Ceramic & Porcelain Tile
Tile Flooring
Read more
Bathroom Remodeling costs in Maryland
What a tub to shower conversion costs in Maryland
The price of taking a tub out and putting a walk-in shower in depends almost entirely on one question: does the drain move. Here is what each version costs, and what decides which version you are buying.
Licensed & insuredFree written estimatesFrederick-based crewClean-site guarantee
Quick answer
How much does bathroom remodeling cost in Maryland?
A tub to shower conversion in Maryland typically costs $7,000 to $18,000. A straight swap that leaves the drain where it is runs $6,500 to $11,000. Relocating the drain, which means opening the ceiling below, runs $9,500 to $16,000. A fully curbless shower with the floor recessed into the joists runs $12,000 to $22,000.
The numbers
Maryland pricing, broken down.
Almost no contractor site in this market publishes a number, which is exactly why the question has so much search demand and so little honest supply. These are the ranges we price to in Maryland, with the reason each one is a range and not a price.
Typical in Maryland
Tub-to-walk-in-shower conversion
$7,000 – $18,000
Tub-to-walk-in-shower conversion
$7,000 – $18,000
The full honest spread across all three versions. Where you land inside it is decided by the drain and by the glass, far more than by the tile you choose.
Straight swap, drain stays put
$6,500 – $11,000
The tub comes out, a pan goes in over the existing drain, and the ceiling below stays shut. This is the version most houses can have, and it is the one to ask about first.
Drain relocated, open ceiling below
$9,500 – $16,000
Needed when the new shower layout puts the drain somewhere the old waste pipe does not reach. The ceiling below comes down, the pipe is re-run, and the ceiling is made good — all three are in this range.
Curbless build, floor recessed
$12,000 – $22,000
The floor structure is lowered between the joists so the shower floor sits level with the room. It is the best-looking and the most accessible version, and it is structural work rather than finish work.
Frameless glass panel and door
$1,400 – $3,800
Measured and made after the tile is finished, which is why it arrives two to three weeks later. A fixed panel alone sits at the bottom; a hinged door with hardware sits at the top.
Linear drain instead of a centre drain
+$400 – $1,100
Lets the floor slope in one direction instead of four, which matters with large-format tile. It also changes how the waste is run, so it is a decision for the framing stage rather than the tiling stage.
Niche, bench or seat built into the wall
$350 – $900
Each one, waterproofed as part of the shower rather than added to it. Framed while the wall is open costs this much; asked for afterwards costs considerably more.
Grab bar blocking fitted during framing
$120 – $320 each
Solid blocking behind the board at the positions a grab bar will eventually need. Worth doing even if no bar goes up now, because the wall is only open once.
Ceiling repair below, patch and paint
$450 – $1,200
Only applies where the drain moved. We do this part ourselves, so the ceiling that came down is put back by the same crew rather than left for somebody else.
Ranges, not quotes. Published 2026 and reviewed against work we are actually pricing in Maryland. What your job costs comes from a walkthrough — access, condition, height and finish level move a price more than square footage does. Estimates are free and in writing.
Ask whether the drain can stay before you ask about tile
Homeowners usually start a conversion conversation with tile, because tile is the part you can see in a photograph. It is the wrong place to start. The difference between a $7,000 shower and a $14,000 shower is almost never the tile — it is whether the waste pipe had to be re-run.
The practical version of the question is simple: can the new shower be laid out so the drain lands where the tub drain already is. Quite often it can, especially where the tub sat in an alcove and the shower is going in the same alcove. When the answer is yes, the ceiling below stays shut and the project stays inside one room.
When the answer is no, the honest thing is to say so at the quote stage rather than discover it on day two. Opening a ceiling, re-running waste, re-boarding and painting is $3,000 of work on its own, and it belongs in the written price from the start. If a quote for a relocated drain does not mention the ceiling below, it is not a complete quote.
Where the money goes that you cannot see
In a finished shower, roughly nothing you can see is doing the waterproofing. The tile is a wearing surface. The thing keeping water out of the framing is the membrane, the slope, the corners and the way the drain is tied in — and all four are buried before the first tile goes on.
That is also where cheap conversions get cheap. Board straight onto studs, a bead of mastic in the corners, tile over the top, and it will look right for a year or two. Then the grout goes dark at the base of one wall, the tile at the kerb sounds hollow, and the repair costs more than the difference between the two quotes did.
