Bathtub Replacement Cost in Puyallup: Real 2026 Prices for a New Tub or Walk-In Shower

The typical bathtub replacement cost in Puyallup is $10,000 to $24,000 for a standard tub-to-shower conversion with custom tile. Mid-range builds run $16,000 to $29,000. High-end showers with natural stone, a curbless entry, or body jets start at $23,000 and can run past $40,000.

I’m Brad Zemke, a third-generation carpenter and Air Force veteran with 20+ years in the trades. I’ve run Pacific Remodeling in Puyallup since 2018, and the project prices in this post come straight from my own Pierce County pricing.

“We interviewed 5 companies for our bathroom remodel. Brad wasn’t the highest or the lowest bid, but we are so grateful we chose Brad.” (Jerda B., Google review)

Below, you’ll see what drives that price, what a $10,000 budget really buys, and what to do if somebody already tore out your old tub.

What Is the Bathtub Replacement Cost in Puyallup in 2026?

Bathtub replacement usually means one of two jobs. You pull the old tub and set a new one, or you pull the tub and build a walk-in shower in the same footprint. Most homeowners who call me are weighing both.

Here’s my 2026 pricing for Pierce County:

My tub-to-shower conversion prices include moving the drain. A tub drain sits at one end of the tub, and it doesn’t line up with where a shower drain needs to go, so every conversion needs that plumbing work.

If the job grows past the tub, my bathroom remodeling services in Puyallup cover the whole room. My Puyallup bathroom remodel cost guide walks through full-room pricing.

The budget rule I give homeowners: Take your estimate and add 15% to 20% for what’s behind the walls. On a $15,000 shower, set aside another $2,250 to $3,000 before demo day.

Is $1,000 to $10,000 a Realistic Budget for a New Tub or Shower?

A question I hear on the phone goes like this: what does it cost to replace a tub with a new tiled tub or a shower, and is $1,000 to $10,000 realistic?

Short answer: $10,000 is realistic. $1,000 isn’t.

$10,000 sits at the low end of my standard range for a tile tub-to-shower conversion. At that budget you get standard tile and standard fixtures, and I still build every hidden layer the right way.

$1,000 won’t cover the plumbing, never mind the tile. Even a basic prefab acrylic or fiberglass stall runs $2,000 to $6,000 nationally, and prefab is the budget option.

What a $10,000 Budget Has to Cover

A shower isn’t one product. It’s a stack of trades, and every one of them has to happen in the right order:

1. Demo of the old tub and surround
2. Moving the drain to where a shower needs it
3. A shower valve and trim
4. A waterproofing membrane (Schluter KERDI or RedGard) over the floor and every wet wall
5. Backer, tile, grout, and the hours it takes to set them straight and level
6. A permit if the work modifies plumbing ($250 to $800)
7. Cleanup and haul-off

Why Labor Takes Up So Much of the Price

Industry figures put labor at 40% to 60% of a shower replacement’s total cost. That surprises people until they count how many trades touch one shower: demo, plumbing, waterproofing, tile, and glass.

I get why the rate stings. If you make $30 an hour, paying a contractor $100 or more an hour feels steep.

That hourly rate isn’t profit. It pays for insurance, licensing, liability coverage, the truck, the tools, and the 20+ years it took me to learn how to keep water out of your walls for good.

Where Your Bathtub Replacement Cost Goes, Line by Line

Here’s how the individual pieces stack up. I mixed national figures for single plumbing tasks with my own Pierce County prices, and I labeled each one so you know which is which.

Waterproofing: The Line Item You’ll Never See

Waterproofing is mandatory on every shower I build. I use Schluter KERDI or RedGard.

Tile and grout don’t stop water by themselves. Grout soaks up moisture, and the membrane behind the tile keeps that water from ever reaching your studs and subfloor.

I spent 5 years as a B-52 crew chief in the Air Force, where you follow the checklist and never skip a step because lives ride on the work nobody sees, and I bring that same habit to every shower pan and wall seam. My dad drilled the same lesson into me on job sites growing up. The work behind the walls matters as much as the finished surface.

Glass and Curbless Upgrades

Glass goes in last, and it’s one of the first things you notice. A frameless enclosure runs $1,600 to $4,000 in my pricing, and a curbless entry adds $1,000 to $2,000.

Curbless costs more because the shower floor has to sit lower than the bathroom floor to keep the slope toward the drain. That can mean modifying the subfloor or framing.

I go deeper on glass, niches, and curbless details in my walk-in shower ideas and costs guide.

