Our Humeston crew pulls the idle tub, keeps the alcove, and hands back a shower anywhere in Wayne County within days.
Written quote at no cost, one callback, no chasing afterwards.
Maybe you are tired of tripping over that high tub wall every single morning. This common headache affects many homeowners who want a quick, beautiful upgrade to their daily routine. By swapping that old, unused basin for a sleek, walk-in design, you instantly create a safer and much more spacious area.
Naturally, making this change improves your daily life right away. Our local team specializes in transforming these cramped spaces into open, modern walk-in areas. You can grab a free estimate today to see how easily we can update your home.
First of all, think about how much easier your mornings will become. Stepping over a tall barrier with wet feet is a recipe for a nasty slip. When you choose to install a low-profile base instead, you remove that hazard entirely. This simple modification brings incredible peace of mind to everyone in your household.
On top of that, these modern walk-in enclosures are incredibly easy to keep clean. Old porcelain basins love to collect soap scum and stubborn mildew in hard-to-reach corners. New acrylic or composite surrounds resist grime, which means you spend way less time scrubbing on your hands and knees.
To give you a better idea of what to expect, let us look at how these two setups compare.
| Feature | Old High-Wall Basin | Modern Walk-In Setup |
|---|---|---|
| Threshold Height | Usually 14 to 18 inches | Often 1 to 5 inches |
| Maintenance Needs | High scrubbing required | Quick wipe-down only |
| Visual Space | Feels cramped and small | Makes the room look huge |
Clearly, the benefits go far beyond just looking good. You also get a layout that adapts to your needs as you get older.
To start, our crew arrives at your home to carefully measure your existing layout. We discuss your favorite style choices, including wall panels, hardware finishes, and safety accessories like grab bars or built-in benches. Because we plan everything down to the millimeter, the actual installation phase goes incredibly fast.
Next comes the demolition phase, where we carefully remove the heavy cast iron or steel fixture. This part of the job requires serious muscle and the right tools to avoid damaging your surrounding walls. Once the old unit is out, we inspect the underlying subfloor and wood framing for any hidden water damage.
After ensuring the structure is completely dry and sturdy, we update your plumbing lines. This involves repositioning the drain and installing a high-quality mixing valve to prevent sudden temperature shocks. Finally, we secure the new slip-resistant base and seal the waterproof wall panels.
Now, you get to decide on the fun details that make the space truly yours. For example, adding a built-in corner seat gives you a cozy spot to relax while washing. If you prefer more room to stand, a fold-up bench offers the perfect balance of utility and space-saving design.
Besides seating, you can choose from a wide variety of storage options. Gone are the days of cheap plastic caddies hanging precariously from your showerhead. Instead, we can integrate recessed shampoo niches that keep your soaps organized and out of sight.
Which means your entire bathroom looks clean, streamlined, and highly organized. We also offer beautiful glass doors that slide effortlessly or swing open, depending on your layout. These thick, tempered glass panels keep water exactly where it belongs while letting light flood the space.
Actually, many of your neighbors have already made this smart transition. In a small, close-knit community of about 408 people, word travels fast when someone upgrades their home. Families living in the local 50123 ZIP code often tell us they wish they had done this years ago.
With a median household income of around $42,125, folks here in southern Iowa appreciate real value for their hard-earned money. Investing in your home structure is a very wise way to protect your property value. Plus, you get to enjoy the daily luxury of a modernized wash space every single day.
Indeed, our team loves driving through these quiet streets to help local residents. We treat every single home with the utmost respect, keeping our work area clean from start to finish. You do not have to worry about a messy construction zone lingering in your house for weeks.
Surprisingly, we can complete most of these installations in just one to two days. Because we pre-measure everything perfectly, we do not waste time running back and forth for parts. This rapid turnaround keeps your daily routine from being disrupted for too long.
Absolutely, because we customize the base to match the exact footprint of your old tub. This means you do not have to tear down any major walls or relocate your main plumbing stack. We maximize every square inch of your existing floor plan to give you a spacious feel.
Yes, because landlords love how durable and low-maintenance these modern acrylic walls are. Tenants appreciate the contemporary look, and you will appreciate not having to deal with moldy grout lines. It is a win-win situation that increases the long-term appeal of your property.
So, are you ready to say goodbye to that outdated, slippery tub forever? Getting started is incredibly simple, and there is absolutely no pressure on you. We offer completely free, no-obligation consultations right in your own home.
During this visit, we look at your plumbing, show you physical material samples, and provide an honest estimate. You will know exactly what to expect without any hidden fees or surprise charges. We believe in honest, straightforward service for our local neighbors.
Therefore, do not wait until a slip or fall forces you to make a sudden change. Contact us today to schedule your free home assessment and take the first step toward a beautiful, accessible wash space.
Count the baths your household actually ran last year. In most homes we visit, the honest number is somewhere between zero and three, and yet every single morning somebody swings a leg over fifteen inches of porcelain rim to stand up and shower inside a fixture built for lying down. The tub charges rent daily and works a few evenings a year.
Nothing dramatic follows from that. Nobody is in danger because a bathtub exists, and if long soaks are part of your week, keep the tub and enjoy it with our blessing. The case for the conversion is plainer: when the tub has become a shower tray with high sides, you are paying, in caution and in cleaning, for a feature you retired years ago.
The swap itself is smaller than most people picture. The supply lines, the drain and the alcove walls are already exactly where a shower wants them, which is why this is a job measured in days. We are not building a new bathroom; we are letting the one you have stop pretending it still gives baths.
The same alcove, photographed the way the week actually unfolds. Weather never delays this one; it all happens indoors.
