How Much Does a Tub-to-Shower Conversion Cost in Georgia?

Short answer, since that is why you are here. In Georgia, a tub-to-shower conversion runs $4,000 to $8,000 with a prefab pan and wall panels. A custom tile shower runs $9,000 to $18,000. A liner over the tub you already have costs about $2,500 to $5,000. Those are market ranges as of September 2026. Treat them as a starting point, not a quote.

Here is the part that decides your price. Almost nobody asks about it. The shower head, the tile, the glass door: none of those are the costly part. The floor is. Two things move your number more than every finish choice put together. Does the drain stay where it is? And do you want a curb to step over?

I am Jason Howard. I run QWR Remodeling and Handyman Services out of Newnan, a family business since 2000. Bathroom remodeling is the work we are known for. This is the call I get most after the kids move out. The tub has not held water in years, and stepping over that wall is getting old. By the end you will know what the three versions of this job cost, what moves the price, what Georgia’s code changed on January 1, 2026, whether you need a permit, and whether you get the money back.

Key takeaways

• Three different jobs share one name. A liner, a prefab pan, and a custom tile shower span $2,500 to $18,000.
• Moving the drain is the big line item. Leave it where it is and you keep thousands of dollars.
• Georgia’s plumbing code changed on January 1, 2026. One of the new state rules is about showers.
• Only 2 percent of bathroom injuries happen getting into the tub, according to CDC data. Getting out is the dangerous part.
• A bathroom remodel returns about 50 percent at resale. That is the lowest score the National Association of Realtors tracks, while its happiness score sits near the top.

The three jobs people call a tub-to-shower conversion

Two quotes can differ by $9,000. This is almost always why. One contractor priced a liner. The other priced a tile shower. Both called it a conversion.

What you are actually buying	Typical installed cost
Acrylic liner over the existing tub The tub stays. A molded shell goes over it and the wall gets panels. The step is cut down, not removed	$2,500 to $5,000
Prefabricated pan and wall panels Tub comes out, a one-piece or three-piece unit goes in on the same drain, with a low curb	$4,000 to $8,000
Custom tile shower built in place Framing, waterproofing, mortar bed, tile of your choosing, glass. Any size, any layout, curb optional	$9,000 to $18,000

The liner is the fastest, and the one I recommend least. It works, and it looks fine on day one. But you now have two shower floors stacked on each other. There is no way to see what happens between them. Our own custom showers start at $7,000. That puts a real tile shower closer to the middle option than most people expect.

What moves the price

Ask for these on their own lines in every quote you collect. It is the only fair way to compare two numbers. It also lets you drop what you do not want.

Line item	What it adds
Moving the drain Cutting the floor, rerouting the trap, patching back	$900 to $2,500
Going curbless The floor has to drop, which usually means cutting and sistering joists	$1,500 to $4,000
Frameless glass Measured and cut after the tile is set, so it is ordered late	$1,200 to $3,500
Widening the opening Taking a 60 inch alcove out to 72 inches or more	$800 to $2,000
Grab bars with blocking Real plywood behind the tile, not drywall anchors	$250 to $600
Bench, niche, and a second shower head Framed and waterproofed while the wall is open	$600 to $1,800

Two of those are worth doing while the wall is open, even if you are not sure you want them yet. Blocking for grab bars costs almost nothing now. Later it costs a demo. Same for a niche.

Georgia’s plumbing code changed on January 1, 2026

A neighbor did this a few years ago and told you what to expect. Set that aside. On January 1, 2026, the Georgia Department of Community Affairs put new state codes in force. That includes the 2024 International Plumbing Code with Georgia Amendments. Your inspector reads the new edition now.

One of the new state rules is about showers. It lands right in the middle of this job. Section 421.2 of the Georgia amendments to the plumbing code took effect January 1, 2026. It says the water supply riser from the shower valve up to the shower head, “whether exposed or concealed, shall be attached to the structure.” When a tub becomes a shower, that riser is new pipe. It runs up inside a wall you are about to close. It has to be strapped to framing now. The job takes five minutes. Skip it and you fail the inspection.