Should You Replace the Tub or Convert to a Walk-In Shower?

Make this call based on how you live first, and on cost second.

Keep a Tub If…

• You have young kids who still take baths
• It’s the only tub in the house
• Someone in your home actually soaks in it
• You plan to sell to buyers with young families

Convert to a Shower If…

• Nobody has used the tub in years
• You have another tub somewhere else in the house
• Stepping over a tub wall is getting harder
• You want a shower you’ll use every single day

I recommend keeping at least one tub in a multi-bathroom home, both for families and for resale value. If you have two bathrooms, convert the primary and keep the hall bath tub.

If you plan to stay in your home for the long haul, a low-threshold or curbless shower makes a lot of sense. My aging-in-place bathroom remodel guide walks through the safety details.

What a New Tiled Tub Costs Compared to a Shower

A new tub with a fresh tile surround skips two of the bigger line items in a conversion: moving the drain and the glass enclosure. That can put a tiled tub below a tile shower of the same quality. Once the job grows into new flooring, a vanity, and lighting, you’re in my guest or hall bath range of $16,000 to $35,000.

Measure Twice Before You Pick a Design

Measure twice, cut once applies to shower size too. Washington’s version of the plumbing code requires a finished shower interior of at least 900 square inches that can also fit a 30-inch circle.

The key word there is finished. Backer board, membrane, mortar, and tile take roughly half an inch to an inch off each wall.

A tub alcove usually measures about 60 inches long and 30 to 32 inches deep, so a tight one can come up short on that 30-inch circle once the finish layers go on. I check that number before I ever price a shower.

Did Someone Already Tear Out Your Old Tub or Shower?

Yes. I take on jobs where the homeowner or another contractor already tore out the tub or shower.

That’s the second question I hear a lot. The old shower is already gone, and the homeowner wants to know two things: can I put in a new one, and what should it cost?

Cost reality: Demo is one of the smaller pieces of a shower job. Nationally, tub removal and disposal runs $300 to $1,200. The drain, valve, waterproofing, tile, and glass still sit ahead of you, and that’s where the real money goes.

So plan around the ranges in this post. An empty alcove doesn’t cut the price in half, because the skilled, expensive work all happens after demo.

What I Check First When Someone Else Did the Demo

• Did the framing and subfloor stay dry while the space sat open?
• Did the demo damage a supply line, the drain, or the valve?
• Did the demo expose rot or mold?
• Are the walls flat and plumb enough to take tile?
• Does the existing plumbing meet current code?

None of these kill a project. They just need answers before anyone sets a single tile.

Don’t let an open shower sit for months. Bare studs and a bare subfloor in a damp Pacific Northwest bathroom invite mold. Run the exhaust fan and keep water off the framing until the rebuild starts. My bathroom mold prevention guide covers ventilation in more detail.

A Real Pierce County Job: Fiberglass Stall to Custom Tile Shower

Here’s a project from my portfolio that shows what this kind of swap looks like.

My crew and I ripped out an old fiberglass shower stall and replaced it with a custom tile shower. The new shower has white subway tile walls, a marble mosaic shower floor, a built-in niche, and brushed nickel fixtures. The job covered bathroom remodeling, tile, and plumbing work.

You can see more of this fiberglass to tile shower conversion on the project page.

Why go from fiberglass to tile? A tile shower lets you design around your bathroom instead of picking from the sizes a manufacturer happens to make. Put that tile over a real waterproofing membrane and you get a long-term fix, not a placeholder.

Another Look: Subway Tile Walk-In Shower

This custom walk-in shower has white subway tile walls, penny tile on the floor and as a niche accent, oil-rubbed bronze fixtures, and a curbed entry. I built it to last.

See the full subway tile walk-in shower project for more photos.

What Pierce County Homes Hide Behind the Tub

Moisture and rot are the number one enemy of a Pacific Northwest bathroom. The rain doesn’t care if you live in Graham, Edgewood, Lakewood, or up on South Hill.

If water found its way behind an old tub surround, it’s had years to work on the framing. You won’t see it until the tub comes out.

I’ve underbid jobs where the hidden work blew up once the walls came open. Rot, old wiring, plumbing that wasn’t up to code. Those jobs taught me to plan for what might sit behind the wall before I put a number on paper.

Here’s what older Pierce County bathrooms tend to hide:

• Rotted studs or subfloor where water slipped past old caulk or grout
• Plumbing that doesn’t meet current code
• Old wiring close to the wet area
• A weak exhaust fan, or no fan at all
• Walls that need straightening before tile goes on

In older homes, touching one system often means bringing others up to current code. Plan for it in the budget instead of hoping it won’t happen.