Floors along the hallway get covered, the water goes off for a few hours, and the bathtub is cut free and carried out, tile flange and all. With the alcove stripped, the plumber moves the drain to where the new pan wants it and sets the new valve at shower height. By supper the room is bare, clean and ready.
The base arrives first: an acrylic pan set dead level on a mortar bed, or a sloped, waterproofed floor when the plan says curbless. Then the walls close in, either grout-free panels bonded in a single afternoon or backer board ready for tile. Everything from here on is watertight before it is pretty.
The glass panel or door is drilled, hung and plumbed straight, the trim goes on, and the silicone lines are drawn last. Silicone wants a day to cure, so the first shower usually happens the following morning, which is exactly how we schedule the walkthrough.
Both are real showers in the same alcove. The difference is the entry, and what has to happen under it.
| What you weigh | Low curb | Curbless |
|---|---|---|
| What stands at the entry | A tidy threshold about 3 to 4 inches tall | Nothing. The bathroom floor rolls straight into the shower |
| Cost, installed | The friendlier bracket, most jobs land here | Roughly a third to a half more, the floor is rebuilt |
| What the crew rebuilds | The alcove only; the bathroom floor stays shut | Part of the bathroom floor, sloped and waterproofed |
| Water containment | The curb and glass do the holding | The slope and a linear drain do the holding |
| Suits best | Straight swaps on a budget and upstairs bathrooms | Wheels, walkers, and anyone planning to stay put for decades |
Undecided is a fine answer on the form. The site visit settles it with a tape measure, not a sales pitch.
Removal
Cut free, hauled out and off to recycling, with floors and doorways shielded on the way. The loudest hour of the conversion, and it wraps before most jobs have begun.
Plumbing
Tub drains sit at one end; showers drain where the pan says. We move what needs moving and swap the old valve for a pressure-balanced one.
The base
A level acrylic pan for most swaps, a mortar-built sloped floor for curbless plans. Either way it is tested with water before anything covers it.
The walls
Grout-free panels go up in an afternoon and wipe clean forever. Tile takes longer, costs more, and looks like whatever you can imagine.
The glass
A fixed panel keeps things open and easy to clean; a hinged door closes the warmth in. Both are tempered, both are set dead straight.
The finish
Shelving, the hand shower, clean caulk lines and a walkthrough. We leave the cure time in writing so the first shower is not a gamble.
| The job | Usual range | Inside the number |
|---|---|---|
| Standard tub-to-shower conversion | $3,100 - $5,600 | Tub out, low curb pan, wall panels, new valve, glass panel. |
| Curbless conversion | $4,900 - $8,800 | The floor is rebuilt flush and sloped to a linear drain. |
| Glass: fixed panel or hinged door | $450 - $1,400 | A single panel sits at the low end, a framed door at the top. |
| Walls: PVC panels or tile | $1,100 - $3,900 | Panels finish in a day; tile adds days and takes any look you want. |
| Tear-out only | $450 - $950 | The tub gone and the alcove left clean for another trade. |
| Small job minimum | around $2,400 | Even the simplest swap books a licensed plumber and a full crew. |
Wall condition, drain position and the glass you choose move every line. The visit pins the figure down, and the figure then holds.
A bathtub drains at one end through its own trap; most showers want the drain nearer the middle, or along one edge when the plan is curbless. Sometimes the existing trap is close enough to reuse and sometimes it has to travel a foot or two, which means opening a strip of floor. We can usually tell which from the basement or the crawl space during the visit, and the paperwork you sign already names which one you are getting.
Houses older than the seventies like to add a surprise: galvanized supply lines rusted nearly shut, a cast iron trap that crumbles at a touch, or framing that got damp decades ago and kept it quiet. None of it is rare and none of it is ruinous, but it is your call, not ours. When something like that turns up, work pauses, you get photographs and a price for the fix, and nothing is billed until you have said yes to it. A conversion should never be the job where the invoice writes itself.
QIs losing the only bathtub a resale mistake?
AAgents around Humeston repeat one rule: a family house shows better with a tub somewhere in it. If this is your only tub and small children are in your plans, we put that on the table during the visit and you decide with open eyes. If another bathroom keeps its tub, or the buyers you expect are shower people, the argument evaporates.
QHow long do we go without washing?
AThe toilet and sink stay usable every evening, and the water is only off for stretches on day one. The shower itself is ready once the silicone cures, so figure on missing roughly three days of showers at home. Plenty of clients time the job before a weekend away.
QDoes all the old tile come off the walls?
AOn the alcove walls, yes, because the new waterproofing needs to start from the studs, not from forty-year-old grout. Tile outside the alcove stays put, and we cut a clean line where the two meet.
QCan the new shower use the tub drain?
AThe pipe itself is nearly always reusable; the position is the question. A low curb pan can often sit its drain within reach of the old trap. Curbless floors want a relocated or linear drain, and that difference is priced before demo, never discovered after.
QDo we need a permit for the swap?
AA like-for-like fixture swap usually rides on a simple plumbing permit, and moving the drain can add an inspection. We file whatever your jurisdiction wants and fold the cost into the written price.
QWhat if there is rot behind the tub?
AIt happens, mostly around the old tile flange. You get photographs the hour we find it, a firm price for the repair, and the choice to proceed or pause. The framing fix is usually a morning, not a remodel.
The map carries the geography; the link lists underneath spell out every town our crews can reach from this one.
For the bigger map: county seat pages start at Wayne County; the statewide picture lives on Iowa; the wider region is the Midwest; background reading sits on Wikipedia.
One three-day job stands between this bathroom and its best fixture.
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