One alcove in Uptown, Wichita is about to earn its keep again. The Wichita crew handles demo, plumbing, walls and glass.
Written quote at no cost, one callback, no chasing afterwards.
You probably stare at that high, outdated wall of your old washing basin every single day and wonder why you keep climbing over it. Honestly, it is a daily workout that nobody really signed up for, especially when you just want a quick, breezy wash before rushing off to work. Changing that bulky basin into a walk-in stall will instantly make your daily routine safer and ten times faster.
By swapping out the old unit, you open up a world of modern layout options. This means you get to enjoy a spacious area where you will not feel trapped by heavy sliding glass doors or moldy plastic curtains. It is all about reclaiming your space and making your mornings feel less like an obstacle course.
Fortunately, our local team specializes in making this exact swap happen with zero stress for you. We come right to your home in this lovely Sedgwick County neighborhood to measure your space and give you a clear, honest plan. Click the link today to grab your free estimate and start planning your dream setup!
Think about how much room a traditional basin actually wastes in a small layout. When you replace it with a low-threshold stall, you create an open vibe that makes the entire room feel massive. This lets you move around freely without banging your elbows against the walls every time you reach for the shampoo.
On top of that, safety becomes an immediate benefit because you no longer have to balance on one wet foot to get inside. Which means you can say goodbye to those slippery near-miss moments that keep you on edge. Older adults and busy parents alike find this change brings immense peace of mind.
To give you a better idea of how these two options stack up, let us look at a quick comparison of the daily experience:
| Feature | Old High-Walled Basin | Modern Walk-In Stall |
|---|---|---|
| Entry Height | Usually 15 to 18 inches to step over | Almost flat or very low threshold |
| Cleaning Effort | Deep scrubbing on hands and knees | Simple wipe-down with a squeegee |
| Visual Space | Cramps the room and blocks light | Opens up the floor plan beautifully |
Clearly, the modern alternative wins on every front. If you are ready to upgrade, our team is standing by to help you choose the perfect tile patterns and fixtures. We will visit your home, inspect your current plumbing, and hand you a complete quote without any obligations.
First, we carefully remove the old cast iron or acrylic unit without damaging your surrounding walls. This crucial step lets us inspect the subfloor and the hidden drain lines for any sneaky water damage or rot. Fixing these issues early ensures your new setup rests on a rock-solid foundation.
Next, we update the old pipe layout to fit the new center drain or linear drain system. Because a stall drain needs to handle water faster, we make sure the plumbing is perfectly sized. This prevents those annoying puddles around your ankles while you wash.
After the plumbing is set, we install heavy-duty moisture barriers and modern backer boards on the studs. This steps blocks mold from ever finding a home behind your beautiful new walls. You get a dry, healthy home structure that lasts for decades.
Then, we apply a seamless liquid waterproofing membrane over the entire surface. Which means water simply cannot penetrate the walls, no matter how long or hot your daily wash runs. We never skip these hidden steps because quality lies in what you cannot see.
Now comes the fun part where we lay down your chosen ceramic, porcelain, or stone surfaces. Our craftsmen align every single joint with precision to ensure a stunning visual flow. Your space suddenly looks like a high-end retreat instead of a basic utility room.
Finally, we mount the new hardware, glass panels, and safety bars to complete the look. This gives you a fully functional, gorgeous space that is ready for action. You will love how the light bounces off the fresh, clean surfaces every morning.
Every home in this historic part of Wichita has its own unique character and structural quirks. Whether you live in a classic bungalow or a modern property, we customize the setup to match your style. This lets you preserve the historic charm of your home while enjoying modern utility.
For instance, adding a built-in bench or a floating corner seat provides a great spot to relax. This feature makes shaving your legs or just unwinding under the warm water incredibly easy. You get a touch of luxury without losing any actual floor space.
Additionally, we can install recessed niches to keep your soaps and shampoos organized and off the floor. This keeps your clutter contained and maintains the sleek lines of your new space. We want to make sure every single detail serves a practical purpose for you.
Investing in your home should always feel exciting rather than stressful. Because we live and work right here in Kansas, we treat your property with the utmost respect. We clean up our mess every single day so you can go about your life with minimal disruption.
Our skilled crew knows how to handle the specific plumbing styles found in local homes. This deep knowledge means we get the job done quickly and correctly the very first time. You do not have to worry about leaks, permits, or corner-cutting when you work with us.
Are you ready to say goodbye to that old, clunky tub and hello to a gorgeous, open space? We are ready to drive out to your home in Uptown and give you a completely free, detailed estimate. Take the first step toward a better home today by filling out our quick contact form!
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 Uptown, Wichita 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.
One three-day job stands between this bathroom and its best fixture.
Get my free quote