Tub to shower conversion cost dataset
This is the complete dataset behind the tub to shower calculator, at national wage rates. What makes it a conversion rather than a new shower is everything that has to be undone first — and the line that decides most of the budget is not the shower at all, it is whether the drain has to move. Last reviewed 2026-08-24.
The drain, and what it does to the total
| The drain | Trade hours | Total |
|---|---|---|
| End-drain base — the drain stays where it is | 22 | $3,842 |
| Centre drain, over a wood floor | 28 | $4,400 |
| Centre drain, over a concrete slab | 33 | $4,709 |
A bathtub drains at one end and most shower bases drain in the middle, so moving it means opening the floor: working between the joists over timber, or cutting and making good concrete over a slab, which is $867 more than leaving it alone. ⚠️ Two things follow. The way out costs nothing to ask for — end-drain bases exist and cost about the same. And cutting a slab is where the silica exposure on this job lives: OSHA, Crystalline Silica (retrieved 2026-08-24), which a hardware-store mask does not handle in a house somebody is living in.
Five real configurations
| Configuration | $5k | $10k | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| The cheapest honest versionA kit with an end drain, a curtain, the existing valve kept and two grab bars. | yes | yes | $2,772 |
| Kit, doors, new valveThe version most people actually buy, with the drain moved because nobody asked for an end-drain base. | yes | yes | $4,400 |
| Built for mobilityLow threshold, a curtain rather than a door so the opening stays clear, a seat, four grab bars and a handheld. | yes | yes | $4,779 |
| Solid surface and frameless glassThe one that looks like the photographs, without the tiling. | — | yes | $6,112 |
| Tiled, curbless, wheelchair-accessibleEverything: tile over a waterproofed pan, the floor dropped, a bench, four bars. | — | yes | $9,464 |
Two of the questions Google shows on this search are about those two budgets, and this is the answer from the model rather than from a shrug: 3 of the 5 come in under $5,000, including the one built for mobility. ⚠️ Every row prices the tub alcove becoming a shower and nothing else — the floor, the vanity, the toilet and the lighting are a bathroom remodel and a different dataset. And every row assumes nothing nasty is found behind the tub, which is what actually breaks bathroom budgets: a cast iron tub alone takes the reference job to $4,583.
System, enclosure and floor
| Prefabricated acrylic or fibreglass kit7 h base | $4,400 |
|---|---|
| Solid-surface panels over a moulded base9 h base | $5,386 |
| Tiled walls over a waterproofed pan18 h base | $7,435 |
| Curtain and rod | $3,763 |
| Sliding glass doors | $4,400 |
| Frameless glass panel or door | $5,127 |
| Standard curb | $4,400 |
|---|---|
| Low threshold | $4,555 |
| Curbless, level with the floor | $5,270 |
| Cast iron tub coming out | $4,583 |
⚠️ The right-hand table is the one that matters if this is being done for mobility, and it says something the brochures do not: a low threshold at $4,555 gets nearly all of the benefit of curbless at $5,270, because curbless is structural — the shower floor has to sit below the bathroom floor for the water to run out, so joists get dropped or the slab gets recessed. Curbless is worth every dollar for a wheelchair and money spent on nothing for somebody who can step over two inches. ⚠️ And a counterintuitive one on the left: a curtain beats a sliding door for accessibility, because a slider halves the opening.
On Medicare, and on the only bathtub
⚠️ This dataset prices work and does not advise on benefits. Medicare, Durable medical equipment (DME) coverage (read 2026-08-24) defines durable medical equipment as equipment that is durable, used for a medical reason, typically only useful to somebody who is sick or injured, used at home and expected to last at least three years — and the equipment it lists is canes, commode chairs, hospital beds, walkers and wheelchairs. A shower is a fixture of the building and it is useful to anybody. Medicare Advantage plans, state Medicaid waivers and veterans’ programmes differ, so that is a question for them. The other thing that is not a cost: if this is the only bathtub in the house, removing it is hard to undo, and a home with no bath is harder to sell to families with small children. The calculator has a box for it that deliberately does not change the figure, because inventing a number there would be worse than saying nothing.
