Tub-to-shower Conversion vs Full Bathroom Remodel in Plymouth, MN

Most people arrive at this question from the same place. The tub never gets used. Stepping over it is getting harder. And a walk-in shower would just be better.

Then a contractor mentions a full remodel, the number doubles or triples, and the decision suddenly feels much bigger.

Here is the useful way to think about it. These are not two sizes of the same project. A conversion changes one fixture. A full remodel rebuilds the room. Which one you need is decided by a handful of specific facts about your bathroom, not by preference or budget. This guide walks through them.

The two projects, side by side

In the Minneapolis area, tub-to-shower conversions average around $3,144, with a typical range of roughly $1,572 to $8,384. A full or hall bathroom remodel in the Twin Cities commonly runs $20,000 to $40,000. A primary or luxury bath runs $40,000 to $75,000 and up.

That is not a 20% difference. A full remodel is frequently five to ten times a conversion. Understanding why is what makes the decision straightforward.

What a conversion actually includes

A tub-to-shower conversion removes the tub and puts a shower in the same footprint. A standard alcove is usually about 60 inches, and a shower base is built or selected to fill it.

The work is contained. Demolition is limited to the tub and its surround. The drain stays where it is, which is the main reason the cost stays low. Waterproofing is redone, the new base and walls go in, and the glass or curtain follows.

What a conversion does not include: a new vanity, a new toilet, new flooring outside the shower footprint, new lighting, or any change to where things sit in the room. If you want those, you are no longer pricing a conversion.

The single biggest cost lever in this entire decision is whether the drain moves. Keeping it where it is holds the project in conversion territory. Moving it opens the floor and moves you toward a remodel whether you intended that or not.

What a full remodel includes

A full bathroom remodel takes the room back to the studs, or close to it. Everything is on the table: layout, plumbing locations, the vanity, the toilet, flooring, lighting, ventilation, and the shower or tub.

Twin Cities remodelers report 3 to 6 weeks of active work depending on scope and how much tile is involved. That is active work, and it sits after design, permitting and material lead time.

The cost drivers are consistent. Moving plumbing or walls. Custom tile versus a prefabricated surround. The tier of fixtures and finishes. And relocating drains or adding electrical circuits.

How to decide

Four facts settle it. Work down them in order.

1. Is this the only tub in the house?

This is the question people skip, and it is the one most likely to cause regret. More on it in the next section, because the data is more interesting than the usual advice.

2. Does anything need to move?

The toilet, the vanity, the door, a wall, or the drain. If the answer is yes for any of them, you are opening walls and floors regardless, and the marginal cost of doing the rest of the room drops sharply. At that point a conversion is often false economy.

3. Are the tile, vanity and floor tired?

Be honest here. A new shower makes everything next to it look older. Plenty of homeowners do a conversion, love the shower, and spend the next two years irritated by the vanity. If that sounds likely, price the middle option rather than the cheapest one.

4. Is there water damage?

Nobody can answer this before demolition. A failed pan or a soft subfloor turns a conversion into a rebuild whether you planned one or not. In homes built before 1980 it is common enough to hold contingency for.

The tub question, with actual data

The usual advice is that removing your only bathtub hurts resale. It is repeated everywhere, usually without a source. The real picture is more specific and more useful.

The National Association of Home Builders surveyed more than 3,000 recent and prospective home buyers in 2024. Having both a shower and a tub in the primary bathroom was rated essential or desirable by 78% of them. For context, a linen closet came in at 76% and a private toilet compartment at 70%.

So buyer preference for a tub is real and measurable. But read what it actually says. It is about the primary bathroom having both, and it measures desirability, not deal-breaking.

Here is how that translates into a decision.

• If the home has another full bathroom with a tub, converting this one is low risk. The house still offers a tub.

• If this is the only tub and the home is in a neighborhood where families with young children buy, think hard. Buyers with toddlers often treat a tub as non-negotiable.

• If the home is a townhome, a condo, or a smaller house that mostly attracts couples, downsizers or empty nesters, the calculation shifts. A well-built walk-in shower can be the stronger selling feature.

• If you plan to stay for a decade or more, your daily use matters more than a hypothetical buyer's preference.

Bathroom remodels generally return roughly 45% to 60% of their cost at resale, so neither project is primarily a financial investment. Both are mostly about living in the house.

When a conversion is clearly right

• The layout works and nothing needs to move.

• The vanity, toilet and flooring are in decent shape.

• There is another tub in the house, or tubs are not a factor for your market.

• You need the bathroom back quickly.

• Accessibility is the driver and a low-threshold entry solves the actual problem.

In this situation a full remodel means paying five figures to replace things that did not need replacing.

When a full remodel is clearly right

• The layout is wrong. A cramped door swing, a vanity blocking the tub, or a toilet in an awkward spot cannot be fixed by changing the shower.

• You want to move plumbing, including putting a double vanity where a single one is now.

• The room has water damage, failing tile, or a subfloor that has gone soft.

• Ventilation is inadequate or absent, which is common in older homes and shows up as persistent mildew.

• You are planning to age in place and want a genuinely accessible room, not just an accessible shower.

• You would be unhappy with a beautiful new shower next to a dated vanity and floor.

The middle option most people do not know about

There is a third path, and it is often the right one. Convert the tub to a shower, and update the finishes around it, without touching the layout or moving any plumbing.

That means a new shower, plus a new vanity, new flooring, new lighting and paint. Everything stays where it is, so you avoid the expensive part of a remodel, which is relocation and structural work.

The result reads as a fully renovated bathroom to anyone walking in, and to most buyers. It costs meaningfully more than a bare conversion and meaningfully less than a gut remodel.

If you are torn between the two headline options, ask your contractor to price this middle path as a third quote. It is frequently the best value in the comparison and it rarely gets offered unless you ask for it.

