Tub to Shower Conversion Cost in Minneapolis (2026 Guide)

We get this call almost every week. A homeowner in Linden Hills or Highland Park looks at the builder-grade tub they haven't used in five years, does the math on the square footage it's eating, and decides it's time to convert. The question that follows is always the same: what does a tub to shower conversion cost in the Twin Cities, and is it worth doing right?

Short answer: anywhere from around $8,000 for a basic fiberglass swap to north of $45,000 for a full custom tile build with frameless glass, curbless entry, and a relocated drain. The spread is huge because the work behind the wall varies even more than the work in front of it. Below is how we price these projects, what we see drive cost up or down in Minneapolis and Saint Paul homes, and the resale trade-offs to think about before you pull the tub.

Why Twin Cities Homeowners Are Converting Tubs to Showers

Three reasons keep coming up in our consults. The first is aging in place. Folks in their 50s and 60s who plan to stay in their Kenwood Tudor or Edina Country Club rambler for the next twenty years know that a high-walled cast iron tub is going to become a hazard. Stepping over a 15-inch wall at 75 years old is how hips break. A curbless or low-curb shower with a bench and grab bars keeps people in their homes longer.

The second reason is primary-bath value. In a 1920s Crocus Hill Victorian or a Minneapolis bungalow, the primary bath is often the smallest room in the house. A 60-inch alcove tub eats roughly a third of the floor. Converting that footprint into a walk-in shower with a bench and proper lighting changes how the room feels every morning. It's the kind of upgrade that actually gets used.

The third reason is the most honest one: the tub gets neglected. We've pulled out plenty of tubs that hadn't held water in a decade. If your shower routine happens in the basement or the hall bath, and the primary tub is a glorified shelf for shampoo bottles, you're paying property tax on dead square footage. For more on full bathroom budgets, see our Minneapolis bathroom remodel cost guide.

Tub to Shower Conversion Cost Ranges in the Twin Cities

We break conversions into three tiers based on what you're actually buying. Prices below are installed totals, including demo, plumbing, waterproofing, finishes, glass, and permit. They assume we're working in a standard 5-foot alcove and not moving walls.

A few honest notes on those numbers. The $8K floor assumes nothing rotten behind the tub. The moment we open a wall in a 1915 Saint Paul Victorian and find a galvanized supply line, knob and tube nearby, or a joist that's been quietly composting for thirty years, the budget moves. We always quote a contingency line, and we tell you before we touch anything we didn't plan to touch.

What Actually Drives the Cost

Five variables explain almost every dollar of the spread. Understanding them before you call us will save you a lot of back-and-forth.

Footprint changes. Staying inside the existing 60x32 alcove is the cheap path. Bumping into a closet, stealing space from a hallway, or going from a 5-foot tub to a 6-foot shower means framing, drywall, and often electrical. That alone can add $3K to $8K.

Drain relocation. Tub drains sit at one end of the unit. Shower drains usually want to be centered or, for linear drains, along one wall. Relocating means opening the floor, which in a Minneapolis bungalow with original 2x8 joists and a finished ceiling below means cutting plaster downstairs too. Plan on $1,500 to $4,000 for drain relocation depending on access.

Plumbing upgrades.Old tub valves were two-handle. Modern showers use pressure balancing or thermostatic valves, which are code now in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. If your supply lines are galvanized, we're replacing them with PEX or copper while the wall is open. Don't let anyone tile over old galvanized.

Tile choice. A 4x16 ceramic subway runs maybe $4 to $8 per square foot. A 12x24 porcelain in a fashionable stone-look runs $8 to $15. Real marble or large-format slab panels can hit $30+ per square foot before labor, and labor on large format is more expensive because flatness matters more. See our tile and flooring page for material walkthroughs.

Glass.A sliding door is the cheap option, $400 to $900. Semi-frameless hinged: $1,200 to $2,500. Frameless 3/8-inch glass with custom hardware: $2,500 to $5,000+, and more if you go to 1/2-inch or specify low-iron glass for true clarity. Frameless is what people picture when they say "spa shower," and it's the single biggest aesthetic upgrade in the room.

Curbless vs Curbed: A Real Decision, Not a Style Choice

Curbless showers are having a moment, and for good reason. They look modern, they read larger, and they're the gold standard for aging in place. But they aren't free, and they aren't always possible.

To go curbless, we have to drop the shower floor below the surrounding bathroom floor so water runs in, not out. In a slab-on-grade rambler in Edina, that means cutting concrete. In a second-floor bath of a Highland Park colonial with 2x8 joists, we sometimes have to sister joists or build up the surrounding floor instead. Either way, expect to add $2,500 to $6,000 over a curbed shower of the same size.

Curbed showers, with a 4 to 6 inch threshold, are still the right call for plenty of homes. They're simpler to waterproof, they cost less, and on a second floor with a finished ceiling below, they're often the smart structural answer. We'll tell you straight up which one fits your house.

Plumbing Realities: Drain Size, Slope, and Waterproofing

This is where conversions go wrong when corners get cut. A tub uses a 1.5-inch drain. A shower needs a 2-inch drain. We upsize every time. It's code, and more importantly, it's the difference between a shower that drains and a shower that pools.

Shower pans need a quarter-inch per foot of slope toward the drain, minimum. For a 36-inch shower, that's 3/4 of an inch of fall. Mud beds get this right. Foam-tray systems like Schluter-Kerdi or Wedi come pre-sloped. Either works if it's installed correctly.

