How much does a tub-to-shower conversion cost in Auburn, AL?

• Demolition: the tub, surround tile or fiberglass, and wall board come out, usually down to the studs on the wet walls. That's when we see whether the subfloor or framing behind a 20-year-old tub has been getting wet.
• Drain: a shower drain is typically 2 inches where a tub drain is often 1½, and it has to sit where the pan can slope to it. Moving it means opening the floor, or on a slab, cutting concrete.
• Valve: a new shower valve goes in at shower height. Plumbing code requires a pressure-balancing or thermostatic valve on showers, so an old tub valve rarely stays.
• Pan and slope: a mortar bed or a foam tray sloped toward the drain, with a curb or recessed for a curbless entry.
• Waterproofing: a membrane over the whole wet area, then a flood test before any tile goes on.
• Finish: tile or panels, a niche or bench if you want one, glass, trim, paint and a correctly sized exhaust fan.

A conversion is rarely a "refresh." Our refresh tier ($6,000–$12,000) assumes the tub or shower stays where it is. Taking the tub out and building a waterproofed tile shower lands in the full hall bath tier, $14,000–$26,000, and at standard finishes can start around $12,000. Frameless glass, floor-to-ceiling tile, a relocated drain or a curbless entry pushes it toward $26,000–$48,000.

Most of the swing between two quotes is tile labor, glass and how much of the rest of the bathroom gets redone at the same time. If the vanity, toilet and floor are dated too (see our bathroom remodel cost guide for those ranges), doing them during the same mobilization costs less than coming back later. You can price your own version with our bathroom cost estimator.

A standard shower has a low curb, usually a few inches tall, that keeps water in. It's the simpler, less expensive build. A curbless (zero-entry) shower has the floor of the shower flush with the bathroom, which is easier for anyone with a walker, a wheelchair or unsteady balance, and it looks clean and modern.

The catch is the floor structure. On a wood-framed floor over a crawlspace, we recess the subfloor between the joists so the pan can slope without a step. On a slab, the concrete is cut and lowered around the drain. Either way it adds framing or concrete work, and the waterproofing usually extends onto the bathroom floor beyond the glass.

Tile and grout are not waterproof on their own. What keeps water out of your walls is the membrane underneath. Two common systems are sheet membranes and liquid-applied membranes. Schluter describes KERDI as a sheet waterproofing membrane and vapor retarder bonded to the wall with thin-set mortar, made for tiled showers and tub surrounds. Custom Building Products' RedGard is a roll-on liquid membrane; its data sheet calls for at least two coats, and it goes on pink and dries to dark red, which makes thin spots easy to catch.

Whichever system is used, the pan gets flood-tested: the drain is plugged, the pan is filled and left to confirm it holds water. We photograph the membrane and the flood test and send you the photos before tile covers them. The failure we see most in older baths is tile over plain drywall or green board with no membrane at all.

Panels suit rentals and quick turnarounds. Tile suits a primary bath you plan to live with for a long time. Both still need a correct pan, slope and sealed seams.

• Selections and ordering: 1–3 weeks before demolition, so tile, valve and fixtures are on site on day one.
• Demolition, plumbing rough-in and inspection: 2–4 days.
• Pan, membrane and flood test: 2–4 days, including cure time.
• Tile, grout and fixtures: 4–7 working days for a typical alcove shower.
• Glass: measured after tile is set, then usually 1–2 weeks to fabricate and install. You can shower before the glass arrives with a temporary curtain.

Usually, yes. Replacing a tub with a shower changes the drain and the valve, and new or relocated plumbing needs a permit. In Auburn, that goes through Auburn Inspection Services; in Opelika, through the City's Building Inspection Division; outside city limits, through Lee County. We pull the permit in our name and schedule the inspections. Our permit guide explains what each office covers.

The advice real estate agents give most often on this is simple: keep at least one bathtub in the house. Families with small children and some buyers who like a soak will look for one, and a house with no tub can narrow the pool of buyers. Converting the primary bath's tub to a big walk-in shower while keeping a tub in the hall bath is the usual compromise. If yours is the only tub in a three-bedroom house, think about who buys that house next before removing it.

For ventilation, the Home Ventilating Institute recommends 1 CFM of exhaust per square foot for bathrooms up to 100 square feet, with 50 CFM as a minimum, and for larger baths 50 CFM each for the toilet, shower and tub. The fan should duct outside, not into the attic, and a fan rated 1.0 sones or less is quiet enough that people actually run it. In a Lee County summer, that matters for mildew.

• Blocking between studs for grab bars, even if you don't want bars today. It costs little now and a lot later.
• A handheld shower on a slide bar, easy to reach from a seat.
• A built-in bench or a spot for a fold-down seat.
• Slip-resistant floor tile; smaller tiles give more grout lines and more grip.
• A niche placed so you don't have to bend or reach across the spray.