We just went from tub/shower to shower only on one of our secondary bathrooms. Look at the drain ... in a tub/shower it is usually at the spout end and in a shower it is in the middle ... so plumbing work needed to move the drain. You won't need a spout either, so some more plumbing work. In my case, it was certainly more expensive to change to a shower only setup, specially as this part of the house is on a slab, so the drain relocation involved jackhammering concrete. There was also dead space, that was framed out at the end of the tub, and we opened this up to make the shower bigger.

The answer depends upon the details:

- A prefab shower surround will probably be your cheapest option (and while they lack in looks, they're super easy to clean).

- A builder-grade tub/shower combo would probably come in second lowest.

- A shower-pan-flooring with tile walls would be next in line.

- Then an all-tile shower (of course, that depends upon whether you go with economical tiles or not).

- And most expensive would be a nicer-grade tub with a shower.

And with any of the above, you get into the question of what type of shower head you're using. A simple shower head can be had for less than $100, whereas a handheld on a pole is going to be more, and if you want a rainshower head in the middle of the shower in addition to the "regular shower head", that'll be more still.

So, really, it depends.

Does the tub really need to be replaced? I'm working on a bathroom right now that gets about the same amount of use. The cast iron tub that was installed in '81 isn't anything special, but still in perfect shape. I decided to leave it, and redo everything else.

One issue that may be relevant is that usually a bathtub is installed with a 1 1/2" drain line, whereas a shower by-code requires a 2" drain line. So in all likelihood replace an existing bathtub with a shower would necessitate replacing the drain line with a larger one. The cost of changing the drain line could be more than the entire cost (materials and labor) of installing a new bathtub.

Well it looks like I'll stick with a bathtub. We are on a slab so I don't want to get into changing the drain location, etc. Thanks for all the info!

If you want a shower you might still be able to do it if you have the needed 2" drain already in place. There are lovely shower pans with a drain at the end to retro fit into a tub spot. Good luck. .

I've read a little more, since I am facing a similar situation (wanting to redo a third bath and thinking of installing a shower) and it seems that in some jurisdictions, the plumbing code says that if its a shower with a single shower head with a flow less than 5.6 GPM (IIRC) than a 1 1/2" drain is acceptable. It seems that a majority of jurisdictions mandate a 2" drain for a shower, but some do not.