Bathroom Remodeling
Tub to Shower Conversions done properly
Most houses have a tub that has not been filled in years. Converting it is a contained project with a large payoff.
What this work involves
The conversion itself is straightforward: the tub comes out, the drain gets relocated or adapted, the surround is rebuilt and waterproofed, and you end up with usable floor space where a sixty-inch tub used to sit.
The complications are usually plumbing. A tub drain sits lower and further from the wall than a shower drain, so unless the joists run conveniently you are opening the ceiling below or working from above. We figure out which at the walkthrough rather than mid-demo.
Worth thinking about before you commit: if this is the only tub in the house, resale can suffer. We will say so if that applies to your situation.
The sequence on a job like this
- Tub removal and drain relocation
- Framing and blocking for the new surround, plus grab bar backing if you want it later
- Waterproofing, pan and tile
- Glass, fixtures and trim
What we look at before quoting tub to shower conversions
Every tub to shower conversions job starts the same way: we look at what the new work has to sit on. Worth thinking about before you commit: if this is the only tub in the house, resale can suffer. We will say so if that applies to your situation.
It is slower at the front end and saves you grief later. What we learn during that first visit is what lets us give you a quote that holds once demolition starts.
Worth knowing
The thing that usually goes wrong
Reusing the old tub drain location without checking the slope. The shower drains slowly from day one and it is not fixable without opening the floor again.
What separates a remodel that holds up from one that starts failing in a couple of years is mostly hidden. It is the surface under the tile, framing that got straightened before drywall, and roof decking that was replaced instead of shingled over.
A free walkthrough is the easiest way to find out where yours stands. Book one at (678) 665-7771 or through our contact page. Igor does them himself and does not dress up the answer.
Other bathroom work
All of it is on the bathroom remodeling services page.
Where we do this work
Every city we cover is on the service areas page. The short version: Roswell is home base, and the work reaches across Fulton, Cobb, Cherokee, Forsyth, Gwinnett and DeKalb, from Alpharetta, GA and Woodstock, GA to Marietta, GA and thirty-nine more.
Have a look at the gallery for finished work, or call (678) 665-7771 and we will come out.
How scope drives cost
Two versions of the same project can differ enormously depending on choices that have nothing to do with what you can see at the end.
People tend to worry about countertop and tile prices. The decisions that really move cost are structural, like relocating a tub or taking out a wall.
We will lay out where those decision points are for your project, including where spending more genuinely buys you something and where it does not.
How we think about materials
There is a version of every product at three price points and the differences are not always where the marketing says. Some of it is genuine performance and some of it is finish options.
The question we ask about every material is how hard it would be to replace. Visible hardware and fixtures are easy, so pick what you like. What sits under tile or behind drywall is not, so that is where we refuse to cut corners.
That means we sometimes talk clients out of upgrades. If a mid-range fixture performs the same as the expensive one, we would rather that money went into the part of the job nobody sees.
What it is like to have us here
Predictable hours, the same faces, and a site that gets cleaned before we leave. Floor protection and dust barriers go in before work starts.
You will know who is coming and roughly when. If a subcontractor is on site for a day, you will know that in advance too.
Questions get answered directly. There is no chain of communication to work through, because the person doing the work is the person you have been talking to since the walkthrough.
Keeping it right afterward
Most of what shortens the life of a remodel is small and preventable. Caulk lines that were never resealed, a bath fan that does not actually vent outside, gutters that overflow against a wall for a decade.
We walk you through what your specific project needs and how often. Some of it is annual, some of it is once every several years, and most of it takes minutes.
If something we built is not behaving the way it should, call us. We would rather look at it than have you live with it or have somebody else guess at what we did.
Questions people ask
Will we regret losing the only tub?
Possibly, and we will say so at the walkthrough. If it is the only tub in the house it can affect resale, and that is worth weighing before we start.
Where does the old tub drain go?
A tub drain sits lower and further from the wall than a shower drain. Depending on which way the joists run we either work from above or open the ceiling below, and we sort that out before demo rather than during.
Can you convert a tub to a walk-in shower?
Yes, and it is one of the more common requests we get. The work involves the drain, the waterproofing and usually some framing, which is why it matters who does it.
Will we be able to live in the house during the work?
For a one-room project, almost always. Larger additions and full home remodels can make daily life rough, so we look at your situation during the walkthrough and tell you honestly whether staying will work.
What happens if you find something unexpected?
You find out that day. Old houses hide things, and when we open a wall and find one, we send pictures and tell you what we recommend before any work continues on it.
How long does a project like this take?
It depends on scope and on what we find when we open things up. A single bathroom is usually a few weeks; a full home remodel runs months. We give you a real schedule after the walkthrough, and we tell you when it moves.
Let us take a look at your tub to shower conversions project
Call (678) 665-7771 or use the contact page and we will set a time to see the project. The walkthrough is free and Igor runs it himself, so the scope you hear about comes from the person who will be on the job. We are a small company and plan to stay one.