A tub-to-shower conversion can add buyer appeal, but whether a tub to shower conversion helps your resale depends mostly on where the tub comes out. Buyers haven’t given up on bathtubs. In the National Association of Home Builders’ 2024 survey, 78% of buyers rated having both a shower and a tub in the primary bath as essential or desirable. That’s why converting a dated hall tub in a home that keeps another tub is a very different decision from removing the only tub in the house.
The other factors are how long you plan to stay and how well the work is done. A permitted, properly waterproofed shower built with code-compliant parts is something you can stand behind when you sell, while a quick swap can become a problem during the sale. For owners planning to age in place, daily safety and staying in the home longer can matter as much as resale, and the sections below cover both.
What buyers say they want in a bathroom
The best national evidence on buyer preferences comes from NAHB’s What Home Buyers Really Want survey. The 2024 edition drew on more than 3,000 recent and prospective buyers, and its top-rated bathroom feature was both a shower and a tub in the primary bath. That pairing has also ranked among the top two bathroom features in every edition of the survey. First-time buyers feel much the same way: in the 2021 edition, 72% of first-time buyers rated both a shower stall and tub in the primary bath as essential or desirable.
These numbers correct two opposite myths. Buyers still want tubs, but the survey doesn’t say they want a tub in every bathroom. It measures whether the primary bath has both fixtures. A primary bath with a separate tub and shower already meets that preference, and converting the tub in a hall or guest bath leaves it intact. A primary bath with a single tub-shower combination is the harder call, because converting it gives you a better shower but removes the tub that buyers say they want in that room.
Keep in mind that these are national surveys of what buyers say they want. They don’t measure what homes sell for or how long they sit on the market, and this article has no comparable local data to set beside them.
Should you convert the home’s only bathtub?
If your home has two or more tubs, converting one of them carries less resale risk, because buyers who want a tub still have one. A common plan is to convert the hall tub while the primary bath keeps its tub. The reverse also works: convert the primary tub into a large walk-in shower and leave a tub in the hall bath for children and guests.
Removing the home’s only tub is a bigger decision, because it can narrow the pool of interested buyers. A household with young children, for example, may want a tub for bath time. We found no verified evidence on whether homes without a tub sell for less or take longer to sell than similar homes that have one.
How the bathroom gets counted also matters. Under Fannie Mae’s new UAD 3.6 appraisal dataset, bathroom counts are reported as two separate totals, full bathrooms and half bathrooms. That document doesn’t address how a bath with a shower but no tub is classified, so it’s worth asking locally how shower-only baths are described in your area.
If you expect to sell within a few years, for example because a PCS move is coming, ask a local listing agent or appraiser two questions before you remove your only tub. First, ask how a shower-only bath is counted in your area. Second, ask how homes without a tub have compared with similar homes nearby. If you plan to stay for years, you can give more weight to how you’ll use the bathroom every day.
How much of the cost comes back when you sell?
No bathroom remodel automatically pays for itself, and it helps to separate three things people mean by “value.” Appraised value is an appraiser’s opinion of what the home is worth, sale price is what a buyer actually pays, and buyer appeal shows up in how quickly the home sells and how many people are interested. Buyer appeal and appraised value don’t always move together, and we have no verified local data on how a conversion affects sale price or time on market. What you spend and what the home gains are two different numbers. If a remodel recovers part of its cost at resale, the rest is still a net cost that you paid for your own use of the bathroom.
We don’t have a verified, current figure for the share of a bathroom remodel’s cost that comes back at resale, or for what a conversion costs in the Pensacola area. The price depends on the shower type (a grout-free panel system, a tiled shower or a curbless shower), the glass enclosure, whether the drain or floor has to change, and the finishes you choose. What the finished shower is worth depends on comparable sales in your neighborhood, and a local appraiser or listing agent can pull those for you. Matching the budget to your home’s value and to nearby homes keeps the project in line with what buyers in your area compare it against.
Does a tub-to-shower conversion need a permit around Pensacola?
In Escambia County, a conversion isn’t treated as a simple fixture swap. Escambia County Building Services lists a Plumbing Fixture Permit for “relocation of any fixture or the replacement of bathtub with shower or a whirlpool tub or shower pan.” Confirm with Building Services that this still applies to your project before work starts. Escambia County also requires a recorded Notice of Commencement for any work costing $5,000 or more.
Inside Pensacola city limits, the city’s own rules apply. The City of Pensacola’s building inspections FAQ exempts floor coverings such as tile and minor cabinetry, but the cabinetry exemption excludes work with plumbing fixtures. The same FAQ, revised November 16, 2023, says Alteration Permits are required for bathroom remodels that remove all cabinets and plumbing fixtures, or if sheetrock will be removed to rough in subtrades. Because a conversion removes a plumbing fixture and often opens walls, confirm with the city’s building inspections office which permit your project needs before work starts.
