Colorado Springs bathroom remodeling
A spacious, easy-access walk-in shower in place of the cramped corner tub — most conversions done in days, not weeks, with minimal disruption.
Call (719) 466-8828A tub-to-shower conversion takes out a bathtub or tub-shower combo and puts a dedicated walk-in shower in its place. In Colorado Springs that usually means one of two situations: a postwar ranch or split-level with a second bathroom where nobody has taken a bath in years, or an older home where a heavy cast iron tub has become hard to step over. The tub goes, and the space becomes a shower sized to the existing footprint or a little larger.
The clearest sign you are a candidate is that you already shower standing in the tub every day and only use the tub as a place to stand. Other reasons: a tub that is chipped, rusting, or stained beyond cleaning; a household member who struggles with the step-over; or a dated surround that leaks at the seams. If the wall behind the tub is soft or the caulk line keeps failing, water is already getting in, and a conversion fixes the cause rather than recaulking it again.
What it is not: this is not the project to do to your only bathtub if you have young kids or plan to sell soon to families. Below we walk through what the work includes, how it goes, and the specifics of doing it in a Colorado Springs home.
The crew takes out the existing tub, surround, and any rotted framing or subfloor behind it. Cast iron tubs in older homes here often have to be broken up in place to get them out a doorway. They haul everything off, including the old drywall and backer board, so you are not left with a pile of debris in the driveway or garage waiting on a dumpster.
A tub drain sits in a different spot than a shower drain, so the crew moves and re-plumbs the drain line to center it under the new base. They'll also swap the tub spout and valve for a shower valve, and in older homes they often replace short runs of galvanized supply or cast iron drain that are already corroding. All of this is inspected before anything gets closed up.
The pan is where most showers fail, so the contractor builds it to drain and stay sealed. Depending on your choice they set a pre-formed acrylic or solid-surface base, or build a mortar bed with a sheet or liquid membrane for tile. They slope it correctly to the drain, waterproof the corners and curb, and tie the membrane into the wall system so water has nowhere to wick behind.
You choose the wall surface. Acrylic or solid-surface panels go up fast, resist hard-water scale, and have almost no grout to maintain. Tile costs more and takes longer but lasts longest when the waterproofing behind it is done right. Either way the crew installs proper backer board and a membrane behind the surface, not just green drywall, so the wall assembly is sealed rather than relying on caulk.
They finish with the shower valve trim, showerhead, a glass door or fixed panel, and any niches, benches, or grab bars you want. If accessibility is the reason for the project, the roofer sets blocking in the walls for grab bars at the framing stage so they anchor into wood, not just tile. A low or zero-threshold curb is an option if the floor structure allows it.
The contractor comes out, looks at your actual bathroom, and checks what is behind the wall where they can. You will get a written quote that lists the base, wall material, valve, and glass, so you can see what drives the price. This is also when they tell you if your layout makes a curbless shower realistic or not.
Moving a drain requires a plumbing permit through the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department, and the contractor pulls it. While that is processing you finalize colors, tile, glass, and fixtures. Ordering glass and specialty tile can add lead time, so picking early keeps the job from stalling halfway through.
The crew protects floors and pathways, removes the tub and surround, and does the plumbing rough-in for the relocated drain and valve. The work then stops for the required inspection. Skipping this step is how bad jobs hide leaks inside a wall, so they wait for the sign-off before covering anything.
With the rough-in passed, the roofer sets the base, waterproofs it, and installs backer and membrane. Then walls go up, glass is measured and hung, and trim and accessories are set. They caulk, clean, and walk the finished shower with you. They'll ask you to wait a day or two before first use so sealants fully cure.
Colorado Springs has a wide mix of housing, from early-1900s homes in the Old North End to postwar ranches and the big waves of building out toward Powers and the north end. The older the house, the more the crew finds behind the wall: galvanized supply lines, cast iron drains, and framing that was never sized for a modern glass enclosure. Second bathrooms in these homes often still have the original tub nobody uses, which is the most common conversion they do. Any project that relocates the drain gets permitted and inspected through the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department, which covers both the city and El Paso County.
The local water is hard, so mineral scale on glass and fixtures is the maintenance issue here far more than mold, which our dry, high-altitude air keeps in check. That is one reason many homeowners here pick low-maintenance acrylic or solid-surface walls over grout. If your bathroom backs to an exterior wall, freezing is a real winter risk on our cold nights, so the contractor keeps supply lines off the outside wall cavity where they can or insulates them properly when things get opened up.
Most conversions here land between about 4,000 and 8,000 dollars for an acrylic or solid-surface system, and roughly 8,000 to 15,000 or more for full tile. The biggest cost drivers are whether the drain has to move far, whether the crew finds corroded old plumbing that needs replacing, the wall material, and glass. Frameless glass and custom tile push the top end. A quote that seems far below these numbers usually leaves out waterproofing or the permit.
Plan on three to five working days for an acrylic or panel system and about a week and a half to two weeks for tile, since mortar, waterproofing, and grout each need cure time. The required inspection between rough-in and closing up adds a day or so depending on scheduling. If you only have one bathroom, the crew sequences the work to keep the toilet usable for as much of the job as possible.
Usually not. A conversion done because you want a shower instead of a tub is elective remodeling, and homeowners policies do not cover upgrades. The exception is when a covered event, like a sudden pipe burst or overflow, damages the bathroom and the repair happens to include the shower area. Even then, insurance pays to restore what was there, not to upgrade to a nicer enclosure. Any accessibility or medical funding is separate from your homeowners policy.
Acrylic and solid-surface panels cost less, install in a few days, and shrug off the hard-water scale we deal with here, with very little to maintain. They typically last 15 to 20 years. Tile costs more and takes longer, but with the waterproofing done correctly it can last 20 to 30 years and lets you customize the look. If low maintenance matters most, go with panels; if appearance and longevity matter more, go tile.
Ours separates two things: the manufacturer warranty on the acrylic base, panels, glass, or valve, and our labor warranty on the installation. The one that matters most is the waterproofing and the pan, because that is what fails expensively. Ask any contractor to put the labor coverage in writing and to name what voids it. Normal wear, hard-water etching, and damage from your own missed maintenance are not covered by anyone.
If it is your only bathroom or the only tub in the house, think hard before removing it. Buyers with small children and some resale appraisals still expect at least one tub, and an all-shower house can narrow your market in Colorado Springs. Converting a second or master bathroom while leaving one tub elsewhere gives you the walk-in shower without hurting resale. If every bathroom is a shower, that is when it can cost you.