Tile Yoda
A tub-to-shower conversion in the Greenville area averages $6,000 to $7,600. A 60 by 32 tiled shower averages $5,200 on its own, and taking the tub out adds $800 to $2,400 on top. Every bathroom is unique, so these are estimates rather than prices.
What moves the number
Four things, and they are the reason nobody can give you a real price over the phone.
The substrate. What is behind and under the tub decides how much has to be rebuilt before anything new goes in.
The tub itself. A fiberglass or composite tub is the cheapest to take out. Steel, cast iron and jetted tubs all cost more, and removal is where the time goes.
A cast iron tub weighs 400 to 800 pounds, so most of the time it gets cut into pieces in place to get it out of the room. A jetted tub is its own job: there is plumbing and electrical to work around, and it usually sits in a frame that has sometimes been tiled over, so the frame comes apart before the tub does.
The plumbing. A tub drain and a shower drain are not in the same place, and the valve does not sit at the same height. How far things have to move is the swing.
Accessibility. A low threshold, a bench, blocking in the walls for grab bars. Decide this before demolition, because it is cheap while the wall is open and expensive after.
What you get for it
The tub and the old wall surface come out. What goes back in is the same build we put in every shower: GoBoard on the walls and floor, a preformed Schluter pan, every joint sealed and reinforced with Kerdi or FloFX membrane, a FloFX drain, 12 by 24 tile on the walls with mosaic on the shower floor, a six inch curb with a plank top, epoxy grout, and color-match caulk everywhere the plane changes.
That is the spec unless you ask for something different. See how we build a shower for what each part of it does.
How long does a tub-to-shower conversion take?
About five to seven days on site. Those are working days and they are an estimate.
Almost nothing is straightforward once the tub is out. There is usually some underlying issue behind it, and a tub that has sat against the same wall for thirty years has often been letting a little water past the whole time. Finding that on day two is the reason the range exists, and fixing it is the reason the new shower lasts.
Why the whole thing comes out
A tub is its own water barrier. The tub is the pan. Take it away and the only things holding water back are the slope of the floor and the waterproofing under the tile, so a conversion is not a surface job. There is no version of it where the old wall stays and new tile goes over the top.
If a one-day acrylic panel system is also on your list, we wrote an honest comparison of what each one is and where the fast option genuinely wins.
Call (864) 747-9325 for a free estimate on a tub-to-shower conversion anywhere in Greenville and the Upstate.
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