A tub-to-shower conversion is the most requested bathroom project we see, and the budget math is simple to frame: it typically prices in Atlanta’s partial-remodel band — roughly $11,000-$28,000 per the market tiers — with tile scope, glass and plumbing moves deciding where in the band you land.
What actually happens, step by step
| Step | What it involves | The honest note |
|---|---|---|
| Demolition | Tub, surround and wet-wall finishes out | What the subfloor hides gets discovered here |
| Plumbing | Drain relocation, valve set | Keeping the drain near its spot saves real money |
| Waterproofing | Pan and wall membrane system | The step that decides the next 20 years |
| Tile | Floor, walls, niche, bench | The visible budget lever |
| Glass | Measured after tile, installed last | Frameless is beautiful and unforgiving of bad walls |
The step that deserves your attention is the one you will never see again: waterproofing. A shower is a box of water aimed at your framing; membrane and pan quality decide whether that box holds for twenty years or leaks quietly into year three. It is the first line we check in any bathroom quote — ours or a competitor’s.
What moves the price inside the band?
Downward: keeping the drain location, prefab or hybrid pan, standard-size glass, tile that runs wall height instead of ceiling height. Upward: curbless entries (beautiful, more waterproofing labor), custom benches and niches, floor-to-ceiling large-format tile, and frameless glass on walls that need truing first. Accessibility features — grab bars blocked into the framing, a bench, a handheld — cost little during construction and a lot as a retrofit; if aging-in-place is anywhere on your horizon, block for them now even if you install them later.
The resale question, answered plainly
Buyers stopped demanding tubs in primary baths years ago; a well-built walk-in shower reads as the upgrade it is. The rule that still holds: keep one tub somewhere in the house for kids and future buyers with kids. Convert the primary, keep the hall bath tub, and you have modernized without narrowing your market.
What we’d tell a friend
Spend on waterproofing and glass, save on tile complexity if the budget pinches — a simple tile done flat and true beats an intricate pattern over a compromised membrane every time. And get the itemized quote that names the membrane system by brand; “we waterproof it” is not a specification. Photos of your current bathroom through the free design and quote start the real number.