On waterproofing, our standard is the Schluter-Kerdi membrane system. It's a sheet membrane that goes over the substrate before tile, fully bonded with thinset, with waterproof seams at every corner. We don't use cement board with paint-on liquid as a primary system, and we don't trust unbonded plastic liners under mud beds for primary baths. Hard water in the Twin Cities is rough on grout and silicone, and a proper membrane is the insurance policy.

One more Minnesota-specific note: bathrooms on exterior walls of older homes (almost every bungalow in South Minneapolis) often have minimal insulation behind the tub surround. When the wall is open, we re-insulate with closed-cell foam or mineral wool and add a vapor strategy appropriate to climate zone 6. Skip this step and you'll have a cold tile wall for the next thirty Minnesota winters.

Timeline: 2 to 4 Weeks Start to Finish

Most conversions we run take two to four weeks of active work, plus design and ordering lead time on the front end. Here's how a typical mid-range tile conversion sequences:

• Week 1: Demo, rough plumbing, drain relocation, electrical if needed, framing changes, insulation, inspection of rough-in.
• Week 2: Cement board or foam substrate, waterproof membrane, pre-slope or tray set, niche and bench framing, second inspection if required.
• Week 3: Tile setting, grout, fixture trim-out, paint touch-ups.
• Week 4: Glass templating (mid-week 3) and install (end of week 3 or week 4), final caulk, punch list.

Glass is the variable that stretches the timeline most. Frameless glass shops template after the tile is set and grouted, then need 7 to 14 days to fabricate. We sequence around it so you can use the shower, with a temporary curtain, the moment tile is done.

Permits: Minneapolis (CPED), Saint Paul (DSI), and Edina

Any tub-to-shower conversion that touches plumbing past the trim needs a permit. In Minneapolis, that goes through CPED (Community Planning and Economic Development) for the building permit and the city's plumbing inspector for the plumbing permit. In Saint Paul, it's DSI (Department of Safety and Inspections). Edina pulls through its own building department.

Expect $200 to $600 in permit fees depending on jurisdiction and scope. We pull these ourselves on every project, and we schedule the rough-in inspection before any wall closure. If a contractor offers to do this work without permits, that's the conversation where you get a different contractor. Unpermitted bath work is the kind of thing that surfaces at closing and tanks a deal.

Resale Impact: Don't Pull the Only Tub in a One-Bath House

Here's the rule we tell every client: if you only have one bathroom in the entire house, keep a tub somewhere. If you have two or more bathrooms and one already has a tub, converting the primary to a shower is a net positive for resale almost every time.

Why it matters: families with young kids will walk away from a house with zero tubs. It narrows your buyer pool in a way that shows up in days-on-market and final price. In a three-bedroom Linden Hills bungalow with one bathroom, the math doesn't work to convert unless you're adding a second bath in the project. In a Kenwood home with three baths, a primary-suite tub-to-shower conversion is a clear upgrade.

Same logic applies to Highland Park colonials and Edina ramblers with a basement bath. As long as one tub stays in the house, converting the primary reads as a renovation, not a downgrade. For broader scope decisions, our bathroom remodeling overview walks through full-room budgets, and the kitchen remodel cost guide covers the other big resale lever.

Where Cabinetry, Countertops, and Other Finishes Come In

Most conversions we do also touch the vanity. If we're opening walls and pulling a tub, it's the right time to replace a tired vanity, add proper lighting, and upgrade the counter. A Cambria quartz top, made in Le Sueur about an hour south of the cities, is our default recommendation for Twin Cities baths. It handles hard water and toothpaste better than marble, the warranty is real, and supporting a Minnesota manufacturer is a nice bonus. See our countertops page for slab options, and the quartz vs granite breakdownif you're weighing materials.

For built-in storage, linen towers, or a fully integrated vanity, our custom cabinetry shop builds to the inch. In a tight Saint Paul bath where every square foot counts, custom is often cheaper per useful inch than semi-custom box brands.

FAQ: Tub to Shower Conversions in the Twin Cities

How long can I be without my primary bathroom?Plan on the full 2 to 4 weeks with no use of the shower or tub in that room. If it's your only bath, we sequence carefully and can usually get a working toilet back in within days. Most clients with one bath use a friend's shower or a gym for the duration.

Can you reuse the existing tub drain location?Sometimes, yes. If we're installing a shower with a drain at the same end of the alcove, we can often tie into the existing trap with a new 2-inch drain. It saves $1,500 to $3,000. We confirm this only after opening the floor.

Do I need to upgrade my water heater?If you're going from a standard showerhead to a rainhead plus body sprays, possibly. A 40-gallon tank can struggle with multiple simultaneous outlets. We size flow before we spec fixtures and tell you if a tankless or 50-gallon upgrade is needed.

Will hard Twin Cities water ruin a frameless glass shower?It will spot it if you don't squeegee. We recommend factory-applied glass coatings (Diamon-Fusion or ShowerGuard) on any frameless install. Adds $300 to $600 and dramatically reduces mineral etching over the long haul.

Is a tub-to-shower conversion tax deductible or eligible for any rebate? Generally no, unless it's a medically necessary accessibility modification documented by a physician, in which case portions may qualify as a medical expense deduction. Check with your accountant. There are no current Xcel or CenterPoint rebates we're aware of for this specific work.

Ready to Talk Specifics?

Every conversion is a different puzzle. The 1908 Crocus Hill Victorian, the 1948 Highland Park colonial, and the 1962 Edina rambler all need different framing approaches, different waterproofing details, and different drain strategies. The pricing tiers above are real, but the only way to know which one fits your house is to walk it. Get in touchand we'll come look, measure, and put together a fixed scope with a real number. While you're thinking it through, our bathroom remodeling service page covers the broader process, and the bathroom cost guide shows how a conversion fits inside a full-room renovation budget.