While showers can be practical and cheap, you may prefer a tub. If your bathroom doesn’t have the space for both, you can swap one for the other and have a more luxurious facility with all the features you want.
This could be a fun do-it-yourself project. Alternatively, you may choose to work with a contractor to receive a consultation and ensure you have a professional installation that follows your building codes.
In this blog, you’ll discover how to convert your shower to a tub, but first, let’s examine why you might want to do so.
Why Should You Convert Your Shower to a Bathtub?
Before you learn how to transform your shower into the luxurious bath you desire, you might want to know why you should make this change. This remodel can be expensive and require a license to conduct, depending on your local codes.
Nonetheless, many still choose to make this type of remodel for the following reasons:
Relaxing Experience
A bath can offer a relaxing experience as it lets you soak for a long time. In comparison, while you can lie down in a bathtub, you have to stand the whole time. Moreover, a bath can have features just like jets that provide a spa-like massage.
Convenience
Another reason why you might choose to do a walk-in shower to tub conversion is that it’s convenient in these ways:
- Cleaning Ease: A bath may be easier to clean since it’s a smaller area compared to a shower.
- Functionality: While you can stand and shower in a bath, the reverse isn’t true.
- Useful for Bathing Children: A bath is more easily used for bathing children than a shower.
- Easier to Use: If someone in your family has mobility issues, a bath may be easier since they don’t need to stand or turn.
- Useful for Projects: You can use a bath for different arts and crafts projects such as dying clothes.
Increase Resale Value
A bath can increase the price of your home. In particular, in a home with several bathrooms, having at least one bath can increase its value. Since a larger home is most likely to interest another family, they’ll also look for a bath where they can easily bathe their children. Similarly, if the next homeowner needs a bath due to their mobility issues, they’re more likely to want to buy a home that has this type of facility.
Aesthetic Appeal
Lastly, you may simply prefer a bath. In particular, clawfoot tubs have been a symbol of luxury and beauty. However, you may prefer another type of tub such as a freestanding tub to complete your bathroom design or aesthetic.
What to Consider Before a Shower to Tub Conversion
This type of remodeling can take just one day. However, it needs planning to ensure that it meets your expectations. Therefore, you should keep the following factors in mind to ensure a satisfying installation:
Placement
The first factor you’ll need to consider is how and where to place your bathtub. While you could place it exactly where your shower was, you could also place it in a different location.
Where you place it will affect the ease of the installation. If you decide to place it in a location without the appropriate plumbing, you’ll have to spend more to move the plumbing to the right place for the remodel.
Furthermore, you’ll need to know how much space there is in your shower to ensure the bath you desire will fit there.
Aesthetic
You should also consider the style of the model you desire in your shower to tub conversion. Bathtubs can fit different styles. Therefore, you should select one that fits the look you’re trying to create. For example, a copper bathtub would complement a rustic-themed bathroom. Alternatively, you could choose a white, oval, freestanding tub to match your minimalist bathroom.
Cost
As a part of your remodel plan, you should create a budget. In this type of remodel, you’ll most likely spend $1,200 – $5,000. The cost depends on the installation difficulty and the type of materials. For example, a cast iron bathtub is usually one of the most expensive tubs because it’s heavy and so requires more labor to install and its materials are more expensive. In comparison, an acrylic tub is less expensive since it’s easier to install and cheaper to manufacture.
Tub Features
If you require or simply desire specific features in your bathtub, you should factor that in your bathtub choice. For example, you could select a tub with jets or a seat or even an anti-slip surface.
The Tools Required for a Shower to Tub Remodel
For this remodel, you’ll need the following tools:
- Bathtub Kit
- Support Frame
- Concrete Backer Board
- Tiles
- Grout
- Drill
- Trowel
- Level
- Hammer
- Screwdriver
- Prybar
- Reciprocating Saw
How to Turn Shower into a Tub
In general, this remodel is a simple process. However, it may require a permit and a license for you to do it legally. In particular, if you need to alter any of the plumbing, you should enlist the services of a professional.
Now, here’s how you’ll install your tub:
1. Wear Protective Gear
To begin replacing your shower with a tub, you’ll need to put on safety glasses, gloves, and a respirator. This gear will protect you, especially during the demolition of your shower. They’ll keep you from breathing in harmful particulates or incurring injuries.
2. Remove the Shower
Once you’ve worn your protective gear, you should turn off the water supply and remove the shower. This may require power tools, a hammer, a screwdriver, or a pry bar. However, you should be careful to not damage the floor and walls as you remove the external plumbing, door, and shower pan.
Furthermore, you’ll need to consult a professional if you constructed your home before 1978. Houses from that period may have asbestos and lead, which are dangerous and require a professional to safely remove them.
3. Move the Pipes
Now that you’ve removed the shower, you need to alter the plumbing to reach your tub placement. If your placement already has nearby plumbing, you can move on to the next step of converting a shower to a tub.
4. Prepare the Floors and Walls
After you’ve removed the shower, you should prepare the floors and walls. You’ll need to use the concrete backer board, tiles, level, and grout to create waterproof walls and floor. If your bathroom is already wet, you may skip this step.
5. Place the Tub on the Frame
Once you’ve prepared your surfaces, you’ll need to place the frame on top of the drain. Then, you’ll place the tub above the frame and align it with the drain.
6. Install the Bathtub
Now that you’ve placed the tub on the frame, you can convert your shower to a tub by installing the bathtub using the instructions in its kit. As part of the installation, you’ll connect the drain and water supply to the bathtub.
7. Finalize the Installation
Lastly, you should test your bath and verify that it works well. Then, you should remove the frame and lower the bathtub. If needed, you may seal it to the floor, and you’ll have finished your remodel.
Recap
The process to know how to convert a shower to a tub is simple and can take less than a day to complete. However, you’ll first need to plan where you’ll place it, the features and style you want it to have, and the budget you’re willing to spend on this remodel. Then, you’ll just need to remove the shower and its pan, place the plumbing in the right area, and finally install the tub. But if your local codes don’t allow you to make this plumbing without a permit or license, reach out to a professional.