Line items
63% of the reference total comes from estimated rather than official figures. The reference job is a 60-inch alcove, a prefabricated kit, sliding doors, a standard curb, a new valve, two grab bars, a handheld and the drain moved over a wood floor: 28 trade hours over about 65.4 square feet of wall and 13.3 of base. Systems, enclosures and floors that are not selected sit at zero quantity, so the table below is the whole catalogue rather than one job.
| Line item | Unit | Material | Equipment / hr | Trade | Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Take out the tub and surround, and dispose of it1 per job | each | $95 – $320 | — | — | estimated±54% |
| Demolition — labour5 h, or 9 h for cast iron, × access factor | hour | — | — | Construction Laborers | sourced |
| Relocate the drain from the end of the tub to the centre of the base (conditional)1 when the drain has to move | each | $85 – $290 | — | — | estimated±55% |
| Relocate the drain — labour (conditional)6 h over a wood floor, 11 h over a slab, × access factor | hour | — | — | Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters | sourced |
| Shower system — Prefabricated acrylic or fibreglass kit (conditional)wall area + base area, for this system | sq ft | $8.50 – $19 | — | — | estimated±38% |
| Prefabricated acrylic or fibreglass kit — labour (conditional)7 h scaled by wall area × access factor | hour | — | — | Carpenters | sourced |
| Shower system — Solid-surface panels over a moulded base (conditional)wall area + base area, for this system | sq ft | $15 – $34 | — | — | estimated±39% |
| Solid-surface panels over a moulded base — labour (conditional)9 h scaled by wall area × access factor | hour | — | — | Carpenters | sourced |
| Shower system — Tiled walls over a waterproofed pan (conditional)wall area + base area, for this system | sq ft | $22 – $58 | — | — | estimated±45% |
| Tiled walls over a waterproofed pan — labour (conditional)18 h scaled by wall area × access factor | hour | — | — | Tile and Stone Setters | sourced |
| Waterproofing membrane and pan preparation (conditional)wall and base area, on a tiled shower | sq ft | $2.10 – $5.60 | — | — | estimated±45% |
| Drop the floor for a curbless shower (conditional)1 on a curbless shower | each | $180 – $620 | — | — | estimated±55% |
| Drop the floor — labour (conditional)8 h over a wood floor, 14 h over a slab, × access factor | hour | — | — | Carpenters | sourced |
| Low-threshold base and trim (conditional)1 on a low-threshold shower | each | $75 – $235 | — | — | estimated±52% |
| New pressure-balancing or thermostatic valve (conditional)1 when the valve is replaced | each | $140 – $480 | — | — | estimated±55% |
| Fit the valve and the shower outlet — labour3.5 h with a new valve, 1.5 h without, × access factor | hour | — | — | Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters | sourced |
| Curtain rod and rings (conditional)1 when a curtain closes the opening | each | $22 – $85 | — | — | estimated±59% |
| Sliding glass doors and track (conditional)1 when sliding doors close the opening | each | $280 – $890 | — | — | estimated±52% |
| Frameless toughened glass panel or door (conditional)1 when a frameless panel closes the opening | each | $620 – $1,850 | — | — | estimated±50% |
| Fit the enclosure — labourhours for the chosen enclosure × access factor | hour | — | — | Carpenters | sourced |
| Grab bars, with blocking behind the wall (conditional)one per bar | each | $38 – $125 | — | — | estimated±53% |
| Fixed or folding shower seat (conditional)1 when a seat is fitted | each | $120 – $420 | — | — | estimated±56% |
| Handheld shower on a slide bar (conditional)1 when a handheld is fitted | each | $65 – $240 | — | — | estimated±57% |
| Patch, skim and paint where the surround met the wall1 per job | each | $45 – $165 | — | — | estimated±57% |
| Patch and paint — labour3 h × access factor | hour | — | — | Carpenters | sourced |
The reasoning behind each figure
- Take out the tub and surround, and dispose of itestimated, ±54%
- The skip or the disposal fee, sheeting to protect the route out, and the consumables. The hours are the next line.
- ⚠️ Everything that comes off the wall comes off in pieces, and what is behind it is not visible until it does. Budgeting nothing for what is found back there is the commonest way a bathroom quote goes wrong.
- Demolition — labour
- Five hours for an ordinary steel or acrylic tub and its surround, and nine for cast iron.
- ⚠️ Cast iron is the reason: a full-size cast iron tub weighs around three hundred pounds, so it either comes out in pieces — which is loud, sharp and slow — or it goes down the stairs with four people on it. It is one of the few places in a house where the demolition costs more than what replaces it.
- Relocate the drain from the end of the tub to the centre of the baseestimated, ±55%
- ⚠️ The line that decides half of this budget, and the one almost no advertised price includes. A bathtub drains at one end; most shower bases drain in the middle. Moving it means opening the floor.
- The way to avoid it entirely is to buy a base designed for an end drain. They exist, they cost the same, and asking for one is the single cheapest decision on this page.
- Relocate the drain — labour
- Six hours over a wood floor, working between or through the joists, and eleven over a slab, because the concrete has to be cut, the pipe run and the slab made good.