Timeline and disruption

For a household with one full bathroom, this difference is not a detail. It is the difference between a long weekend of inconvenience and a month of arrangements.

Worth asking any contractor: how many days will the bathroom be completely unusable, as opposed to how long the project takes. Those are different numbers, and the first one is what you actually live with.

What both projects share

Some things apply either way, and they are worth budgeting for in both cases.

1. Permits. Plumbing work requires a permit. A full remodel typically requires building and electrical permits too. Requirements and fees are set by your city, so Plymouth, Minnetonka and Wayzata will not match exactly.

2. Waterproofing. This is the part nobody sees and the part that fails expensively. It should be detailed properly regardless of project size. Twin Cities figures put waterproofing at roughly $500 to $1,500.

3. Ventilation. If the existing fan is undersized or vents into an attic instead of outside, fix it while the room is open. Moisture problems in Minnesota bathrooms are usually ventilation problems.

4. Old plumbing. Once a wall is open in a pre-1970 home, dated supply lines and drains often need attention. Budget contingency for it.

5. Disposal. Removing and disposing of an old tub runs roughly $200 to $450.

Five questions to ask before you sign

• Is the drain staying exactly where it is? If not, why, and what does that add?

• What happens if you find water damage behind the tub, and how is that priced?

• Which permits are included, and who pulls them?

• How many days will the bathroom be unusable, not how many weeks is the project?

• Can you quote the middle option, a conversion plus finish updates, alongside the other two?

The same bathroom, three ways

Ranges are abstract. Here is one ordinary 5-by-8 hall bathroom in a 1968 Plymouth rambler, priced three ways. These are illustrative allowances built from the published Twin Cities ranges in this guide, not quotes.

The pattern most homeowners miss sits in the middle column. Roughly doubling a conversion budget buys a bathroom that reads as fully renovated. Roughly doubling it again buys the ability to move things, which only matters if something needs moving.

That is the real decision. Not cheap versus expensive. Whether you are paying to change the room, or paying to change what is in it.

If accessibility is the reason

A large share of tub-to-shower conversions in the west metro are driven by mobility rather than style. Stepping over a 15-inch tub wall stops being routine at some point, and it is the most common fall risk in the house.

If that is your driver, a few specifics matter more than the finish choices.

• Threshold height is the whole point. A low-threshold or curbless base is what removes the hazard. A beautiful shower with a 6-inch curb solves less than you think.

• Grab bars need blocking in the wall behind the surround. That blocking goes in during the rough stage. Adding it later means opening the wall again.

• A bench or built-in seat is safer than a portable stool and costs far less installed now than retrofitted.

• A hand-held shower on a slide bar is inexpensive and makes seated use practical.

• Door width and turning space are remodel questions, not conversion questions. If a wheelchair or walker has to get in, you are probably looking at a full remodel.

Worth saying plainly: a conversion solves the tub-wall problem. It does not make a small bathroom accessible. If genuine accessibility is the goal, price the full remodel and find out what it takes.

What goes wrong with each

Conversions

The two common regrets are predictable. The first is the mismatch problem, where a new shower makes a dated vanity and floor look worse than before. The second is scope discovery, where demolition reveals damage and the project becomes something else mid-stream.

Both are manageable if you plan for them. Look honestly at the rest of the room before you commit, and hold contingency for what is behind the tub.

Full remodels

The common problems here are time and decision fatigue. Three to six weeks is long enough to be genuinely disruptive with one bathroom, and the number of selections involved surprises people who have not remodeled before. Tile, grout color, vanity, top, faucet, lighting, mirror, hardware, paint, flooring, fan, and glass.

The practical fix is to make selections before demolition starts rather than during. A project that stalls waiting on a tile decision costs more than one that does not.

Frequently asked questions

Is a tub-to-shower conversion cheaper than a full bathroom remodel?

Substantially. Minneapolis-area conversions average around $3,144, while a full bathroom remodel in the Twin Cities commonly runs $20,000 to $40,000. The gap exists because a conversion leaves the layout, plumbing locations, vanity, toilet and flooring untouched.

Will removing my bathtub hurt my home's value?

It depends on whether another tub remains. NAHB's 2024 survey of over 3,000 buyers found 78% rated having both a shower and a tub in the primary bath as essential or desirable. If your home keeps a tub somewhere, converting one bathroom is low risk. Removing the last tub in a family-oriented neighborhood is a real consideration.

Can I convert a tub to a shower without moving the drain?

Usually yes, and that is exactly what keeps a conversion affordable. Tub and shower drains sit in similar positions within a standard alcove, and a made-to-order or standard base can be specified for the existing drain location.

How long will my bathroom be unusable?

A conversion typically takes days to about a week of active work. A full remodel runs 3 to 6 weeks of active work in the Twin Cities, plus design, permitting and material lead time beforehand. If it is your only full bathroom, plan accordingly.

Do I need a permit for a tub-to-shower conversion in Minnesota?

Plumbing work requires a permit, and your city sets the specifics. Check with your local building department before work starts rather than after. Plymouth's Building Inspection Division can be reached at 763-509-5430.

Working out which one you need

Almost every homeowner who asks this question can answer it in ten minutes with someone standing in the bathroom. Is the drain staying? Does anything need to move? Is there another tub in the house? How do the finishes look next to a new shower?

Xpres handles both projects, from straightforward tub-to-shower conversions through full bathroom remodels, and is an authorized Onyx dealer and preferred Onyx installer for the Twin Cities. There is a showroom in Plymouth where you can see materials in person rather than choosing from a screen.

The most useful thing we can do is look at the room and tell you honestly which of the three options fits, including when the cheapest one is the right one.

Call Xpres at (763) 392-0111 or compare your options with a free consultation.