From bath to shower, without the step

Why do so many owners swap the bath for a shower?

For most people the bath on the Costa del Sol is used as a shower with a curtain. Stepping over its edge becomes awkward over time, the curtain lets water onto the floor, and the bath takes up the longest wall in a small room. A shower in the same footprint is easier to use, easier to clean and gives back visual space.

Holiday-let owners have a further reason: guests on short stays rarely use the bath, and a walk-in shower is quicker to clean between bookings. The question of whether it is worthwhile for your property is covered in is a bath-to-shower conversion worth it.

Can I always get a completely flat shower floor?

Not always. A floor-level shower needs room under the finished floor for the waste trap and a fall towards the drain. Many baths drain into a pipe that runs at a fairly high level, which suits a bath but not a flush shower. If the slab beneath is solid concrete with no screed depth, a perfectly flat threshold may mean raising the rest of the bathroom floor slightly or accepting a very low step.

We measure the available depth and the route of the existing waste before promising a layout. If a flush floor is achievable, we form it in the screed with a linear or point drain. If not, an ultra-low tray still gives a far easier entry than a bath. Our walk-in shower page covers the flush option in detail.

What happens to the wall where the bath used to be?

Behind a bath the tiles often stop at the rim and the wall below has been hidden for decades. Once the bath is out, that section needs to be rebuilt or rendered so the new shower wall is flat and continuous from floor to ceiling. Old taps on the wall are removed, the pipes are rerouted to the new shower position and the mixer is set at a comfortable height.

This is also the moment to add a niche. Building a recess into the wall gives a place for bottles that does not collect water and does not need drilling into new tiles. Niches are planned before the waterproofing so they can be sealed with the rest of the wet area.

Is the rest of the bathroom affected?

It can be. Bath tiles rarely match anything still on sale, so replacing just the bath area usually leaves a visible patch. Some owners accept a contrasting tile on the shower wall as a deliberate feature; others decide to retile the whole room. If the floor is raised for the shower, the rest of the floor may need to rise with it.

We price the shower area on its own and the full room as an alternative, so you can see the difference in scope before choosing. If you end up doing the whole room, the complete bathroom renovation page explains the wider job.

How do you stop the new shower from leaking?

The shower area is the wettest zone in the home. Before any finish, the floor and walls of the shower receive a continuous waterproof membrane, with reinforced corners and sealed collars around the drain and the pipes. The screen is fixed into the finished surface, not into a joint, and silicone is only a final seal, never the waterproofing.

Our step-by-step guide follows the sequence from strip-out to the first shower so you know what to expect on each visit.

Which screen should I choose?

A fixed glass panel without a door is the simplest and easiest to clean, but needs enough shower length so that water stays inside. A sliding or hinged door suits narrower spaces. Hinged doors need room to open outward without hitting the WC or basin.

We decide the screen at the same time as the drain position, because the two work together: a linear drain along the back wall lets the floor fall in one direction, away from the open side of the screen.

Can I use the bathroom while the conversion is under way?

Not the room being converted. Once the bath is disconnected, the water to that area is off and the floor is open, so the bathroom is out of use until the shower has been tested. If the property has a second bathroom or a guest WC, most owners stay in place without much difficulty. If it is the only one, it is worth planning the work for a period when you are away or can stay elsewhere.

We keep the rest of the property protected: dust sheets on the route in and out, a sealed doorway and a daily tidy. Debris leaves in bags rather than through shared corridors in loose loads, which is usually what the community cares about most.

What do you need from me to quote?

Photos of the bath from the front and both ends, the wall with the taps, the floor and the ceiling, the approximate floor area and the floor the property is on. If you know where the soil stack runs, a photo helps. With that we give a first assessment; the final itemised quote follows a visit where we measure the waste depth.

If you are still deciding whether to keep a bath at all, bath or shower sets out the arguments on both sides.