Tub-to-Shower Conversion or Full Bathroom Remodel: Which Does Your Bathroom Need?

What a tub-to-shower conversion includes

The tub comes out and a walk-in shower takes its place: a sloped, waterproofed pan, tile walls, frameless glass, a niche and often a bench, with the drain and the valve relocated as the new layout needs. Because the shower lands in the tub's footprint, the toilet and vanity usually stay where they are, and the rest of the room is refreshed around the new shower: vanity, counter, faucet, toilet, lighting, exhaust fan, flooring and paint. It is the project that turns a 1950s tub nobody uses into the bathroom's best feature.

In the Valley the conversion runs $22K–$52K. The waterproofing, the pan, the tile and the glass are the price; the finish selections and whether the valve moves decide where in the range the project lands. It takes 3–6 weeks on site once the permit is issued, and because the plumbing and electrical almost always change, it is permitted.

What a full bathroom remodel includes

A full remodel takes the room to the studs and rebuilds it to a new plan: the plumbing relocated, a larger shower or a freestanding tub, a double vanity, heated floors, new lighting and ventilation, new drywall and tile throughout, and often a wall moved to borrow space from a closet or a hall. The galvanized supply lines and the cast-iron drain are replaced while the walls are open, and a primary bath usually adds a dedicated circuit or two.

The primary-bath tier runs $35K–$95K+ in the Valley: a refresh that keeps every fixture in place is $18K–$40K, a gut remodel with relocated plumbing, custom tile and heated floors is 5–7 weeks on site at the top of the range. It is the project for a bathroom whose plan, not just whose tub, is the problem.

Tub-to-shower vs. full remodel at a glance

Which one is your bathroom?

Three questions decide it. Does the layout work, with the toilet, the vanity and the tub where you would put them again? Are the pipes behind the walls still galvanized steel, with pressure that drops when the kitchen tap runs? And is the bathroom supposed to become something else, a primary bath with a double vanity and a separate shower, rather than a better version of itself?

If the layout works and the pipes have been replaced, convert the tub and refresh the rest: it is the best money a Valley bathroom can spend. If the pipes are original, the walls are coming open anyway, and the full remodel costs less than doing the conversion now and the re-pipe later. If the room has to change shape or purpose, you were never in the conversion tier.

Curbless, walk-in and the slab question

A walk-in shower with a low curb fits any conversion. A curbless shower, with the floor sloping to the drain and no step at all, depends on the foundation. On a raised foundation the floor can be dropped between the joists and the work is in the crawlspace; on a slab, which most 1950s Valley tracts in Van Nuys and North Hollywood have, the slab is cut and recessed, which adds a day of concrete work and the price that goes with it. Both are permitted, both are inspected before the walls close, and both are the right call for a bathroom that has to work for someone with limited mobility.

Permits and inspections

Every tub-to-shower conversion and every full remodel is permitted, because the plumbing and electrical change. In the City of Los Angeles a bathroom with no structural change usually gets an express permit with no plan check; Burbank, Glendale and Beverly Hills issue theirs through their own building departments. The rough inspection happens before the walls close, the final after the glass and fixtures are in, and California's Title 24 rules for high-efficacy lighting and a ducted exhaust fan apply to both tiers. The bathroom page shows the process step by step.

Resale: should the house keep a tub?

If the house has more than one bathroom, keep a tub in one of them; families with small children and some buyers expect it, and the conversion in the primary or hall bath costs you nothing in resale. In a one-bathroom house the decision is personal: a walk-in shower is easier to use for longer and the room looks a generation newer, but the conversion is reversible only at the cost of another remodel. Updated tracts in Sherman Oaks and Burbank now treat a primary bath with a real shower as the baseline.

What we recommend

Walk the bathroom with the three questions. Workable plan, replaced pipes, a tub that never gets used: convert it, refresh the room and be done in 3–6 weeks. Original plumbing, a cramped plan or a bathroom that should become a primary bath: do the full remodel once, with the re-pipe, the circuits and the permit inside the price. Either way the free on-site estimate ends with a written recommendation and an itemized fixed price; the bathroom cost guide and the bathroom section of our FAQ cover the rest.

Sources (checked October 2026): Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, plan check and permit information; California Energy Commission, Building Energy Efficiency Standards (Title 24, Part 6): residential lighting, ventilation and envelope requirements in remodels; Right Image Builders service and neighborhood pages (2026 planning ranges, timelines, permit authorities). Cost figures are Right Image Builders' 2026 planning ranges from its service and neighborhood pages.