- ⚠️ Cutting a slab is where the silica exposure on this job is, and it is also where a surprise costs the most: what is under a bathroom slab is not known until it is open.
- Shower system — Prefabricated acrylic or fibreglass kitestimated, ±38%
- A moulded base and three wall panels that go in as a system. It is the fastest, the cheapest and the one least likely to leak, because there are far fewer joints for water to find. ⚠️ It also has to fit: kits come in fixed sizes, and a 60-inch tub alcove is the size most of them are made for, which is why this conversion is so much cheaper than moving walls.
- Priced over the wall area of the alcove plus the base. The three systems are separate lines rather than one averaged band, because a kit and a tiled shower are different products with different failure modes, not two prices for the same thing.
- Prefabricated acrylic or fibreglass kit — labour
- Modelled at 7 hours for a 60-inch alcove, scaled with the wall area. Tile is more than twice a kit because it is set, grouted and sealed in stages with waiting in between.
- A kit or a panel system goes in as one operation, which is why it is both cheaper and less likely to leak: fewer joints, fewer chances.
- Shower system — Solid-surface panels over a moulded baseestimated, ±39%
- Cut-to-size panels in a stone-look composite over a preformed base. It looks considerably better than a kit, it has no grout to clean, and it costs about half way between a kit and tile. The joints are sealed rather than grouted, which is the main reason it lasts.
- Priced over the wall area of the alcove plus the base. The three systems are separate lines rather than one averaged band, because a kit and a tiled shower are different products with different failure modes, not two prices for the same thing.
- Solid-surface panels over a moulded base — labour
- Modelled at 9 hours for a 60-inch alcove, scaled with the wall area. Tile is more than twice a kit because it is set, grouted and sealed in stages with waiting in between.
- A kit or a panel system goes in as one operation, which is why it is both cheaper and less likely to leak: fewer joints, fewer chances.
- Shower system — Tiled walls over a waterproofed panestimated, ±45%
- The most expensive and the most flexible: any size, any shape, and the only option for a genuinely curbless floor. ⚠️ It is also the only one whose success depends entirely on work you will never see — the waterproofing under the tile. A tiled shower that leaks does not leak visibly, it leaks into the floor, and that is the single most expensive failure in a bathroom.
- Priced over the wall area of the alcove plus the base. The three systems are separate lines rather than one averaged band, because a kit and a tiled shower are different products with different failure modes, not two prices for the same thing.
- Tiled walls over a waterproofed pan — labour
- Modelled at 18 hours for a 60-inch alcove, scaled with the wall area. Tile is more than twice a kit because it is set, grouted and sealed in stages with waiting in between.
- ⚠️ Cutting tile dry produces respirable crystalline silica, which OSHA regulates and which a hardware-store dust mask does not handle. A crew wet-cutting outside or using extraction is doing it right.
- Waterproofing membrane and pan preparationestimated, ±45%
- ⚠️ Only on a tiled shower, and it is the whole ball game. Tile and grout are not waterproof — they are a wearing surface over something that is. The membrane under and behind them is what keeps the water in the shower.
- It is also invisible once the tile is on, which is why it is the first thing a cheap quote deletes and the last thing you find out about. Ask what system is being used and ask to see it before the tile goes on.
- Drop the floor for a curbless showerestimated, ±55%
- ⚠️ Structural rather than cosmetic. For water to run out of a shower that has no upstand, the shower floor has to sit below the bathroom floor — so the joists get sistered and dropped, or the slab gets recessed. This is the line that makes curbless cost what it costs.
- It is worth every dollar for somebody who uses a wheelchair or a walking frame, and it is money spent on nothing for somebody who can step over two inches. Our model prices a low threshold as the middle option for exactly that reason.
- Drop the floor — labour
- Eight hours over a wood floor and fourteen over a slab. ⚠️ On a wood floor it is structural carpentry and the joists have to end up carrying what they carried before; on a slab it is concrete work in a room the size of a cupboard.
- Low-threshold base and trimestimated, ±52%
- A base moulded with a two-inch upstand instead of the usual four to six, plus the trim to meet the floor. It needs no structural work, which is the entire point of it.
- For most people converting a tub for mobility this is the option that matters: nearly all of the benefit of a curbless shower, at a fraction of the cost and none of the disruption.
- New pressure-balancing or thermostatic valveestimated, ±55%
- The wall is open, so this is the moment. A valve that holds the temperature when a tap runs elsewhere in the house is a comfort feature in a bath and a safety feature in a shower — a sudden change of temperature is a scald or a startled step backwards.
