Tub to Shower Conversions Across the Wasatch Front

This is the most common bathroom request we hear, and it is usually the right call. A tub nobody has taken a bath in for years is a large obstacle to step over every morning, and the space it occupies can become a shower that is genuinely better to use. But the decision deserves one honest question before anything comes out: does your household need at least one tub somewhere in the house?

Once that is settled, the rest is a construction problem, and it happens below the finish. A tub drain and a shower drain do not sit in the same place, so the floor usually opens. If you want a low threshold or no curb at all, the floor structure has to be recessed or the surrounding floor built up, which is framing work rather than tile work. None of that is a reason to avoid the project. It is a reason to know what you are signing up for.

What changes when the tub comes out

• The drain location — A tub drains at the end wall. A shower drains where you decide, and getting the new line there with proper fall usually means opening the floor and working around joists.
• The floor at the threshold — A curb, a low threshold, or no threshold at all are three different framing situations. Curbless means recessing the structure or building the rest of the floor up to meet it.
• The valve and rough plumbing — The mixing valve moves up and often over, and the tub spout goes away. Whatever is behind that wall gets opened, which is the right moment to look hard at the supply lines.
• Wall height and waterproofing — A tub surround stops partway up. A shower runs higher and wetter, so the waterproofed area grows and every seam and corner inside it has to be properly detailed.
• Glass and how the room feels — A glass panel or door changes the sightline through the room more than any finish choice. It also has to land on a curb or threshold that was built dead flat and true.
• Storage and the niche — A recessed niche has to fall between studs and outside any wall carrying plumbing. Where it goes is a framing decision, made long before anybody opens a box of tile.

How the tub-versus-shower decision actually gets made

1. Count the tubs in the house — If this is the only one, weigh it against how your household really lives. Young kids, pets, and future buyers all have opinions. If another bathroom has a tub, the conversion is an easy yes.
2. Look at the floor, not the tile — How low you want the threshold decides whether joists get touched. Ask early, because a curbless shower quoted as a tile change is a quote from someone who has not looked underneath.
3. Set the drain and valve locations — Where you stand, where the water lands, and where the controls sit all get fixed at rough-in. These are hard to change later, and together they define how the shower feels to use.
4. Waterproof, then tile — The membrane assembly goes in over the new floor and wall framing and gets tied into the drain. Tile follows. That order never reverses, and the waterproofing never gets skipped.

What it costs

Three things drive a conversion more than anything else. First, whether the drain and valve move and how far, because that decides whether the floor opens. Second, the threshold: a standard curb is ordinary work, while a curbless or low-threshold shower is a framing job with tile on top of it. Third, what is behind the tub surround, since tubs hide leaks patiently and the wall often has a story to tell once it is open. Tile area, pattern complexity, and glass all matter after that, and those are the parts you control.

Questions people ask