How Long You’ll Go Without a Tub or Shower

Timelines on a tub replacement look like this:

• Tub-to-shower build: 7 to 10 business days
• Total time, including glass fabrication: about 2 weeks
• Full bathroom remodel: 3 to 5 weeks
• Complex bathroom projects: 6 to 8 weeks

If you have a second bathroom, you don’t need to move out.

Some of that time is waiting you can’t rush. Waterproofing and grout need time to cure, and the glass shop can’t measure for your enclosure until I finish the tile, which is why a 7-to-10-day build turns into about 2 weeks door to door.

Permits Add Time and a Little Money

If your project modifies plumbing, you need a permit. In my experience, bathroom permits run $250 to $800. An inspector visits during the job, and that step isn’t optional. My guide to remodeling permits in Puyallup explains when you need one.

I say this a lot: good, fast, or cheap. Pick two. A shower with a permit and a real waterproofing membrane is the good option, and it takes the time it takes.

How to Compare Tub Replacement Bids So the Cheap One Doesn’t Cost You More

The biggest homeowner mistake I see is choosing on price alone. Some contractors underbid on purpose to win the job, then hit you with change orders once they start. By then your old tub sits in the dumpster and your bathroom is down to bare studs. You can’t easily switch contractors at that point.

Make every bid cover the same scope. If one contractor lists drain relocation, waterproofing, and the permit, and another bid never mentions them, you aren’t comparing apples to apples, and the cheaper number probably leaves out work you’ll pay for later.

“We received 3 bids and his was clear, easy to understand and fair.” (JB S., Google review)

Questions to Ask Any Contractor Before You Sign

• Does the price include moving the drain?
• Which waterproofing system will you use, and does it cover the floor and every wet wall?
• Does the bid include the permit and inspections?
• How do you handle change orders if you find rot behind the tub?
• Are you licensed, bonded, and insured?
• What’s your warranty if the shower leaks or fails?
• Can I see photos of tile showers you’ve built and call a few past clients?
• Which items are allowances, and what happens if my picks cost more?
• Will my finished shower meet Washington’s minimum size rule?

Check their work, not their pitch. Smooth talkers aren’t always good builders, and you get what you pay for.

Bathtub Replacement Questions Puyallup Homeowners Ask

Here are short answers to the bathtub replacement cost questions I hear most.

How much does it cost to replace a bathtub with a walk-in shower in Puyallup?

In my pricing, a standard tile tub-to-shower conversion runs $10,000 to $24,000. Mid-range builds run $16,000 to $29,000, and high-end builds run $23,000 to $40,000 and up. A frameless glass enclosure runs $1,600 to $4,000.

Can I replace my old tub with a new tub and a tile surround instead?

Yes. A tiled tub skips the drain move and usually the glass enclosure, so it can come in below a tile shower conversion of the same quality. The wall tile and waterproofing still take real skilled labor.

Will removing my only bathtub hurt my resale value?

It can. I recommend keeping at least one tub in a multi-bathroom home for families and resale value. A well-built mid-range bathroom remodel typically returns 60% to 70% at resale.

Do I need a permit to replace a bathtub in Puyallup?

You need one if the work modifies plumbing, and a tub-to-shower conversion always moves the drain. Bathroom permits typically run $250 to $800 in my experience.

How long does a tub-to-shower conversion take?

The build takes 7 to 10 business days. Plan on about 2 weeks total, because the glass shop needs time to fabricate your enclosure after I finish the tile.

Is a curbless shower worth the extra $1,000 to $2,000?

If you want an open look, or you plan to stay in the house as you age, I think it is. No curb means nothing to trip over, and the bathroom floor flows right into the shower.

Also Serving Homeowners Across Pierce County

I work with homeowners across Pierce County, including Tacoma, Sumner, Bonney Lake, Edgewood, and South Hill. The PNW rain hits every one of those towns the same way, and I build every shower to handle it.

Get Your Free Estimate on a Bathtub Replacement

The fastest way to get a real number for your bathroom is a free in-home estimate. I’ll measure your alcove, check the condition of what’s there, and walk you through your bathtub replacement cost before any work starts.

I price every job the way I’d want someone to price my own mom’s bathroom. Honest numbers, no padding, and no surprises I could have warned you about.

Call me at (253) 392-9266 or schedule your free estimate today.

Brad Zemke, Owner Pacific Remodeling LLC Puyallup, WA