Interiors
Bathtub replacement cost
Replacing an alcove tub with a new acrylic one and a panel surround is about $3,545, and the tub is 16% of that: an alcove tub is trapped behind the tile on three walls, so the bottom of the walls comes out with it and goes back in after. With tiled walls it is $5,160; a freestanding soaker, which has no surround but needs water brought to where it stands, $5,795; a walk-in tub $8,495 to $12,995. And the floor under a 30-year-old tub is worth an allowance of about $421. This prices each kind of tub in your bathroom, with the walls, the plumbing and the old tub coming out.
Written and edited by Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Last reviewed 2026-09-24 · Nothing you type leaves your browser
Bathtub replacement cost calculator
The new tub, the walls round it, and the old one
The tub is the part you pick and, unless it is a walk-in, the small part of the bill. The wall it is trapped behind is the big one.
The standard 60 in tub with a tiling flange on three sides. Taking it out means taking the bottom of the walls with it.
Warm, quiet and light. It flexes underfoot unless it is bedded properly, and it scratches — though scratches in acrylic polish out, which is not true of enamel.
Three moulded panels glued and sealed. Fast, cheap, waterproof by design, and it reads as exactly what it is.
New walls.
Carried or cut out.
About a 54% chance of a rotten floor under it.
A remodeller or plumber.
Used only to pick a regional labour rate. It stays in your browser.
Acrylic alcove tub, installed
$3,545
the tub is 16% of it · $3,966 with the floor allowance
The wall, not the tub
$560 of tub and $1,410 to get the old one out from behind the wall and put the wall back. The valve and drain are replaced while it is open, and the new tub is bedded so it does not flex.
Under the old tub
$421 to carry, $780 if it is there.
A tub that has been weeping at the drain or the overflow has been doing it quietly for years, into a floor nobody can see. It is the commonest thing found on the day the tub comes out, and it is the reason a fixed-price tub replacement quote usually is not one. At 30 years, about a 54% chance — which is why the figure above is the quote and the one below it is what to have ready.
Each kind of tub, the same bathroom
With the walls and old tub chosen above.
What the quote covers
- Acrylic alcove tub
The standard 60 in tub with a tiling flange on three sides. Taking it out means taking the bottom of the walls with it.$560 - The old tub out
Three walls of tile and whatever is behind it, plus the tub. It is dusty, loud and the part of the job that finds things.$720 - Acrylic panel kit
Three moulded panels glued and sealed. Fast, cheap, waterproof by design, and it reads as exactly what it is.$690 - New valve and drain
A tub drains at one end and a shower drains in the middle. Converting one to the other means opening the floor to move the waste, and in a concrete slab that is a different and larger job again.$490 - Setting the tub
Levelled and bedded in mortar so it does not flex, connected and sealed.$990 - Permit
Plumbing permit where required.$95
What it costs
National average. Acrylic alcove tub replacing a enamelled steel tub, acrylic panel kit. Not included: subfloor repair (carried separately), a new water heater, floor tile beyond the tub, or moving the tub to a new position.
If the tub only needs a new surface, the bathtub refinishing page compares reglazing, a liner, replacing and a shower; turning the tub into a shower is priced on the shower remodel page.
Worth knowing
- The tub is $560 — 16% of the job. The rest is getting the old one out from behind the wall ($720), putting the walls back ($690), a new valve and drain, and about $990 of installing. That is why a $265 steel tub still makes a job of several thousand.
- Acrylic panel kit: Three moulded panels glued and sealed. Fast, cheap, waterproof by design, and it reads as exactly what it is.
- A tub 30 years old has had time to weep at the drain and overflow into a floor nobody can see. About a 54% chance the subfloor under it needs repair — $780 if it does — so carry about $421 as an allowance, not a surprise.
- If the tub is sound and only the surface is tired, refinishing it costs a tenth as much and, per year of service, less than replacing — the bathtub refinishing page compares the four ways out.
On this page — 5 sections
The wall, not the tub
The short version
- Alcove tub, panel surround: $3,545. Tiled walls: $5,160.
- The tub is 16% of it — the wall it is trapped behind is the rest.
- Walk-in tubs: $8,495 to $12,995. Here the tub is the bill.
- Carry $421 for the floor under a 30-year-old tub.
An alcove tub is a cheap object in an expensive place. The steel one most builders fit costs $265; an acrylic one $560. But its tiling flange runs behind the tile on three walls, so it cannot come out without the bottom of those walls coming with it, and they have to be rebuilt, waterproofed and finished before the new one goes in. That is why a tub replacement costs thousands, why the choice of wall finish moves the price more than the choice of tub, and why refinishing — which does not touch the wall — exists at all.
