Walk-In Shower vs. Bathtub: Which Is Better for Florida Homeowners?

Neither is better for every home. A walk-in shower is usually the better fit if stepping over a tub wall is hard for anyone in the house now, or likely to be in the years you plan to stay. Keeping a tub makes more sense if you bathe young children or pets in it, like to soak, or count on it to store water before a hurricane. We found no reliable data on how removing a tub affects resale, so base the choice on how your household uses the bathroom.

Cost cuts one way: keeping a sound tub costs nothing, while replacing an alcove tub with a tiled walk-in shower runs about $4,500–$12,000 in our Florida planning ranges, before glass. This guide compares the two for daily use. For the full price breakdown and worked examples, see our tub-to-shower conversion cost guide.

Walk-in shower vs. bathtub at a glance

What the switch costs

In our Florida planning ranges, a tiled walk-in shower built in the old tub alcove, with waterproofing and a new drain, costs about $4,500–$12,000. The two extras that most often come with it are frameless glass, about $1,000–$4,000, and moving the drain in the slab, about $1,000–$5,000. With both, the estimate is $4,500 + $1,000 + $1,000 = $6,500 at the low end and $12,000 + $4,000 + $5,000 = $21,000 at the high end. None of these figures include permit fees, condo or HOA fees, or repairs to damage found once the old tub comes out; how we estimate costs explains where they come from.

What the choice costs depends on what else you're doing:

• Only the tub area changes. This is where the gap is widest: keeping a sound tub costs nothing, while converting it costs the full range above.
• You're gutting the whole bathroom anyway. Our standard full-remodel range for a 5 × 8 ft hall bath, $15,000–$30,000, assumes either a new tub or a shower in roughly the same layout. The extra cost of choosing a shower then comes mainly from frameless glass and any drain move. Our Melbourne bathroom remodel cost guide prices the whole room.
• You keep the tub and make it safer. Our tables don't price tub replacement, grab bars or wall blocking on their own, so ask for each as a separate line.

National cost guides publish lower averages for conversions, partly because they include prefabricated stalls, which they say cost least. Our tub-to-shower cost guide compares those figures with our range, itemizes what a complete quote should cover and works through example budgets. The bathroom budget calculator has a tub-to-shower option. All of these are estimates, not quotes: the price of your conversion depends on the condition behind the tub, the drain location and the products you pick.

Need a contractor for this project?Request a bathroom remodel estimate

Accessibility and aging in place

This is where a walk-in shower has the clearest advantage. AARP says fall risk rises with age because of reduced mobility, eyesight and muscle strength, and that most falls at home happen in the bathroom. It also says more than 10% of adults 65 and older have falls that cause injuries each year. A tub wall is one more thing to step over, wet, on a slippery surface.

The National Association of Home Builders' aging-in-place remodeling checklist recommends:

• a stand-up shower that is curbless and at least 36 inches wide
• a fold-down shower seat and an adjustable handheld showerhead
• bracing in the walls around the tub, shower, shower seat and toilet so grab bars can be added

The checklist says it isn't complete and recommends working with a Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS). A syndicated aging-in-place column adds that an occupational or physical therapist can evaluate a home.

Fully curbless isn't the only route. AARP profiles a homeowner who replaced a tub with a walk-in shower that has a low threshold, a built-in bench, a hand sprayer and a grab bar, and the experts it quotes suggest designing for the needs you have now and the ones you may have later.

If you're keeping the tub for now, you can still plan ahead. Any time the walls around the tub are open, ask for blocking so grab bars can go in later without opening the wall again.

A fully accessible bathroom is a much bigger project than a tub swap. The Cost vs. Value report's universal design bath, a standard bathroom reworked with accessible features such as a shower, a wider doorway and grab bars, came to about $39,000 in both Orlando (2024) and Jacksonville (2025).

Young children, pets and bath time

We didn't find research comparing walk-in showers with tubs for families with young children, so treat this as a household decision rather than a rule.

• Babies and toddlers. Some parents find a tub easier for bath time. Others manage with a handheld shower or a separate baby bath. If small children live with you or visit often, think through bath time before you remove the only tub.
• Supervision. A pediatric health information service says never to leave a young child unattended in the bathroom, because a child propped in a bath seat or ring can still slip under and drown. A tub holds standing water and a shower usually doesn't, but supervision matters with either.
• Scalds. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission urges setting water heaters to 120°F, and says most tap-water scald injuries and deaths involve older adults and children under five, the same two groups that usually drive this decision. The same pediatric service says 3 seconds of exposure to 140°F water can cause a third-degree burn, and recommends testing bath water with your wrist or elbow.
• Pets. A tub contains a wet dog. A walk-in shower with a handheld sprayer and a low or no threshold lets a dog walk in rather than be lifted. Which works better depends on the animal.
• Soaking. If anyone in the house uses the tub to soak, a shower won't replace it.

Cleaning and upkeep

Cleaning depends more on finishes than on the fixture. Frameless glass shows water spots and soap film unless it's wiped regularly, while a curtain is cheap to wash or replace. A large tiled shower usually has more grout than a tub with a tiled surround, and larger tiles mean fewer joints. A tub means bending or kneeling over its wall to clean; a walk-in shower lets you step in. In Florida's humid climate, make sure the exhaust fan works and clears the room after a shower, whichever you choose.

