Bathtub Replacement, Refinishing, or Tub-to-Shower? How to Tell Which One You Need
Three different jobs get called "redoing the tub," and they aren't interchangeable. Here's what each one actually is, what changes behind the wall, which two we do — and when to call somebody else.
“We want to do something about the tub” covers at least three completely different jobs. They touch different parts of the bathroom, they solve different problems, and the least invasive one is sometimes exactly right and sometimes a waste of money.
Here is the honest version, including where we are not the right company to call.
Refinishing and reglazing
Refinishing — also called reglazing or resurfacing — means preparing the existing tub surface and spraying a new coating over it. The tub never moves. Nothing behind the wall is touched.
It is the right call when the tub is structurally sound, plumbed where you want it, and the only problem is that the surface looks tired, stained or dated. If your tub is fine and you simply do not like looking at it, refinishing is the least invasive honest answer and you should not let anyone talk you into a remodel.
It is the wrong call when there is any water getting past the tub or surround, when the tub is cracked or flexing underfoot, when you want to change the layout, or when the tile around it needs to come off anyway. A coating over a tub with a failing surround hides the problem rather than fixing it, and you will pay for the real repair later plus the coating you wasted.
We do not offer refinishing, reglazing, resurfacing, fiberglass repair or tub cut-outs.It is a legitimate service — specialist refinishers do it with their own materials, spray equipment and ventilation, and for a sound tub it is often the sensible choice. It is simply not in our scope, and we would rather say so than take the job and do it adequately.
Bathtub replacement
Replacement means removing the old tub and installing a new one in the same footprint. It usually means removing the surround as well, which is where the real value is: for the first time in decades, someone can see what is behind the wall.
It is the right call whenthe tub is damaged, the wrong size, or a style you cannot live with; when the surround is failing; or when you want to keep a bathtub but everything around it needs attention. Households with young children often land here — keeping a tub is a real requirement, and a bath is genuinely more practical for small children than a shower.
What opening the wall usually revealsin foothill homes built before the 1990s: no bonded waterproofing membrane behind the tile (the products largely postdate the houses), supply lines — often galvanized in the oldest stock — that have outlived their useful life, and an exhaust fan that either doesn’t exist or terminates in the attic instead of outdoors. None of that is alarming for a house of that vintage. It is worth planning for, because the right time to fix it is while the wall is already open. Current code is unambiguous on the fan: bathrooms must have local mechanical exhaust, and its airflow is measured by the installer (2025 California Energy Code §150.0(o)1G).
This is a common project in the foothill communities we serve, and especially in Alta Sierra and Lake Wildwood, both laid out by developers in the 1960s — a community planned in one decade ages in one decade, so their original tubs and surrounds are reaching the end of their service life at roughly the same time.
Tub-to-shower conversion
The tub comes out and a shower goes in. This is the largest of the three jobs because it changes what the room does — the drain usually moves, the waterproofing is rebuilt from the substrate up, and the glass, tile and threshold are all new. A shower receptor built on site has to be watertight and lined, with the lining carried at least 3 inches above the finished dam (CPC §408.7), and the finished floor has to slope between 1/8 and 1/2 inch per foot to the drain (§408.5). That is the part nobody sees and the part that decides whether the shower lasts.
It is the right call when the tub is genuinely not being used. That is the honest test, and most people already know the answer. A hall bath tub that has been a storage shelf for six years is not a bathing facility, it is floor area you are not using.
Two real Auburn conversions show how differently it can be finished. In one, a tub with a beige tile surround and gold-framed sliders became a walk-in shower with a tiled pan, marble-look porcelain walls, a pebble mosaic floor and a frameless sliding door. In another, the tub came out for a low-threshold base across the alcove, acrylic wall panels with no grout joints to maintain, a fold-down seat on solid blocking and a grab bar. Same conversion, two different maintenance stories.
It is also the usual answer for aging in place. A low threshold or a curbless entry is far easier to step into than the side of a tub, and the time to plan it is while the walls are open — including solid blocking behind the tile wherever a grab bar might eventually go. None of that has to look clinical; a well-designed accessible bathroom just reads as a well-designed bathroom. We see this most often in Lake Wildwood and Lake of the Pines, and it is the subject of our aging-in-place planning guide.
One caution worth stating. If it is the only tub in the house, think about resale before removing it. Buyers with small children often want at least one bathtub. Removing the last tub in a three-bedroom family home can narrow your buyer pool. If you have two or more bathrooms, converting one is usually a straightforward win.
More on that trade-off in our guide to tub-to-shower conversions and resale value.
Walk-in tubs are a fourth thing
A walk-in tub — the kind with a door in the side — is a different product from a walk-in shower, and the two get confused constantly because the names are nearly identical.
We do not install walk-in tubs. If accessibility is the goal, we would generally point you toward a low-threshold or curbless shower instead: nothing to climb over, no waiting for the tub to fill and drain while you sit in it, easier for a caregiver to assist with, and no door seal to fail. There are people for whom a walk-in tub is the right answer — if soaking is medically important to you, particularly. It is just not a product we work with.
Do I need a permit to replace a bathtub?
If the work stays cosmetic, often not. As soon as plumbing is altered — a drain relocated for a shower base, a new valve set in the wall — it is permitted work, and the rough plumbing is inspected before the walls close. Which counter you walk into depends on the address rather than the mailing city: the City of Auburn Building Division inside Auburn city limits, Placer County for North Auburn, Meadow Vista, Newcastle and Penryn, the Town of Loomis and the City of Colfax for their own jurisdictions, and Nevada County for Lake of the Pines and Alta Sierra — even though Lake of the Pines addresses are written “Auburn, CA 95602” and Alta Sierra addresses are written “Grass Valley, CA 95949.” We pull the permit as part of the job. The detail sits in our City of Auburn, Placer County and Nevada County permit guides.
How to decide
Three questions settle it most of the time:
- Is anything wet that shouldn’t be?Soft flooring, stained ceiling below, loose or hollow-sounding tile, musty smell. If yes, refinishing is off the table — you have a water problem, not a looks problem.
- Does anyone in the house actually take baths? Be honest. If nobody has used it in years, converting to a shower gets you a room you will use.
- Is this the only tub in the house? If yes and you may sell within a few years, keep a tub somewhere.
If the answers point to a coating on a sound tub, hire a refinisher and spend the difference elsewhere. If they point to replacement or conversion, that is our work.
What we do and don’t do
We do: bathtub replacement as part of a bathroom or shower remodel, tub-to-shower conversions, walk-in and curbless showers, custom tile shower remodels, and full bathroom remodels. Our work carries a 3-year workmanship warranty; manufacturer warranties on the products vary separately.
We don’t do:bathtub refinishing, reglazing or resurfacing; fiberglass tub repair; tub cut-outs; walk-in tubs; or commercial work. Not as a matter of policy — they are simply different trades, and you are better served by someone who does them properly.
Planning a tub replacement or a conversion in the Auburn area? Tell us about the projectand we will give you a straight answer about which of the three you actually need — including if the answer is that you should call somebody else.
About this article: Written by Oakwood Remodeling Group Auburn — Oakwood Remodeling Group Inc., California contractor license #1125321, at 11641 Blocker Dr, Auburn, CA 95603. We remodel bathrooms and showers only, across the Placer and Nevada County foothills, and our work carries a 3-year workmanship warranty. Where this article states a code or standard, the source is linked. If you have a question we didn't cover, ask us directly— we're happy to walk through your specific bathroom on the phone.
