Our Gunbarrel crew pulls the idle tub, keeps the alcove, and hands back a shower anywhere in Boulder County within days.
Written quote at no cost, one callback, no chasing afterwards.
Swapping that high-walled tub for a sleek modern walk-in base makes daily routines safer and way faster. You get a fresh look for your bathroom plus a massive boost in home usability instantly today. So grab a free estimate right now and start transforming your home space!
Honestly speaking, stepping over a giant porcelain ledge every morning gets old really fast. You probably feel like you are doing hurdle practice just to wash your hair! On top of that, those old-fashioned basins take up tons of floor space without giving you any real benefits in return. Upgrading to a spacious walk-in area gives you back room to actually breathe while getting ready. Which means your morning routine feels less like a chore and more like a trip to a fancy day spa.
Naturally, modern life moves pretty fast and nobody really has time for long drawn-out soaks anymore. Beyond that, giant basins consume ridiculous amounts of hot water every time you fill them up to the brim. Swapping to a sleek stand-up design slashes your daily water usage quite a bit. As a sweet bonus, your monthly utility bills will look a lot happier too!
Moreover, cleaning those moldy rubber seals around ancient basins is an absolute nightmare that never ends. You scrub on your knees for hours with harsh bleach, yet the grime just stays locked into the deep grout lines forever. Modern acrylic wall panels eliminate those nasty tile joints completely so dirt has nowhere to hide. This lets you wipe down the whole space in roughly two minutes flat with just a simple sponge.
Looking at the local area, folks around here love clean designs and super functional indoor spaces. Living in a vibrant region where the median household income hovers around $84,063 means people really care about smart home upgrades. Plus, with a tight-knit community of about 9,791 residents, keeping your property value high is just good sense. Homes in ZIP code 80301 often see a huge boost in market appeal after removing out-dated fixtures. Upgrading your wash zone makes your entire house look way more expensive to potential buyers down the road.
Actually, safety is another massive reason why people are tearing out those tall basin walls. Slipping on a wet enamel surface while trying to balance on one leg is a recipe for a bad hospital visit. A low-profile base sits almost flush with your subfloor, so you just step right in without tripping. This simple shift gives long-term peace of mind for every single person living under your roof.
For one thing, I helped my own uncle fix up his master bath a couple years back after he pulled a muscle in his lower back. He was struggling so hard just to climb into his old water tub every night! After we knocked out the heavy cast iron unit and put down a sleek textured floor pan, his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. He told me it literally changed his daily life because he could wash up without wincing in pain. Seeing that kind of relief firsthand is why I get excited about doing this work every single day.
To give you a clear picture of what changes during this remodel, check out this handy comparison table below.
| Old Layout Feature | New Upgrade Feature | Direct Benefit To You |
|---|---|---|
| High basin wall barrier | Ultra-low threshold entry curb | Prevents nasty slips and makes entering completely effortless for all ages |
| Porcelain with leaky grout joints | Seamless non-porous wall panels | Stops mold growth completely and cuts your cleaning time down to zero effort |
| Fixed overhead spigot line | Adjustable handheld sprayer head | Allows targeted washing and makes rinsing wall panels a total breeze |
Furthermore, customized seating options make your daily wash routine feel vastly more cozy without losing any style points. Built-in corner benches or fold-down seats give you a cozy spot to shave your legs or just relax under hot running water... it feels amazing after a tough workout! This lets you stay independent in your home for decades without sacrificing high-end interior design aesthetics.
On top of that, specialized grab bars no longer look like ugly hospital equipment from fifty years ago. Designers now craft sturdy brass and stainless support rails that match your chrome or matte black hardware package seamlessly. Which means you get rock-solid structural support that looks like a high-end luxury architectural element!
Starting out, a local professional technician visits your home to take exact laser measurements of your current alcove space. They inspect the underlying wall studs and drain pipes to ensure everything is totally structurally sound before work begins. This prevents any nasty hidden financial surprises halfway through your home improvement project!
Next up, the crew carefully removes your existing cast iron or fiberglass heavy basin without tearing up your surrounding drywall or floor finishes. They haul away all the heavy trash so you do not have to lift a single finger or rent an expensive dumpster. This leaves you with a totally clean slate ready for high-grade modern materials.
