Roswell Tub-to-Shower Conversions

Nearly three in four Roswell homes are lived in by their owners, and 53 percent of the city's housing went up between 1980 and 1999, Census figures show. Primary bathrooms from those years were often built with a big soaking or garden tub next to a separate shower stall. Decades later, that tub is often the least-used fixture in the house.

Converting it gives the floor space back to something you use every day. TrueNorth Showers is based in Marietta, and Robert, the owner, does every Roswell conversion himself. Most take 1 to 3 days.

The garden tub question

A garden tub was a selling point when these houses were new. These days the usual complaint is that it takes up a corner of the primary bath and gets used a few times a year, if that. You have three options:

1. Convert the tub and keep the stall. The tub space becomes a walk-in shower, and the old stall becomes a second shower, a linen closet, or open floor.
2. Combine them. Take out the tub and the stall and build one larger walk-in shower across both spaces, often with a bench.
3. Keep a tub somewhere else. If a hall bath has a tub, the house still has one for kids, guests, and future buyers no matter what you do upstairs.

The Roswell shower installation guide goes further into how these choices work out in Roswell’s older subdivisions.

What the conversion involves

A garden tub usually sits in a raised deck, so the first day is demolition: the tub, the deck, and the tile around them come out, and the subfloor gets checked. The drain is moved for the new shower base, which is leveled and supported across its whole footprint. Wood blocking goes into the open walls for grab bars or a seat. Then seamless Swanstone or tile-look NexTile panels go up, followed by the glass and trim. Most conversions take 1 to 3 days, and combining a tub and a stall into one shower lands at the longer end.

Roswell water, from two suppliers

Roswell’s drinking water comes from two places. The city’s own Roswell Water Utility serves about 18,500 residents and describes its water as soft, with low mineral levels. Fulton County’s water department serves the other 80 percent of the city. Your water bill will tell you which one you have.

What sets the price

The free in-home estimate gives the exact price, which depends on the size of the space and the finishes you choose. Typical ranges are in the walk-in shower cost guide. Read more about tub-to-shower conversions, or about walk-in showers in Roswell if it’s the stall you want to replace, not the tub. Materials come with manufacturer warranties, and the installation has a 2-year workmanship guarantee.