Our Pheasant Branch crew pulls the idle tub, keeps the alcove, and hands back a shower anywhere in Dane County within days.
Written quote at no cost, one callback, no chasing afterwards.
Do you hate stepping into a giant porcelain tub just to take a quick morning rinse? Well, upgrading your old bathroom setup gives you total peace of mind and modern styling without any hassle. This local guide helps residents right here in Dane County change their vintage wash basins into open, accessible walk-in washing zones.
Most houses built decades ago came with deep soaking structures that trap water and cause major slips. Consequently, swapping that outdated fixture lets you enjoy a much safer daily routine. This smart home upgrade completely eliminates high steps which stops nasty falls dead in their tracks. Plus, removing that bulky basin opens up your floor plan so the whole room feels way bigger.
Meanwhile, older plumbing often hides nasty mold issues behind cracked tiles and rotting wooden frames. Fortunately, tearing out that old basin gives your contractor a chance to check the studs and fix hidden leaks. This means you avoid massive repair bills down the road because everything gets sealed up tight.
Before starting any demolition work, you need to understand how the construction crew handles your specific project. Typically, workers arrive early on day one to protect your hallway floors and nearby bedroom carpets from dust. Next, they haul away the heavy cast iron tub through the front door using special moving straps.
Following the messy demo phase, the crew inspects the subfloor for any moisture damage or rotting wood beams. After that crucial check, they install new waterproofing membranes and modern mixing valves for your fresh fixtures. This lets you control water temperature smoothly without dealing with sudden scalding bursts or freezing drips.
Choosing durable surfaces makes a huge difference in how much time you spend cleaning on weekends. Therefore, solid-surface acrylic panels replace messy grout lines that always seem to turn pink with mold. These smooth walls wipe down in seconds using a damp cloth and mild soap.
Beyond easy cleaning, adding built-in seating creates a truly relaxing spa atmosphere right inside your own home. Furthermore, recessed shower caddies keep your shampoo bottles off the floor and out of your way. This thoughtful layout optimization gives you maximum storage space even in smaller powder rooms.
Upgrading your primary bathroom delivers a fantastic return on investment when you decide to sell your house. Real estate agents across Wisconsin frequently report that buyers fall in love with curbless glass enclosures immediately. Thus, your home stands out on the local market and commands a higher asking price.
Additionally, modern water-saving showerheads lower your monthly utility bills by reducing hot water consumption significantly. Over time, those little savings add up and help pay for the initial renovation cost. You also save money on medical expenses by preventing dangerous slips on wet bathroom tile.
| Feature | Old Soaking Tub | Modern Walk-in Station |
|---|---|---|
| Safety | High step-over risk | Zero-threshold entry |
| Cleaning | Grout scrubbing needed | Seamless wipe-down walls |
| Space Usage | Cramps small bathrooms | Creates open airy feel |
Working in a community of 17,442 residents means your contractor must follow specific Dane County building codes carefully. Whether your property sits in ZIP codes 53562 or nearby areas, proper permits guarantee top-notch construction standards. Professional builders pull all necessary paperwork so you never worry about municipal fines or failed inspections.
Furthermore, local weather conditions demand heavy-duty insulation around water pipes behind exterior walls during freezing winter months. Experienced local tradespeople understand these regional building quirks better than anyone else coming from out of town. They use specialized freeze-resistant materials to protect your plumbing when temperatures drop below zero.
Ready to ditch that dated basin for a gorgeous glass washing station? Request your free estimate today to get accurate pricing without any hidden surprises or pressure. Local experts serving the local population are standing by to measure your space and discuss custom design options.
Simply reach out through our online form to schedule your no-obligation consultation with a friendly neighborhood professional. This simple action puts you firmly on the path toward a safer and more stylish daily routine. Do not wait another month living with a bathroom layout that frustrates you every single morning.
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 Pheasant Branch 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 Dane County; the statewide picture lives on Wisconsin; 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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