$560
Acrylic tub
16% of the job
$720
The old one out
With the bottom of the walls
$690
Panel surround
Tile: $2,600
$1,480
Setting and plumbing
Bedded, valve, drain
MaterialsEstimator, Bathtub replacement and walk-in tub installation price survey · checked 2026-09-24
Alcove, drop-in, freestanding, walk-in
The same size alcove tub back in the same alcove is the cheapest replacement. A drop-in tub adds a deck to build and tile. A freestanding tub drops the surround but needs water where it stands: a floor-mounted filler, and the supplies and drain brought up through the floor. A walk-in tub is a different machine: a sealed door, a seat, often jets and a heater on their own circuits, and a price where, for once, the tub is most of the bill.
| Replacing a 30-year-old steel tub | The tub | Installed | With floor allowance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alcove, acrylic, panel surround | $560 | $3,545 | $3,966 |
| Alcove, steel, tiled walls | $265 | $5,160 | $5,581 |
| Alcove, cast iron, tiled walls | $940 | $5,835 | $6,256 |
| Drop-in, acrylic, deck | $644 | $4,729 | $5,150 |
| Freestanding acrylic soaker | $1,400 | $5,795 | $6,216 |
| Cast-iron clawfoot | $2,400 | $6,795 | $7,216 |
| Walk-in, soaking | $4,000 | $8,495 | $8,916 |
| Walk-in, water and air jets | $7,500 | $12,995 | $13,416 |
The same demolition, valve, drain and permit in each row. Freestanding tubs patch the old alcove instead of rebuilding a surround.
ASME / CSA, ASME A112.19.15 / CSA B45.2 — Bathtubs and whirlpool bathtubs with pressure-sealed doors · checked 2026-09-24
Walk-in tubs
A walk-in tub is bought for getting in and out safely, and it is built round a door sealed against the pressure of a full tub. It fills and drains with the bather inside — the door will not open until the water is out — so a fast drain and a water heater that can fill a deep tub in one go matter more than any jet. Jets and an in-line heater each want a dedicated GFCI circuit, with the pump reachable through a panel.
| Soaking walk-in | With jets | |
|---|---|---|
| Installed | $8,495 | $10,795 air · $12,995 air and water |
| The tub | $4,000 | $5,800 · $7,500 |
| New circuits | None | 1 · 2, $500 each |
| Hot water | A deep fill | A deep fill, and heat held by the heater |
National Fire Protection Association, NFPA 70, National Electrical Code, Article 680 Part VII — Hydromassage bathtubs · checked 2026-09-24
The floor under the old one
A tub that has been weeping at the drain or the overflow has been doing it quietly for years, into a floor nobody can see. It is the commonest thing found on the day the tub comes out, and it is the reason a fixed-price tub replacement quote usually is not one. The older the tub, the likelier: at 30 years about a 54% chance, $780 if it is there. The calculator carries it as an allowance beside the quote rather than inside it, because it is either nothing or the whole repair.
Before the old tub comes out
- The new tub's size against the alcove and the doorway.
- The wall finish chosen: tile, panels or solid surface.
- Cast iron? Plan for it to be broken up.
- A new valve and drain on the quote, not the old ones reused.
- The subfloor allowance set aside.
- For a walk-in: the circuits and the water heater.
- The permit, where plumbing permits are required.
What goes wrong
01Pricing the tub, not the wall
The tub is 16% of an alcove replacement.
Instead — Price the demolition and the surround first.
02Reusing the old valve
It is open now and will not be again for twenty years.
Instead — A new pressure-balance valve and a new drain.
03Setting the tub without a bed
It flexes, cracks at the drain, and leaks into the new floor.
Instead — A mortar bed under the base.
04No allowance for the floor
A soft subfloor is found on the day, with the room open.
Instead — Carry about $421.
05A walk-in on a small water heater
The tub is half full when the hot water runs out.
Instead — A bigger or tankless heater.
06Replacing a sound tub
Refinishing costs a tenth and lasts years.
Instead — Refinish unless the walls, plumbing or layout need changing too.
- 01Measure the openingLength and width of the alcove, and the doorway the old tub leaves through and the new one comes in by.
- 02Decide what goes backThe same size alcove tub is the cheapest; a different size or type changes the walls or the plumbing.
- 03Decide the wallsTile, a panel kit or solid surface — the largest line after demolition.
- 04Note the old tubCast iron is broken up to get it out; a one-piece fibreglass unit is cut out in sections.
- 05Plan for the floorThe older the tub, the likelier the subfloor under it is soft. Carry an allowance.
- 06Check the alternativeIf the tub is sound and only the surface is tired, refinishing costs a tenth as much.