The parts you can see are the parts you get to choose, and they move the price far less than people expect. Spending more on tile and less on waterproofing is the one trade in a bathroom that always loses, so we price the system behind the tile first and let the finishes follow the budget that is left.
Before you sign anything
What a real written quote should itemise
Ask every contractor for these in writing. Quotes only compare once they do — and Maryland law requires home improvement work over $500 to be under a written contract anyway.
- Whether the drain stays or moves, stated plainly, with the ceiling below priced if it moves
- Curbed or curbless, and for curbless, what happens to the floor structure
- The waterproofing system by name — membrane type, corners, and how the drain is bonded in
- Pan construction: pre-formed or built and sloped on site
- Glass as its own line, with the lead time after tiling stated
- Blocking for grab bars, and whether niches or a bench are included or extra
- What happens to the extract fan, the lighting and the floor outside the shower
Want the number for your house?
Call and describe the job. You’ll get a straight answer on whether it’s something we do and roughly what it runs, before anyone books a visit.
(301) 524-1729
Priced by us, not a calculator
Bathroom Remodeling
What moves the number
Why two quotes on the same job land far apart.
Usually not because one contractor is expensive. Usually because they are pricing different work. These are the variables that actually move it.
01
Whether the drain has to move
This is the single biggest line in the whole project. A shower that reuses the existing drain position keeps the ceiling below shut and keeps the job inside one room. The moment the drain moves, a second room is involved and the price steps up by thousands.
02
Curb or no curb
A curbless shower looks better and is genuinely more accessible, but the floor has to be lowered between the joists to make it happen. That is structural, it depends on which way the joists run, and in some houses it simply cannot be done without an engineer involved.
03
What the glass is
A shower curtain is nothing. A fixed frameless panel is $1,400 and up. A frameless hinged door with proper hardware is nearer $3,800. The glass is measured only once the tile is done, so it is also the thing that decides when you can use the room.
04
What is behind the tile
Waterproofing is the part that decides whether the shower lasts fifteen years or three. A bonded membrane system over properly sloped substrate costs more than board and mastic, and it is the difference between a shower and a future repair. We do not quote the cheap version.
05
What else is in the room
A conversion is the cheapest time to change the vanity, the floor, the lighting and the extract fan, because the room is already out of use and the walls are already open. Doing those later as separate visits costs more in total than doing them now.
On the job
What you are paying for.
Trade photography, stage by stage — the work these numbers buy. Photos of our own recent jobs come out at the walkthrough, on the actual house.
Straight answers
Bathroom Remodeling cost questions
Not covered here? Call and ask — you’ll get a real answer, not a “depends on the job”.
The full range is $7,000 to $18,000. A straight swap that keeps the existing drain is $6,500 to $11,000, relocating the drain is $9,500 to $16,000, and a fully curbless build is $12,000 to $22,000. Our bathroom remodel cost guide has the figures for a whole-room project.
Because it stops being one room. The ceiling below has to come down so the waste can be re-run, then it has to be boarded, finished and painted. That is roughly $3,000 of work before the shower itself is touched, and $450 to $1,200 of it is the ceiling repair alone.
If you want the room to work for someone with limited mobility, or you want the floor to read as one surface, yes. It costs $12,000 to $22,000 because the floor is lowered into the structure. If neither of those matters to you, a low kerb gets you most of the look for thousands less.
It can, in a house with only one bathroom and no tub anywhere. In a house with two or more bathrooms, converting the one people actually use to a walk-in shower is usually the better decision. We will say which case we think you are in, and it is still your call.
Plan on two to three weeks for a straight swap and three to four where the drain moves, with the glass arriving two to three weeks after the tile is finished. A curtain rail is a cheap way to use the shower in the gap and we will fit one if you want it.
While the crew is there
The trades that usually come with it
Talk to the people doing the work
Get a straight number for the whole job.
Tell us what needs doing. We’ll walk it with you, sequence every trade it touches, put the price in writing, and leave you to decide.
Get a quote
Let’s price your project.
Two short steps. No obligation, no pressure — just a clear number and a straight answer about what the job involves.
Tick as many as you like. Most jobs are two or three of them at once, and I sort out the detail when I come and look. Nobody gets turned away for choosing the wrong box.
