Englewood's
Trusted Team for Tub to Shower Conversions

What the Conversion Actually Involves

More Than a Swap: The Steps Behind a Tub to Shower Conversion in Englewood

People sometimes picture a tub to shower conversion as a swap. Yank the tub, drop in a shower pan, done by lunch. The reality has more moving parts, especially in Elizabeth homes where the plumbing was roughed in during the 80s or 90s and hasn’t been touched since.

Here’s the general shape of the work:

• Removing the existing tub, surround, and any old backer board that has softened from years of moisture behind the caulk line
• Adjusting the drain location, since tub drains sit differently than shower drains and often need to be moved a few inches
• Framing out the new opening if the shower footprint changes, which happens when a client wants a wider entry or a bench built in
• Waterproofing the substrate properly before any tile or panel goes up, because Elizabeth’s temperature swings can be brutal on a poorly sealed wall
• Installing the shower base, whether that’s a solid surface pan, a tile-ready mud bed, or a low-profile curbless design
• Setting the wall material, choosing valves, glass, and finishing pieces

Every one of those steps has choices attached. That’s where a conversation with an actual designer matters more than a catalog pick.y. The finished shower will still be there decades from now, which is why the parts you don’t see get as much attention as the parts you do.

What the Conversion Actually Looks Like

A tub-to-shower conversion isn’t a swap. It’s a rebuild of the wet zone. Here’s how we typically approach it on Englewood projects:

• Demolition of the existing tub and surround. We pull the tub, the fiberglass or tile walls, and any rotted subfloor or backer board hiding behind them. What we find behind those walls in a 1960s Englewood ranch is often the reason the project was overdue.
• Rough plumbing adjustments. The drain moves from an end position to a center or side location depending on your layout. Valves get swapped for a modern thermostatic or pressure-balanced set.
• Waterproofing and pan installation. This is where the job gets won or lost. We build a proper waterproof substrate before a single tile goes up, whether that means a bonded membrane system or a pre-sloped foam pan.
• Tile, glass, and finish work. Wall tile, niche framing, curb or curbless entry, and either a fixed panel or a hinged glass door go in during this phase.
• Final trim and testing. Handheld wand, showerhead, valve trim, drain cover, and a good long flood test.

On a straightforward alcove conversion in a home near Cornerstone Park, we can usually wrap the whole thing inside two to three weeks depending on tile lead times and any surprises behind the walls.

Layout Choices That Suit Englewood Floor Plans

Most of the bathrooms we work on in Englewood fall into three layout categories, and each one calls for a different design instinct.

The tight 5-by-8 hall bath is the most common. You’ve got a toilet, vanity, and tub crammed along one wall. Here, we usually keep the shower in the original tub footprint and use a low-profile curb with a clear glass panel to open the room up visually. Frosted or reeded glass gives privacy without swallowing light.

The primary suite bathroom in a split-level or newer build often gives us more room to play. Homeowners near The Preserve at Weaver Creek frequently want a curbless entry, a linear drain, and a bench built into the wet zone. It reads as spa, not utility.

The basement bath, common in Englewood’s finished-basement culture, has its own quirks. Low ceilings, awkward pipe routing under a slab, and cold floors. We handle those with heated flooring loops when the budget allows, and by planning the drain relocation before demolition starts so nobody discovers a surprise mid-project.

Materials That Actually Hold Up Here

We’ve watched enough shower installations age badly to know what works in this climate and this water. A few notes on what we recommend and why.

Porcelain tile beats ceramic for wet zones every time. It’s denser, absorbs less water, and holds its finish longer against Englewood’s mineral-heavy supply. Large format tiles, 12 by 24 inches or larger, mean fewer grout lines and less scrubbing.

Epoxy grout costs more up front. It also doesn’t need sealing, doesn’t stain, and won’t turn that grim gray color you see in older bathrooms. On any shower we build, it pays for itself inside five years.

For glass, we lean toward three-eighths inch thickness minimum. Anything thinner rattles and reads cheap. Low-iron glass costs a bit more but skips the greenish tint standard glass carries.

Fixtures matter less than people assume, as long as you avoid the bottom tier. A mid-range thermostatic valve from Delta, Moen, or Kohler will outlast the tile around it.not a national average.

What It Costs and Why the Range Is So Wide

A basic tub-to-shower conversion in Englewood generally runs somewhere between $9,000 and $18,000. A high-end primary bath rebuild can climb well past $30,000. That gap isn’t padding. It reflects real choices:

• Footprint changes. Keeping the shower in the existing tub cavity is cheaper than expanding it into adjacent closet space or reworking the room’s layout.
• Tile selection. A $3 per square foot subway tile job and a $28 per square foot slab-look porcelain job produce very different invoices.
• Glass configuration. A fixed panel costs less than a hinged door, which costs less than a full custom enclosure with hardware upgrades.
• Plumbing complexity. If your drain needs to move six inches, that’s easy. If it needs to move four feet because you’re going curbless with a linear drain, that’s a different conversation.
• What’s behind the walls. Cast iron drains, galvanized supply lines, and rotted framing all add hours. On older Englewood homes, we build a small contingency into every estimate for exactly this reason.

We give homeowners a written scope with line items, not a lump-sum quote you can’t decode.

What about ventilation?

A proper exhaust fan sized for the room, vented to the exterior rather than into the attic, is part of every conversion we do. Bad ventilation is why older bathrooms grow mildew. We fix that as part of the work.

Do I need to pick out tile before you can quote the job?

No. We give you an allowance range in the initial estimate and finalize numbers once selections are made. Most homeowners appreciate having a week or two to visit showrooms before locking in choices.