You will need a permit. The work touches drain and supply lines, so almost every county here wants one. Coweta County posted the same code notice. It pulls permits out of the building office at 22 East Broad Street in Newnan. Fayette and the cities around us each handle it a little differently. Ask before demo day, not after. Whoever you hire should pull that permit in their name, not yours. If a contractor asks you to pull it, that tells you something.

Curb or no curb, and where people actually fall

Most people asking about this job say the same thing. They are tired of climbing over a wall. So the real question is how far down you want that wall to go.

A prefab pan gives you a low curb, usually three to four inches. That alone solves it for most people. Curbless means no lip at all. It costs more because the floor has to drop so the pan sits flush. That is framing work, not tile work. It is why curbless is the biggest add on the list above.

Here is the number that changed how I lay these out. The CDC looked at 2008 emergency room data and counted about 234,094 bathroom injuries. 81.1 percent were falls. Only 2 percent happened getting into the tub or shower. Getting out is where people go down. A wet foot, and a hand reaching for something that was never meant to hold weight. So put a grab bar on the outside wall too, not just inside. And never treat a towel bar as a handhold. Falls are still the top cause of injury for adults 65 and older. The CDC counts about 3 million emergency room visits from them each year.

Planning ahead rather than fixing an emergency? The 2026 trends we see in Newnan run the same way: low thresholds, wider openings, benches.

Will you get the money back?

Straight answer: not most of it. The National Association of Realtors’ 2025 Remodeling Impact Report puts a bathroom remodel at 50 percent cost recovery. That is the lowest of the twelve projects it tracks. A new steel front door returns 100 percent. A finished basement returns 71 percent.

Now the other half of that report. A bathroom remodel scores 9.8 out of 10 on their Joy Score, near the top of the same list. That gap is the whole story. This is not a project you do to make money back at closing. You do it because you use that room twice a day for the next fifteen years. Stepping over a wall you no longer want to step over is a daily thing.

One caution before the last tub leaves the house. Say you have one bathroom, and a family with small kids is your likely buyer. Keep a tub somewhere. With two or three bathrooms, converting the one you stand in every morning is an easy call. I have never had anyone regret it.

Two more pieces help you plan. Our bathroom budget guide covers the whole room, and our timeline breakdown covers how long a crew is in your house. Ask whoever you hire whether the plumbing work behind the wall is in house or subbed out. It changes who you call when something needs a second visit.

FAQ

Why are my two quotes $9,000 different for the same bathroom?

Because you were quoted different jobs. A liner, a prefab pan, and a custom tile shower all get called a conversion, and they span $2,500 to $18,000. Ask each contractor which of the three they priced before you compare anything else.

Do you need a permit to replace a tub with a shower in Georgia?

In almost every case, yes, and the inspection comes in two visits, not one. The first is the rough-in, before anything gets covered. The second is the final. That is why a job cannot be closed up on a Friday just because the tile is done.

Is it cheaper to replace a tub or convert it to a shower?

Dropping in a new tub is cheaper, usually by a few thousand dollars, because the drain stays put. A conversion costs more. The floor gets rebuilt and waterproofed. You are paying for the new floor, not the shower head.

How long does a tub-to-shower conversion take?

Three to five days for a prefab unit. One to two weeks for custom tile, because mortar and waterproofing cure on their own schedule. Waiting on the plumbing inspection is what usually stretches it.

Can I convert a tub to a shower myself?

The demo, yes. The waterproofing, please no. A leaking shower floor gives you no warning. It rots the subfloor quietly for a couple of years. Then it shows up as a soft spot, or a stain on the ceiling below. That repair costs more than the shower did.

Get a real number for your bathroom

You now know more about this job than most people who call me. That means better questions for whoever you hire. Want the number for your own bathroom? I will walk it with you and put it in writing, line by line, permit included. Our custom showers start at $7,000, which is under the market range for built-in-place tile work, and that price is the real tile, waterproofing and glass, not a liner. QWR is family-run, licensed and insured. We cover Newnan, Fayetteville, Peachtree City, and the rest of the south Atlanta metro. You can see finished showers in our project gallery. Financing is there if you want to spread it out. Book an appointment for a free, itemized estimate, or call (770) 983-8856. Built on quality. Backed by trust.