Newcastle Tub-to-Shower Conversion

This 1985 custom home in Newcastle had a generous primary bath: a separate water-closet room with a swing door, a garden tub on the longest wall, and a fiberglass corner shower. The plumbing was modern; the layout was what dated the room.

What we changed

• Pulled the garden tub and used the full long wall for a 4×7 walk-in shower
• Built the shower low-threshold, with a 1″ tile-clad curb — the subfloor sits over a crawlspace, and going curbless would have meant joist work the homeowner chose not to take on
• Replaced the water-closet swing door with a pocket door, gaining about 8 sq ft of usable floor
• Tiled the walls in 24×48 large-format sage stone-look porcelain, with a smaller mosaic on the shower floor for slip resistance
• Installed a frameless glass enclosure with brushed brass hinges, a built-in horizontal niche, and a bench at the end of the shower
• Replaced the dated oak double vanity with rift oak floating cabinetry

Permit and code points

Newcastle is unincorporated, so the permit was pulled with Placer County (see the Placer County permit guide). Because the home was built before 1994, California Civil Code §1101.4 applies: noncompliant plumbing fixtures — for example a toilet over 1.6 gallons per flush or a showerhead over 2.5 gpm — must be replaced as a condition of final permit approval.

The curb-or-curbless decision came down to what was under the floor. Our curbless vs. low-threshold guide explains the trade-off.

Result

The primary bath now has a walk-in shower where the unused tub was, more usable floor at the water closet, and finishes that still sit comfortably with the rest of the 1985 house.