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Cost, and the Part That Is Not the Tub

We do not set prices and never see them. What we can do is say which part of the number is genuinely unknowable in advance.

Quick answer

A tub job is priced on access, on what the wall and the subfloor turn out to be, and on whether the drain can stay where it is. One part of it cannot be priced by anybody until the old tub is out and the wall is open.

TubSet is a referral service, not a contractor. We connect homeowners with independent contractors. Contractors are required to hold whatever credential their state or municipality demands. Every state page sets out who licenses plumbers there and where to check, so you can confirm before work begins. We carry out no work, we sell no fixtures, we do not set prices, and we never charge homeowners anything — the contractors in our network pay us when we route them a call.

No figure is published

TubSet routes calls to independent contractors who set their own prices. Bathroom work ranges from a coating on an existing fixture to rebuilding a floor, and no source we would cite publishes a national figure for that.

The part nobody can price in advance

The subfloor. A tub that has been leaking slowly at the drain or the overflow has been wetting the floor beneath itself out of sight. Whether that floor is sound is unknowable until the fixture is out.

A quote that does not mention it has not priced the likeliest version of the job. Ask what happens to the number if the subfloor is wet.

What drives the rest

Whether the drain moves — a conversion usually means it does, and a shower floor is a waterproofing problem where a tub was a fixture. Then how much of the wall has to be made good, and whether anything is being added while it is open.

And the least expensive thing on the whole job

Blocking in an open wall for a grab bar, whether or not a bar goes in now. It is close to free while the wall is open and a separate job afterwards. Given what the injury data says, it is also the part most likely to matter later.

Source: CDC, MMWR: Nonfatal Bathroom Injuries Among Persons Aged ≥15 Years, United States, 2008.

Changing a tub is mostly about what is behind it.Tell us what you want done and we will route you to a contractor in your area, found from your ZIP code, who can look at the wall and the floor before quoting. No charge to you, and we will not ask you why. Anything else needing a plumber is fine to bring up while we have you.

Call (888) 764-3080