Shower installation cost

Installing a shower costs $1,500 to $8,000, typically around $3,500. A prefabricated unit dropped into an existing alcove sits at the bottom. A tiled walk-in shower built where a bath used to be sits at the top, and most of that difference is waterproofing and tiling rather than plumbing.

What it costs

Where the money goes in a tiled shower

Tile is what you see and it is not where the cost is. A tiled shower is a waterproofing project with tile stuck to it.

Behind the tile there should be a proper membrane system: a sheet or liquid-applied membrane over cement backer board, a bonded pan, and sealed corners and penetrations. Done properly this is $500 to $1,500 in material and a day of labor, and it is the difference between a shower that lasts twenty years and one that rots the floor joists in six.

Tile over green drywall is not waterproofing. Nor is tile over cement board with no membrane, which is still common and still fails, because cement board is not waterproof, it just does not fall apart when wet.

Ask specifically which system the contractor uses and whether the pan is bonded to the membrane. A contractor who has an answer to that question is the one you want.

Prefabricated or tiled

Prefabricated is faster, cheaper, and waterproof by design because it is one molded piece with no joints to fail. It looks like what it is, sizes are fixed, and a one-piece unit will not fit through the door of most finished bathrooms, which is why multi-piece surrounds exist.

Tiled is unlimited in size, shape and appearance, and is only as good as the person who waterproofed it. It costs two to three times as much and it is where almost all shower failures come from.

For a rental, a guest bathroom, or a tight budget, prefabricated is the sensible answer and nobody should feel bad about it.

Bath to shower conversion

The most common bathroom project in houses where the children have grown up or the owners have not.

The plumbing is straightforward: the drain moves a little, the valve is replaced, the supply stays. The cost is in what the bath was hiding, which is usually a subfloor that has been damp for years, and in the fact that removing a bath means removing tile, which means retiling.

Keep at least one bath in the house if you can. Estate agents are consistent on this and buyers with small children genuinely care.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take?

A prefabricated replacement is two to three days. A tiled shower is one to two weeks, because the membrane, the mortar and the grout each need to cure before the next stage.

Do I need a permit?

For a like-for-like replacement, usually not. For moving the drain, changing the layout, or altering the venting, usually yes. The valve replacement is the gray area and depends on the jurisdiction.

What is a pressure-balancing valve and do I need one?

It stops the shower running cold when someone flushes a toilet. It is code in most of the country for new work and it is worth fitting whether or not it is required. A thermostatic valve does the same and also holds a set temperature, for $200 to $400 more.

Can I tile over the existing tile?

Physically yes, and it is a bad idea in a shower. It adds thickness the valve and the door were not set for, it hides whatever is happening behind, and it does nothing for the waterproofing, which is what failed if you are retiling.

Why does my new shower have poor pressure?

If the whole house is fine and only the shower is weak, it is usually a flow restrictor in the head, a partly closed valve stop, or debris in the cartridge from the work. All three are quick. If the whole house is weak, that is a different problem and worth measuring at an outside faucet.