By Gene and Katie Hamilton

A popular retrofit for a bathroom makeover is replacing a bathtub with a standalone shower. If, like many homeowners, you use a tub primarily for showering, why not make it easier and safer with a unit designed to replace a tub and that has a low step-over threshold?

The Sterling Ensemble shower receptor is a base that fits into a standard 5-foot bath alcove space, and it comes in both left and right drain configurations. The receptor measures 60 inches by 30 inches, and installs directly into a wall stud pocket at the subfloor. To prevent pooling water, it is molded with a slight draft toward the drain. To complete the project, install tile or a solid surface on the three surrounding walls to create a comfortable walk-in shower.

Compare the costs: A plumber will charge $2,800 to remove the old bathtub and fixtures and install a new receptor and wall surfaces. The cost will be considerably more if you decide to upgrade the enclousure material to a solid surface or ceramic tile. If you have experience with carpentry and plumbing projects, you can dismantle and remove the old bathtub and fixtures, and buy the receptor and wall surround kit for $1,300 and install it. You’ll find them at bath and home centers.

The average price to replace a tub with a shower noted above is cost data to compare a contractor’s estimate with doing it yourself. Tweak the data by adding your ZIP Code to find a local cost.

Improvement and Repair Cost Updated 2018

The cost and time data is generated by averaging labor and material data from annually updated cost books used by contractors and refined by the authors' experience remodeling 13 houses. They are authors of 20 home improvement books and Do It Yourself or Not, a weekly column syndicated by Tribune Content Agency. The national cost can be adjusted by ZIP Code.