Tearing out a walk-in tub?

[always_learning]

Has anyone ever torn out a walk-in tub and had a regular tub installed?

We don't want one and many of the houses we see (online) have them already and wondered how difficult/expensive it would be to rip it out and just put a regular tub back in.

We had nixed the thought of even looking at a house with one, but we have seen some houses that otherwise fit our 'list' that have them and wonder if we are limiting our search unnecessarily by passing on them.

I tried a Google search and came up empty. All I could find were articles on having them installed.

 

[Sunset]

Never did it.
Are you sure about putting in a tub, vs a walk-in shower ?

Usually removal of something is not all that difficult, as it can be destructive, however those things are expensive, so care removing it could mean it's worth $500 for sale used.

 

[Jerry1]

Are you sure about putting in a tub, vs a walk-in shower ?

Or, doesn't the house have a tub (walk-in) PLUS a separate shower? As long as I had a walk-in shower, it wouldn't bother me to not use the walk-in tub.

Just a wild guess, but I would think that taking out a tub and putting in a different one would run between $2K and maybe up to $5K depending how much repair work has to be done. For example, a tile surround is not going to line up to the new tub. So, unless you can match the tile or get creative, you'd be removing the old tile and rebuilding the entire surround.

 

[OldShooter]

Why not ask a plumber? SGOTI is unlikely to know with any accuracy.

 

[always_learning]

Never did it.
Are you sure about putting in a tub, vs a walk-in shower ?

Usually removal of something is not all that difficult, as it can be destructive, however those things are expensive, so care removing it could mean it's worth $500 for sale used.

Oops. I should have mentioned that.

Most of the houses we've seen have a walk-in shower in the master and the walk-in tub in the "main" bath. That's why we would replace with a regular tub.

I wonder if Habitat would want one of those? I wouldn't even know where to begin trying to sell it (no Facebook, etc) and would have no way to help transport it.

It's sad, too, as one listing we saw mentioned the tub as a selling feature "owners spent $10,000 on an upgraded walk-in tub!" only to have that tidbit removed from the listing after a month. I'm guessing that tub is why the house hasn't sold yet (now in the 4th month of being listed), as other homes in the same style & price have long since come and gone.

Or, doesn't the house have a tub (walk-in) PLUS a separate shower? As long as I had a walk-in shower, it wouldn't bother me to not use the walk-in tub.

Just a wild guess, but I would think that taking out a tub and putting in a different one would run between $2K and maybe up to $5K depending how much repair work has to be done. For example, a tile surround is not going to line up to the new tub. So, unless you can match the tile or get creative, you'd be removing the old tile and rebuilding the entire surround.

Normally, I would agree with you on ignoring the walk-in tub, but these are, to us, hideous and even if it was hiding behind a shower curtain, we would know it was there and we're weird enough that that would bother us. And then, there is resale to consider if we leave it in. (a previous thread had most everyone agreeing that these affect resale)

Our plans would be removal of the walk-in, install a regular tub, and a tear out/rebuild of the entire tile/surround area for the exact reason you mentioned.

I like your off-the-cuff estimate as I was pulling about $10k out of the air. We've not undertaken anything like this so have no idea on where to even begin guessing. Annnd, since we are just looking, we can't contact contractors for estimates.

I guess the best I could do is to price a tub & roughly estimate tile materials? That would give us a starting point, at least. I wonder if the plumbing needs to be redone, as well? Man, that would mean drywall, too, unless that all needs to be done anyway when re-tiling.

 

[always_learning]

Why not ask a plumber? SGOTI is unlikely to know with any accuracy.

Is a plumber who we would ask, or some sort of contractor? I was thinking a contractor due to tiling, maybe drywall/backerboard....

To answer your question, though, we're in a different state and house shopping online, for the first part. I did call a flooring company in the area we're looking in just a few weeks ago to get price on their installation costs for a mid-range cost carpet with tear out & removal of the old and you'd have thought I asked for the cost of a whole-house build without plans. Sheesh. I mean, price-per-square-foot is a set rate so as long as I know the sqft of the house, why was that so hard to do? Was it $3 or $13, or $30, you know? I guess that's why I'm asking here on the off chance that someone knows if we're looking at $3k, $13k, or $30k. Accuracy is not needed, but a high-low range would be helpful.

