Our Fontanelle crew pulls the idle tub, keeps the alcove, and hands back a shower anywhere in Adair County within days.
Written quote at no cost, one callback, no chasing afterwards.
Are you tired of tripping over that high porcelain wall just to get clean? Well, upgrading your bathing area can completely change your daily routine.
Now, tackling this home project might seem tough without help. Fortunately, getting a free estimate lets you plan your budget without any guesswork.
Do you remember slipping around when trying to wash your hair last week? This daily hassle brings unnecessary stress into your mornings.
Instead of dealing with that cramped basin, you can install a gorgeous walk-in glass enclosure. This smart upgrade gives you maximum coziness while you scrub away the dirt.
Plus, stepping right into a flat basin makes your house much safer for everyone. Which means fewer worries about nasty slips and falls on slippery tiles.
When grandparents visit, watching them struggle over high edges breaks your heart. Thankfully, modern low-threshold options remove those dangerous barriers completely.
By putting in a flat-entry shower stall, you help elderly folks maintain their daily independence. This modification provides total relaxation and peace of mind during every single wash.
Did you know local real estate agents love seeing updated bathrooms in Adair County? Buyers always pay top dollar for modern fixtures that look great.
Through this smart renovation, you make your home stand out in ZIP codes 50846. On top of that, your property value jumps right up before you even list it.
Are you wondering what happens when workers tear out that heavy cast iron? Crews usually start by cutting away the old surround and hauling out the debris.
After clearing the space, experts check for hidden water damage in your subfloor. This careful inspection ensures your new setup lasts for decades without any leaks.
Once the framing looks solid, waterproof panels go up along the walls. This protective layer keeps mold and mildew away from your drywall.
Do you prefer clear glass doors or a textured privacy finish? Picking the right hardware lets you customize the entire look to match your style.
Matching your faucets with the rest of the bathroom creates a stunning visual appeal. Consequently, your morning routine feels like a visit to a luxury spa.
Furthermore, water-saving shower heads lower your monthly utility bills quite a bit. This clever feature pays for itself over the years through lower water consumption.
Sometimes contractors uncover rotting wood hidden behind the old tile surround. Fortunately, experienced pros know exactly how to fix those structural issues fast.
Although unexpected repairs add a tiny bit of time to the job, they prevent major disasters later. Ultimately, fixing those issues right away protects your entire house from costly water damage.
Are you weighing the pros and cons of doing this project yourself? Let us look at a quick breakdown of how professional work compares to DIY attempts.
| Project Feature | DIY Approach | Professional Contractor |
|---|---|---|
| Time Investment | Several weeks of heavy labor | Usually finished in just a few days |
| Warranty Coverage | None, you pay for your own mistakes | Solid labor and material guarantees |
| Stress Level | High frustration and endless weekend trips | Total relaxation while experts do the work |
As you can see, hiring a qualified local pro saves you countless headaches. Besides, letting experienced workers handle the plumbing keeps your home completely safe.
Without proper sealing, water leaks can rot your floor joists from underneath. Therefore, trusting a specialist is always the smartest financial choice you can make.
Do you love the quiet charm of living where everybody knows your name? Fontanelle, Iowa boasts a tight-knit population of 610 wonderful neighbors.
With a median household income of $44,861, local families appreciate getting a fair deal. That is why working with honest local contractors matters so much around here.
Supporting local businesses keeps our wonderful community thriving year after year. When you hire hometown workers, you invest right back into your own backyard.
Are you worried that a bathroom upgrade will break your bank account? Thankfully, professional builders offer flexible payment plans to fit almost any financial situation.
By requesting a zero-cost quote today, you get clear pricing without hidden fees. This upfront honesty lets you budget your hard-earned money with complete confidence.
Stop putting off that dream bathroom upgrade you have wanted for years. Take action right now and reach out for your free quote to get started.
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 Fontanelle 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 Adair 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.
Get my free quote