- ⚠️ Doing it later means opening the wall again, so the real choice is now or never rather than now or later.
- Fit the valve and the shower outlet — labour
- Three and a half hours with a new valve, and one and a half to reconnect an existing one to a shower outlet and cap the tub spout.
- Curtain rod and ringsestimated, ±59%
- Cheap, and better than it sounds for accessibility: nothing to open, nothing to step over, and a wheelchair or a carer can get through it. It is what most conversions done for mobility actually use.
- Sliding glass doors and trackestimated, ±52%
- The usual choice. ⚠️ Worth knowing before buying it for an accessible bathroom: a sliding door halves the opening, so it works against the reason a lot of people are doing this conversion in the first place. The bottom track also collects everything and is the part that fails.
- Frameless toughened glass panel or doorestimated, ±50%
- A fixed panel or a hinged door in thick toughened glass. It looks the best by a wide margin and a fixed panel with a walk-in gap keeps the opening clear. It is also the dearest by a wide margin, and it needs the wall behind it to be plumb, which an old bathroom often is not.
- ⚠️ Frameless glass is made to measure from a survey taken after the walls are finished, so it arrives days or weeks after everything else. Plan for a curtain in the meantime rather than being surprised by it.
- Fit the enclosure — labour
- From under half an hour for a rod to three and a half for a frameless panel, which has to be set plumb against a wall that rarely is.
- Grab bars, with blocking behind the wallestimated, ±53%
- ⚠️ The cheapest thing on this page and, for a lot of the people doing this conversion, the whole reason for it. Falls are the leading cause of injury among older adults and the bathroom is where a lot of them happen.
- ⚠️ A grab bar is only as good as what it is screwed to. The wall is open right now, which is the one moment in twenty years when solid blocking can be put in behind the plasterboard for nothing. Suction-cup bars are not grab bars.
- Fixed or folding shower seatestimated, ±56%
- A folding seat that clears the floor when not in use, or a tiled bench built into the corner. The folding kind needs the same blocking as a grab bar and for the same reason.
- It is the other half of what makes a converted shower usable for somebody who cannot stand for long, and it is much cheaper to put in now than to add later.
- Handheld shower on a slide barestimated, ±57%
- A hose and a bracket that slides up and down. It sounds trivial and it is the single most useful accessibility item in the room: it lets somebody wash sitting down, and it lets a carer help without getting soaked.
- Flow rates are federally regulated, so a WaterSense-labelled head uses less water without the pressure loss people expect — worth knowing because the low-flow head is often blamed for a shower that is really suffering from a partly closed valve.
- Patch, skim and paint where the surround met the wallestimated, ±57%
- A shower enclosure is taller than a tub surround, so the new one almost never lands where the old one did. The band of wall in between has to be made good and painted, and it is always there and never in a quote.
- Patch and paint — labour
- Three hours across two visits, because filler and paint both have to dry.
Not included in this dataset
- Whatever is behind the tub
- ⚠️ Rotten subfloor, a leaking valve that has been dripping into the wall for years, or plumbing that is not to current standards. None of it is visible until the tub is out, all of it is common in the houses where this conversion happens, and a quote that does not say what happens if there is some is a quote to be careful with.
- The rest of the bathroom
- This prices the tub alcove becoming a shower. The floor, the vanity, the toilet, the lighting and the extractor are a bathroom remodel, which is a different page here — and if all of it is being done at once, doing it together is much cheaper than doing it in two visits.
- What Medicare or insurance will pay
- ⚠️ People ask, and the honest answer is a criterion rather than a number. Medicare defines durable medical equipment as equipment that is durable, used for a medical reason, typically only useful to somebody who is sick or injured, used at home and expected to last at least three years — and the equipment it lists is canes, commode chairs, hospital beds, walkers and wheelchairs. A shower is a fixture of the building and it is useful to anybody. This page prices work and does not advise on benefits: Medicare Advantage plans and state Medicaid waivers vary, so check with them rather than with us.
- Losing the only bathtub in the house
- ⚠️ Not a cost and worth more thought than most of the costs. A house with no bathtub at all is harder to sell to families with small children, and that is a real number that does not appear in any quote. If this is the only tub, the question is whether the household needs a bath more than it needs a step-free shower — and for a lot of people the answer really is the shower.
- A walk-in tub instead
- The other way to solve the same problem, and it is a different product with different trade-offs — you sit in it while it fills and drains, and it keeps a bath in the house. We price it on its own page, and the comparison between the two is on this one.
Use the calculator, compare a walk-in tub or refinishing the tub you have, or read the full method.