Reglazing, a liner, replacing and converting to a shower, compared by cost per year of service.
If the tub is sound- Alcove tub
- A tub set between three walls, with a tiling flange on the three sides. The standard 60 in bathtub.
- Tiling flange
- The lip on an alcove tub's three wall sides that goes behind the tile. Why the tile has to come off to get the tub out.
- Surround
- The wall finish round the tub: tile over a membrane, an acrylic panel kit, or solid-surface sheets.
- Drop-in tub
- A tub with a rim that sits in a framed, finished deck.
- Freestanding tub
- A tub standing on its own feet or plinth, away from the walls. Needs water and a drain brought up through the floor.
- Tub filler
- A floor-mounted faucet for a freestanding tub, usually with a hand shower.
- Walk-in tub
- A deep tub with a sealed door in its side, a built-in seat and a low threshold. Filled and drained with the bather inside.
- Hydrotherapy jets
- Air or water jets in a walk-in or whirlpool tub, run by a pump on its own GFCI circuit.
- Waste and overflow
- The drain assembly at the tub's end: the drain, the overflow and the pipe joining them. Replaced with the tub.
- Mortar bed
- A layer of mortar under a tub's base so it is supported everywhere and does not flex or crack.
- Subfloor
- The plywood or boards under the tub. A slow leak at the drain rots it, out of sight, for years.
Common questions
- How much does it cost to replace a bathtub?
- About $3,545 to replace an alcove tub with a new acrylic one and an acrylic panel surround — the old tub and the bottom of the walls out, a new valve and drain, the tub bedded and set, the permit. With a steel tub and tiled walls it is $5,160. The tub itself is $265 to $940 of that; the wall it is trapped behind is most of the rest.
- Can a bathtub be replaced without removing the tile?
- Sometimes, for an alcove tub replaced with one exactly the same size: the bottom course of tile is cut out to free the flange and tiled back — $3,205 against $3,545. It needs matching tile, and walls that are sound behind it. Otherwise the tile comes down to the studs.
- How much does a walk-in tub cost installed?
- About $8,495 for a soaking walk-in tub, $10,795 with air jets and a heated seat, and $12,995 with water and air jets — the tub, the old one out, the surround fitted, the door sealed, and a dedicated GFCI circuit for each pump or heater. It is the one tub where the tub is most of the bill.
- How much does a freestanding tub cost to install?
- About $5,795 for an acrylic soaker and $6,795 for a cast-iron clawfoot, with a floor-mounted filler ($600) and the supplies and drain brought up through the floor to where it stands ($700). There are no surround walls to rebuild, only the old alcove patched.
- How much is a drop-in tub?
- About $4,729 with the deck — $1,100 to frame, waterproof and tile the platform it sits in, with an access panel to the plumbing.
- Why is replacing a tub so expensive when tubs are cheap?
- Because an alcove tub is trapped behind the wall. Its tiling flange goes behind the tile on three sides, so getting it out means taking the bottom of the walls with it — $720 of demolition and $690 for a panel kit, $2,600 for tile. The tub is 16% of the job.
- What if the old tub is cast iron?
- It weighs 300 to 400 lb and is broken up with a sledgehammer under a blanket to get it out — about $320 more demolition, $3,865 in all. A new cast-iron tub holds heat best and lasts for ever; check the floor can carry it full.
- What is under an old bathtub?
- Often, a soft subfloor. A tub that has wept at the drain or overflow for years has been soaking a floor nobody can see. At 30 years there is about a 54% chance it needs repair, about $780 if it does — so carry $421 as an allowance. It is why fixed-price tub quotes are rarely fixed.
- Can I replace a bathtub myself?
- The demolition, the setting and a panel surround, yes — about $2,051 of tub, walls and parts — with a plumber for the valve and drain and a permit where required. The hard parts are levelling and bedding the tub so it does not flex, and waterproofing the walls.
- Should I refinish my tub instead?
- If the tub is sound and the bathroom works, yes: refinishing is a few hundred dollars and, per year of service, cheaper than replacing. Replacing buys what refinishing leaves alone — the walls, the plumbing, the floor underneath, or a different tub. The bathtub refinishing page compares the four ways out.
Send this to whoever is paying
The link carries your measurements, so whoever opens it sees the same numbers you are looking at — and you can come back to it yourself tomorrow with the delivery note in front of you.
Plain links, no tracking scripts. Nothing here reports back that you shared it.
About the author
Pablo Ruiz Quintero — Editor
Editor of MaterialsEstimator. Decides which documents count as a source, what every default value is, and where the line sits between what the reader parses and what the engines compute.
More about how this site is edited