Service
Swap an unused alcove tub for a walk-in shower in the same footprint.
Tub-to-shower conversion is the specific version of a shower conversion where the original alcove tub comes out and a tiled walk-in goes into the same footprint. Berkeley is full of candidates: 1905 to 1930 Craftsman and brown-shingle homes where the original cast-iron tub is still sitting on wood framing that has flexed under it for a century, and postwar homes in the flats with steel tubs nobody has bathed in for years. Cost typically lands at $16,000 to $28,000 for a straight swap with mid-grade tile and a standard glass panel. Timeline runs 3 to 4 weeks. The recurring Berkeley surprise is what lives under the old tub, soft subfloor, corroded galvanized branches, sometimes the original lead drain bend, and a good quote anticipates that rather than change-ordering it mid-build.
Only if it is the last tub in the house. Berkeley buyers skew toward families, and a home with no tub anywhere is a harder sell in Elmwood, Thousand Oaks, or Northbrae where the school draw is strongest. In a two-bath home, converting one tub to a walk-in shower is a net positive, most buyers prefer a modern shower in the bath they use daily. In a one-bath Craftsman, think carefully before giving up the tub, or plan the remodel around a shower-over-tub arrangement instead.
Most straight-swap conversions in Berkeley run $16,000 to $28,000. A 60-inch alcove with mid-grade porcelain and a standard glass panel lands at $16,000 to $20,000. Premium tile, a niche, a frameless enclosure, or subfloor repair under the old tub pushes projects to $22,000 to $28,000. Curbless entries add $2,500 to $4,000 on a raised foundation.
Most Berkeley tub-to-shower conversions take 3 to 4 weeks including permit inspections. When demo reveals rot or corroded plumbing under the original tub, common in pre-1930 homes, the repair adds 2 to 4 working days. Custom tile patterns and inset niches add time in the tile-setting phase.
The contractor breaks it up in place, cast iron is too heavy to carry out of a hundred-year-old bathroom whole, and hauls the pieces out with the rest of the demo debris. Disposal belongs inside the fixed price. Some owners of intact clawfoot tubs choose to sell or keep them instead, and that is worth deciding before demo day, refinished clawfoots have real resale value in the East Bay.
Mostly yes. The drain moves from the tub end to the center of the new shower, but the supply lines usually stay in the same wall. On Berkeley homes with post-and-pier foundations the plumber works from the crawl space, which keeps the work simple. Slab-on-grade homes, more common in West Berkeley and newer infill, need concrete cutting for the drain move, which adds $1,000 to $2,000.
Related Reading
What it takes to build a curbless shower in a Berkeley home: recessed floor framing, slope and drains, waterproofing, costs, and why raised foundations change the method.
The two dominant shower waterproofing approaches compared, bonded sheet membranes vs liquid-applied, and why the stakes are higher inside hundred-year-old wood-framed Berkeley walls.
Other Services
Bathrooms sometimes benefit from combined scope. If one bathroom is already being remodeled, adding a second under the same permit and crew usually saves 15 to 25 percent versus running separate projects.
Down-to-the-studs bathroom renovation, from demo through final inspection, typical 4 to 6 week timeline
Replace a dated tub or fiberglass stall with a properly waterproofed walk-in shower
Powder rooms and compact hall baths, tight footprints used well
Primary suite bathrooms, walk-in shower, double vanity, spa-scale scope
For a free quote, call (510) 283-2612 or send the form.