Our Minnetonka Mills crew pulls the idle tub, keeps the alcove, and hands back a shower anywhere in Hennepin County within days.
Written quote at no cost, one callback, no chasing afterwards.
Are you tired of stepping over a giant porcelain wall just to wash yourself? Fortunately, changing that outdated washing basin into a walk-in shower area brings instant relief to your morning routine.
Therefore, understanding how this local home upgrade works will save you from major remodeling headaches later. Plus, getting a professional evaluation ensures your project goes smoothly from start to finish.
Getting rid of that bulky bathing basin opens up your entire restroom instantly. Specifically, stepping into a low-profile glass enclosure gives you much more physical space to move around.
Meanwhile, traditional soaking tubs often collect soap scum and stubborn hard water stains. Consequently, trading that basin for a sleek tile-and-glass stall makes weekly cleaning chores significantly easier.
Lifting your legs high over a slippery porcelain barrier invites dangerous slips and nasty falls. By contrast, a curbless base lets you walk straight inside without any awkward balancing acts.
Furthermore, adding built-in grab bars and textured flooring keeps your household secure during daily routines. This means aging family members can maintain their independence safely without risking injury.
Modern home buyers heavily favor open-concept bathrooms featuring luxurious walk-in wet rooms instead of unused soaking tubs. Thus, updating your property attracts better offers if you decide to sell your house eventually.
On top of that, fresh tile work and updated fixtures instantly modernize your interior aesthetic. Which means you enjoy a refreshed living space right now while building long-term equity.
Living right here in our vibrant Hennepin County community means dealing with specific municipal plumbing codes and regional weather patterns. Naturally, our bustling local population of 50117 residents deals with older housing stock needing modern updates.
Furthermore, local median household income levels dictate smart budgeting choices for any major renovation project. Whether you live in ZIP codes spanning the area, professional contractors know exactly how to handle regional building requirements.
| Project Phase | Typical Duration | Main Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Demo and Prep | One Day | Clears out old plumbing |
| Rough-In Plumbing | One to Two Days | Ensures proper drainage |
| Finishing and Glass | Two to Three Days | Delivers gorgeous visual appeal |
Planning your bathroom overhaul requires mapping out every single plumbing connection before swinging any hammers. Because hidden water damage behind old tile can stall progress, thorough inspections prevent costly surprises.
Therefore, hiring experienced local tradesmen who know the area keeps your remodel on schedule. This guarantees your household gets back to normal routines without unnecessary delays.
Choosing the right wall surrounds and shower pans dictates how much maintenance your new stall requires. Acrylic panels resist mold growth wonderfully while looking remarkably polished.
Alternatively, custom ceramic or stone tile offers endless design flexibility to match your personal taste. Either way, picking durable materials protects your investment against daily moisture exposure.
Frameless glass doors create an open atmosphere that makes small bathrooms feel surprisingly large. Additionally, special protective coatings repel water spots so your glass stays crystal clear with minimal wiping.
However, swinging glass panels require sturdy wall studs for proper mounting and weight support. This lets you swing the door wide open without worrying about sagging hinges.
Upgrading your drain lines prevents slow pooling during long showers after a tiring workday. Modern linear drains capture water quickly while adding a sophisticated designer touch.
Meanwhile, high-flow showerheads deliver a relaxing rainfall sensation while keeping water pressure steady. This lets you enjoy a spa-like experience right inside your own home.
Demolition day brings loud noises and flying debris as crews tear out the old fiberglass shell. Fortunately, professional technicians contain the mess tightly to protect the rest of your house.
Once the old unit is gone, workers inspect subfloors for rot or moisture damage. This ensures a solid foundation for your brand-new washing enclosure.
Next comes rough plumbing adjustments to align the mixing valve and drain placement correctly. Consequently, your new fixtures operate smoothly without leaking behind the walls.
Waterproofing membranes go in next to lock out moisture and prevent future structural decay. Which means your new shower stall remains structurally sound for decades.
Finally, skilled installers grout the tiles and seal every edge with flexible silicone caulk. This leaves you with a watertight masterpiece ready for your first relaxing rinse.
Cleanup happens rapidly so you can start enjoying your upgraded hygiene space immediately. Therefore, professional installation eliminates the stress of DIY plumbing mishaps.
Ready to upgrade your daily routine with a gorgeous new washing enclosure tailored to your lifestyle? Simply request your completely free quote today to kick off your home improvement journey.
Local specialists are standing by to evaluate your bathroom layout and discuss personalized design options. Don't wait another day to claim the modern sanctuary your household truly deserves.
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 Minnetonka Mills 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 Hennepin County; the statewide picture lives on Minnesota; the wider region is the Midwest.
One three-day job stands between this bathroom and its best fixture.
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