Trade the unused garden tub for a low-threshold walk-in shower — easier to step over, and usable floor space back. Usually a one-week install with a fixed written price.
The number-one call we get in this category is: the tub gets used once every two years, someone in the household has trouble stepping over the wall of it, and the bathroom feels smaller than it should. A tub-to-shower conversion answers all three. It's a fast, focused project — usually one week on-site, with a written fixed price and no permits needed if the drain doesn't move.
The tiled path gives you a fully custom look, matched to the rest of the bathroom, at a longer install (5–7 days) and higher tile-labor cost. The solid-surface surround (Onyx, Kohler LuxStone, or a cultured-marble panel) is a 2–3 day install, a lower price, and a seamless surface with no grout to maintain — a lot of Yakima homeowners going for practical over showcase pick this one. We quote both, side by side, so you choose.
If the drain stays where the tub drain is (usually possible) and no walls move, the job does not need a permit. If the drain has to move — in slab-on-grade West Valley or Terrace Heights homes that becomes a real slab-cut line — the plumbing permit comes through City of Yakima Codes Administration or Yakima County Building & Fire Safety, and a licensed plumber pulls it.
Every quote is measured on site. What we can tell you honestly: the tiled path takes longer and costs more than the solid-surface path, and both are meaningfully less than a full bathroom remodel. Typical build time: 1 week for solid surface, 5–7 days for a tiled build.
For tile and surround ideas before the visit, browse tub-to-shower conversion photos in our Yakima bathroom gallery.
What people ask before swapping a tub they no longer use for a shower they will.
The honest rule real-estate agents repeat: keep at least one tub somewhere in the house for future buyers with small children, and convert the rest freely. If the bath being converted is your only tub, we will say so at the visit and price both directions — most families who have not used the tub in years choose the shower anyway, and buyers increasingly expect a good walk-in shower in the primary bath.
The typical conversion is about a week in the room: tub out, walls opened to the studs, waterproofing built, tile set and grouted, trim and glass to finish. If custom glass is part of the design, its measurement happens after tile and fabrication adds roughly a week — we use that window for the finish work, so the glass install day is usually the last day.
Often the supply lines can stay, but a shower pan wants its drain closer to center than a tub does, so the drain usually moves a short distance — a normal part of the job, not a surprise. Keeping the new shower in the tub’s footprint is what keeps a conversion efficient; moving the shower across the room is possible, it just becomes a bigger plumbing scope, priced on its own line.
It comes out with the tub. Tile set on decades-old backer does not survive tub removal in reusable condition, and the wall behind it is exactly what we need to inspect — conversions regularly uncover old moisture staining at the tub rim, which is worth finding while the wall is open rather than after the new shower is in.
Yes. Water is shut off only for short stretches — typically during rough-in and trim-out — and we confirm those windows with you the day before. The rest of the time the house runs normally, with floor protection on the path in and a daily cleanup before we leave. If it is your only bathroom, tell us at the visit and we sequence the work to keep the toilet usable overnight.
See walk-in shower installation for a from-scratch shower. See walk-in tub & aging in place if grab bars and a curbless entry are the priority. See full bathroom remodel if the whole room is due.
Free in-home visit. Written, fixed-price quote, no obligation.
