who will.
What does a tub to shower conversion include?
The steps a full conversion runs through, in order. A one-day "liner" product skips several of them, which is the main thing to know when comparing it.
Tub, wall tile or panels and backer come out to the studs. In a house built before 1978, painted walls and ceilings fall under the EPA lead-safe rule.
The tub drain and overflow are removed and a shower drain set at the new spot, tied back to the trap with slope. Access is from below, through the floor, or through a slab.
The tub spout is gone, so the valve body is replaced or converted for a shower-only outlet at a new height.
A curb is framed where the tub apron stood, or the floor is recessed for a curbless entry. Then a preformed base or a sloped mortar bed.
Approved backer on the walls and a membrane or liner over the floor, up the walls and over the curb. See shower pan.
Wall finish, niche and bench, then the glass is measured on the finished walls and made to order.
What permits and code apply to a tub to shower conversion?
Moving a drain and replacing a valve is plumbing work that most building departments permit. These are the code lines a conversion runs into, from the model codes most states adopt.
The 2021 International Residential Code, Section P2708.1, sets a minimum interior area and minimum width for a shower compartment. Most standard tub alcoves clear it; a narrow one may not.
Section P2708.4 requires shower valves to be pressure-balancing, thermostatic or combination type meeting ASSE 1016 or ASME A112.18.1, with a limit stop set to 120°F. Keeping an old two-handle tub valve does not meet this.
Section P2709 covers shower receptors and the liner under a built-up floor, including how far it turns up the walls.
Section R308.4.5 treats glass in a shower enclosure as a hazardous location, so the door and panels must be safety glazing.
Which permit, who pulls it, and whether the pan is inspected (often with a flood test) before tile covers it. Your building department decides; see permits and approvals.
What changes the budget of a tub to shower conversion?
No figures here, by policy: see what drives a remodeling budget and run your own numbers in the calculator below. These are the lines that move it.
| Factor | Why it changes the number |
|---|---|
| What is under the floor | An open basement or crawl space makes the drain move simple. A finished ceiling below has to be opened and patched; a slab has to be cut and re-poured. |
| Prefab base or tiled floor | A preformed base is fewer labor steps. A tiled floor over a mortar bed and membrane is more labor, and is what allows a custom size or curbless entry. |
| Curb or curbless | A curbless entry means recessing the floor framing, which is structural work, not tile work. |
| Wall finish | Solid-surface or acrylic panels go up faster than tile; large tile needs flatter walls. |
| Glass | A curtain, a framed door or frameless panels. Frameless glass is heavier and needs solid blocking. |
| What demolition finds | Rot under a leaking tub is common. The proposal should say how it is priced. |
HyreRemodel publishes no national average price for this work. Size, finish level, whether plumbing, wiring or walls move, the age of the house and regional labor rates move it far enough that a single figure would mislead.
Is this the last bathtub in the house?
If yes, weigh who bathes now and who might buy later before committing; a tub can stay in a second bathroom while this one becomes the easy shower. If no, the question is only curb or curbless, and that turns on the floor framing.
Price your conversion in the bathroom remodel cost calculator
How to compare tub to shower conversion bids
Your inquiry
Tell us about the remodel
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Questions
Can a tub to shower conversion be done without moving the drain?
Do I need a permit to convert a tub to a shower?
Will removing my only bathtub hurt resale?
How is this different from a walk-in shower installation?
Does HyreRemodel do tub to shower conversions?
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