Santa Rosa County’s guidance is more general. Its Development Services page says building permits are required for remodeling that changes the footprint of the original structure or for structural changes, and permit types can include plumbing. The page doesn’t mention tub-to-shower conversions, so if you live in Santa Rosa County and aren’t sure what your project needs, the county asks you to call 850-981-7000.
On Academy Construction projects, we pull the plumbing permits and the work goes through county inspection.
How unpermitted or poorly built work can follow you to the sale
Florida’s disclosure duty for home sellers comes from a 1985 case, Johnson v. Davis. The court held that when a seller knows of facts materially affecting the value of the property that aren’t readily observable and aren’t known to the buyer, the seller has a duty to disclose them. If you’re unsure what to disclose about past work, including unpermitted work, a Florida real estate attorney can advise you.
A buyer’s home inspection won’t necessarily catch a bad shower. Under InterNACHI’s Standards of Practice, inspectors check that tubs and showers drain properly and report active plumbing water leaks they observe as in need of correction. However, they aren’t required to test shower pans or tub and shower surrounds for leakage.
That gap means a pan leaking slowly into the subfloor can pass a standard inspection and show up later. If you know about the problem, it can also become a disclosure question when you sell. A cheap, quick conversion and a properly waterproofed, permitted one can look the same on listing day, which is why it pays to ask how a shower was waterproofed and whether it was permitted and inspected.
What the code requires inside the new shower
The Florida Building Code, Plumbing includes several shower-related provisions worth asking your contractor about. These examples come from the Florida Building Commission’s analysis of changes to the 2023 code:
- Section 412.3 requires individual shower valves to be rated for the flow rate of the installed showerhead.
- Section 412.3 also requires the valve’s temperature-limiting device to be field-adjusted to no more than 120°F.
- New Section 421.3.1 requires waste fittings for shower waste outlets to conform to ASME A112.18.2/CSA B125.2.
Because of the waste-fitting rule, don’t assume the old tub drain can be reused as-is. Whether the drain line or trap also needs to change depends on what’s in your floor, and a licensed plumber or your building department can tell you what your project requires.
The glass enclosure is a safety component, not just decor. Federal CPSC standard 16 CFR Part 1201 covers glazing used in shower doors and enclosures and in bathtub doors and enclosures, and covered glazing products must be tested under ANSI Z97.1-2015. Whether you choose a frameless, semi-frameless or sliding enclosure, ask your installer to confirm that the glass meets that federal standard. The CPSC’s interpretation says the federal standard doesn’t apply to a window over a bathtub or inside a shower stall that sits in a building’s exterior wall. Whether the Florida Building Code requires safety glass in that kind of window is a question for your building department.
Waterproofing that holds up in Gulf Coast humidity
You’ll never see the waterproofing once the walls are finished, so ask about it before work starts. For tile showers, the Tile Council of North America lists ANSI A118.10 (2023) as the current American National Standard for load-bearing, bonded waterproof membranes under thin-set tile.
Manufacturers state which standards their products meet. For example, Custom Building Products says its RedGard liquid membrane meets ANSI A118.10 and Uniform Plumbing Code specifications for use as a shower pan liner. RedGard’s data sheet also says the area can be flood tested after the second coat is applied and both coats are fully dry. Whatever product your contractor uses, ask which membrane it is and whether they flood test it before the tile goes on.
Tile is one option, and grout-free systems are another. Academy Construction specializes in walk-in shower systems, tile showers and grout-free options built for Florida’s humid coastal climate. With any grout-free system, ask the installer which panels, seam treatments and sealants they use in a humid bathroom. For a straightforward conversion with grout-free materials, we typically sequence the work across 3–5 working days and give you the schedule before demo starts; structural repairs, drain changes or inspection timing can add to that. We don’t have verified data on whether tile or a grout-free system adds more at resale. Whether a shower system’s manufacturer warranty transfers to a new owner is a question to ask the manufacturer before you choose.
Converting for safety and aging in place
For many owners, the stronger reason to convert is staying safe in the home they already have. AARP’s 2024 Home and Community Preferences survey found that 75% of adults 50 and older want to stay in their current home as long as possible. Among those planning home modifications, 72% plan bathroom upgrades such as grab bars and no-slip tile.
If aging in place is your goal, NAHB’s Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) remodeling checklist includes these recommendations for the shower, among others:
- Add bracing in the walls around the shower so that grab bars can support between 250 and 300 pounds.
- Build a stand-up shower that is curbless and at least 36 inches wide.
- Include a fold-down seat with a handheld showerhead.
A curbless shower may require changes to the floor that a low-curb or standard-curb shower doesn’t, so ask your contractor what your floor structure allows before you settle on one.
Deciding what to do next
If your home will keep a tub somewhere, the work will be permitted and properly waterproofed, and you’ll use the shower every day, a conversion is a sound choice on its own terms. If it would remove your only tub and you expect to sell soon, talk with a local listing agent before you commit. In either case, get a written, itemized scope from each contractor so you can compare bids line by line. Academy is licensed and insured, offers a free in-home consultation and provides a written scope with itemized pricing and a realistic schedule before demo day.