If I thought it would help, I'd call a local plumber or contractor but we don't have many retirees here (so probably not many of those tubs) so I doubt they'd even have a guess. Although, they might for a regular tub/shower redo, so I guess I could try that and hope that someone will at least call me back.

 

[street]

My neighbor just told me he want to install a walk-in bath tub and to remove standard shower/tub. To get one installed and remove old shower/tub unit it would cost 14K for the complete switch out. The cost included all material for the installation and tear out.

He is not going to do it for cost reasons.

 

[OldShooter]

Call someone in your destination City.

 

[H2ODude]

While I have done several bath remodels, I actually have never seen a walk in tub in real life. So take this for what it's worth. I think the level of effort may depend on how it was done. I'd think there are "drop in" walk ins that may be relatively easy to remove, then the question arises as to where the drain line lines up. Also, I'd imagine that there are units that rely exclusively on fiberglass type enclosures vs some that include adornment with ceramic tile above the unit? In which case removal more involved. So my guess is that removal/replacement would depend on what and how original installed. When I did our master I wanted to remove (and just get rid of, not replace with anything) the jet tub but DW was skeptical. So it only has been used for the grandkids since the remodel 5-6 years ago!

 

[zinger1457]

I replaced a garden type tub with a whirlpool in my master bath myself. The size of the tubs were the same, if not it will make a big difference in the amount of work required. I also re-tiled the tub surround as part of the project so all the walls were bare. If you want to keep the existing tile you'll still have to remove the row of tiles that sits just above the tub, there's usually a lip on the top of the tub that the tiles sit over so those tiles need to be removed to remove the old tub and install the new one. As long as the new tub is the same size and the drain aligns properly it shouldn't be too difficult a job.

 

[workmyfingerstothebone]

Are you good at construction?


Tearing it out is not that hard. Though my tub was the 3 piece wrap around set so no tile to bust out. Cut some drywall, removed some nails, sawz all the tub and walls and removed. I think $600 was the price mentioned to have it removed by the tile guy.



Yours might be tile, so bring a hammer and chisel .



I did some of my own remodel in 2018, but put in a walk in shower and took out the tub. LOL.


I had to pay $700 for some re-piping, original builders did a piss poor job!


Also paid to have the tile installed in the shower and bathroom floor (5X8 bathroom)

I think I paid around 2K.



I could have done the tile but it is the focal point of the bathroom and we wanted it to be professional looking. The guy did a much better job than I could. The walls where the 6' glass doors were installed required a plump square job otherwise the glass would not fit. After writing this I guess I couldn't have done the tile .

 

[Hermit]

A freind just replaced a tub and surround for $8k. It was a very nice job. I would guess between 8 & 10k.

 

[ncbill]

I replaced a garden type tub with a whirlpool in my master bath myself. The size of the tubs were the same, if not it will make a big difference in the amount of work required. I also re-tiled the tub surround as part of the project so all the walls were bare. If you want to keep the existing tile you'll still have to remove the row of tiles that sits just above the tub, there's usually a lip on the top of the tub that the tiles sit over so those tiles need to be removed to remove the old tub and install the new one. As long as the new tub is the same size and the drain aligns properly it shouldn't be too difficult a job.

Garden tubs are standard in the master bath in my development (master also includes a stand-alone shower built into a corner)

Older residents often replace the garden tub with a curbless walk-in shower.

 

[Jimmie]

we had builtin bathtub next to our shower when we bought home. we disliked both bathtub and shower, so ripped both out. i did the demolition and was fairly easy. had a truck to load up the demoed material and took to the dump. i put an ad on our local freecycle.org website offering up the bathtub and had an email right away from interested party. i put in driveway and was picked up same day. hired a bathroom contractor to rebuild the shower and greatly expanded the size to a 6 ft x 6 ft shower.

we decided to not install in a new bathtub as dw doesn't take baths. left the hot/cold water lines and drain capped just above the newly tiled floor, next to wall, where we have it hidden with a piece of storage furniture. we will let the next owner of home decide if they wish to install a new bathtub.

freecycle.org is excellent way for getting rid of something versus taking to landfill. check it out. here's a little info from their website:

Welcome! The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 5,323 groups with 9,169,111 members around the world, and next door to you. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns and neighborhoods. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by local volunteers (them's good people). Membership is free.