Then, the plumbing team re-routes your subterranean drain lines to center properly under your brand-new base pan. Proper pitch and heavy-duty PVC pipe sizing ensure that wastewater flows away lightning fast without backing up around your feet. Consequently, you will never have to stand in a pool of murky soap suds ever again!
Afterwards, water-tight backer boards get mounted directly to your open timber wall framing using corrosion-resistant screws. Installers apply heavy silicone waterproofing barriers along every single interior corner and seam to completely lock out destructive moisture vapor. This completely protects your home subflooring from stealthy rot and structural decay over time.
Finally, your chosen wall slabs, sliding glass doors, and designer fixtures get mounted tightly into place using industrial-grade adhesives. Technicians seal every edge with color-matched silicone caulking to create a impenetrable defense against stray splash water drops. Within twenty-four to forty-eight hours, your sparkling new space is fully cured and ready for hot action!
Currently, high-density non-porous acrylic reigns as the undisputed king of wet space ceiling-to-floor wall surrounds. This specialized material resists fading, chipping, and yellowing even after years of continuous exposure to harsh steaming water drops. That means your custom enclosure maintains its brilliant, glossy show-room finish with almost zero ongoing maintenance needed!
If you prefer natural looks, engineered composite stone panels offer the deep texture of real marble without the painful price tag. These thick heavy S-stone sheets contain real crushed granite bound together with high-tech resin polymers. Which means you enjoy ultra-luxurious visual patterns that resist tough mineral stains from hard tap water!
In addition, clear tempered glass sliding panels keep small master baths feeling open and airy instead of cramped and gloomy. Heavy frameless glass doors glide on smooth stainless steel roller trucks with just a gentle push of your pinky finger. This lets natural sun light flood into every corner of your wash space so it feels twice as large!
Some people worry that getting rid of a traditional soak tub ruins their residential resale real estate value. However, modern homebuyers heavily prefer large functional step-in enclosures over tiny cramped basins they will never actually sit in. As long as your property retains at least one standard tub in a secondary hallway bathroom, your overall market value stays super strong!
Another big misconception involves long project durations that leave your main home washroom out of order for weeks. Professional installation teams can actually finish a complete teardown and full custom rebuild in as little as one or two days flat! This means your daily family life experiences almost zero disruptive downtime or extended construction noise mess.
Additionally, folks assume that replacing a fixture requires completely gutting their entire room layout and structural flooring. Custom-manufactured floor bases are built to match standard builder footprint dimensions perfectly without moving major structural walls. This saves you thousands of hard-earned dollars in expensive structural carpentry fees!
To be totally honest with you, taking out your deep soaking tub means long bubble bath nights are off the menu for good. If you have tiny toddler kids or dogs that need deep water washes regularly, losing that basin can feel a bit tough at first. You really have to weigh how often you actually sit in water versus how often you stand up and spray off!
Besides that, custom glass shower doors require a tiny bit of squeegee discipline to stay looking totally crystal clear. Hard water spots can build up on untreated glass sheets if you just let water droplets air dry under high indoor heat. Taking ten seconds to wipe down the glass after your shower keeps it sparkling like brand new forever though!
Keeping your new acrylic or composite wall surfaces clean is so simple it almost feels like cheating! You just spray down the glossy walls with gentle citrus-based soap once a week and wipe with a soft microfiber cloth. This prevents soap scum buildup without scratching the protective factory clear coat.
Moreover, running your roof exhaust fan for fifteen minutes after every single wash clears out lingering atmospheric damp humidity fast. This simple habit keeps your bathroom ceiling fresh and prevents mildew spores from floating around your living spaces. It takes zero physical effort but protects your wall paints for years to come!
Upgrading your bathroom from a cramped old basin into a gorgeous accessible retreat is one of the single best moves you can make for your house. You get unmatched daily ease, super quick cleaning times, and a stunning architectural space that makes your friends totally jealous. Stop risking a bad fall on that tall outer basin rim every morning!
Ready to make a massive change in your home life without all the normal construction stress? Reach out right now to secure a completely free home estimate tailored to your exact floor layout! Our friendly local pros will come out, answer all your questions, and show you real material samples... reach out right now to claim your quote!
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 Gunbarrel 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 Boulder County; the statewide picture lives on Colorado; the wider region is the West; background reading sits on Wikipedia.
One three-day job stands between this bathroom and its best fixture.
Get my free quote