Florida factors

Curbless showers on a slab

A curbless shower has no step at the entry, which is why it appears on NAHB's checklist. On a concrete slab it takes more planning. Tile and plumbing trade articles describe it this way:

• The shower floor usually has to be recessed so it can slope to the drain while the entry stays level with the bathroom floor. A new slab can be poured with a recess. In an existing home, that means cutting into the concrete in the shower area.
• Where recessing isn't practical, manufacturers sell prefabricated curbless trays and pre-sloped pans, some with a shallow ramp at the entry.
• Linear drains, which run along one edge of the shower floor, are discussed as an alternative to a center drain.
• Because there's no curb to hold water back, the trade guidance calls for extending the waterproofing beyond the shower into the surrounding floor.

We haven't verified the Florida Building Code's current requirements for shower thresholds, floor slope or waterproofing. Ask the building department that will issue your permit, and ask your contractor how the design meets them. A low threshold, like the one in the AARP example above, is a middle option when a fully curbless entry isn't practical. Our ranges don't price curbless slab work separately, so ask for it as its own line.

Drain location and what's behind the tub

A shower drain doesn't always land where the tub drain was, and on a slab, moving it is one of the biggest cost swings in a conversion (see the costs above). Ask where the new drain can go before you settle on a layout or a curbless design.

The bigger durability question is hidden. A tiled shower depends on a waterproofing system you can't see once the tile is up, so ask each contractor to name it. And keeping the tub avoids opening the walls now, but it won't stop a leak that's already there: water that gets past an old surround can rot framing or damage block walls, often out of sight until the tub comes out. See change orders and hidden damage and how much contingency to budget.

Hurricane season: a tub doubles as water storage

FEMA's hurricane tips and the National Weather Service's tropical preparedness checklist include filling the bathtub and other large containers before a storm, so you have water for sanitation, such as flushing toilets and cleaning, rather than for drinking. Without a tub, you'll need other large containers for that water. If you fill a tub and have young children, keep them out of the bathroom while it's full.

Permits, condos and flood zones

Keeping a tub that works needs no permit. Converting it usually does, because the drain and valve change, which is plumbing work.

Inside Melbourne city limits, the Building Section says plumbing work needs a permit even when the job is under $7,500, so Florida's small-project exemption won't cover a conversion. For a home in unincorporated Brevard, such as Viera, Suntree or Merritt Island, ask the county whether the job goes on its Residential Renovation permit or its residential plumbing permit. Melbourne Beach, Indian Harbour Beach, Palm Bay and West Melbourne run their own permitting; elsewhere, ask city or town hall. Our bathroom remodel permit guide explains which bathroom jobs need a permit and how each office handles them, and the Brevard County permit guide lists every office.

Hire a licensed plumber: Brevard County says plumbing work, remodeling included, must be done by a licensed contractor, and the county has no handyman license. The exception is plumbing you do yourself under Florida's owner-builder rules.

If you own a condo, the association usually has to approve bathroom work and often controls plumbing that connects to the building's risers, which can limit a drain move. Get approval in writing before you sign a contract. See HOA and condo approval in Florida.

In a flood hazard area, the 50% substantial improvement rule measures the cost of improvements against the building's market value, as Brevard County's floodplain guidance explains, so a conversion that's part of a larger renovation counts toward the total. Cities have their own floodplain administrators, so confirm with yours. See the FEMA 50% rule.

Which one should you choose?

A walk-in shower suits you if

• anyone in the house has trouble stepping over a tub wall, or you plan to age in place
• nobody uses the tub for soaking or bathing small children
• you have another tub in the house
• you want a seat, handheld showerhead and grab bars built in

Keeping a tub makes sense if

• you bathe babies, toddlers or pets in it
• someone in the house likes to soak
• it's the only tub, and you're unsure how your household's needs will change
• you'd rather fill it with water before a hurricane than store that water in containers
• the tub and surround are sound, and the money is better spent elsewhere

A middle path

If your home has two bathrooms with tubs, you can convert one and keep the other. You might put the walk-in shower in the primary bath and keep the tub in the hall bath, for example, but the right split depends on who uses which room.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Removing the only tub without thinking about bath time. Think through how you'd bathe visiting grandchildren or a pet first.
• Letting resale claims decide. We found no reliable data either way. If you plan to sell soon, ask a local real estate agent what buyers of homes like yours expect.
• Choosing curbless without a slab plan. Ask how the contractor will recess the floor or which curbless system they'll use, and how they'll keep water in the shower.
• Assuming the drain stays put. Ask where the new shower drain will go. A move in the slab can add thousands.
• Closing the walls without grab-bar blocking. Whether you keep the tub or convert it, blocking is easiest to add while the walls are open.
• Treating the conversion as a handyman job. In Brevard County, the plumbing needs a licensed contractor and generally a permit.

Next steps

1. Think about who will use the bathroom for as long as you plan to stay, and what each person needs.
2. If accessibility is the goal, read NAHB's aging-in-place checklist and consider asking a Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist or an occupational therapist to look at your bathroom.
3. If you're leaning toward a shower, price it with the bathroom budget calculator and our tub-to-shower cost guide, and add a contingency.
4. Confirm who issues your permit, and get any condo or HOA approval in writing.
5. Ask for itemized written quotes that list the drain location, waterproofing system, shower base or curbless method, glass, grab-bar blocking and how hidden damage will be priced. Our guide to hiring a contractor in Melbourne covers license and insurance checks.