Bathtub Removal & Tub-to-Shower Conversion
Steps, Waterproofing & Cost (2026)

Why owners take the bathtub out

Many older condos and terrace houses in the Klang Valley were handed over with a built-in tub in the main bathroom. Years later it is the least-used fitting in the house: adults shower standing up, the tub collects storage boxes, and the silicone around it turns black. ClickBina's bathtub guide calls this one of the most common bathroom changes: take out the tub nobody uses and turn the space into a walk-in shower.

There are practical reasons too. Stepping over the tub edge is where elderly parents slip. A tub that has leaked behind its apron is often cheaper to remove than to repair properly. And a shower area with a glass panel uses the same footprint but makes a small bathroom feel bigger.

The catch is that the tub does a job: it holds the water, it drains through its own waste, and the walls behind it were often never tiled or waterproofed to shower standard. The new shower floor has to take over all of that.

Keep, reseal or remove? A quick decision table

If the tub is only stained or the silicone has failed, read the bathtub guide's section on small jobs first. Removing a tub is the right answer when nobody uses it or when it is causing a leak that a reseal will not cure.

The conversion, step by step

1. Survey. Check the tub waste position, the floor trap, where the water pipes run and, in a condo, the building's renovation rules.
2. Strip out. Remove the tub, the apron or front panel, the tub filler and any screen or curtain rail.
3. Deal with the old waste. Cap it properly, or reuse it as the new shower drain if its position and fall allow.
4. Hack and re-screed. Break out the old tub platform and floor screed, then lay new screed with falls to the shower drain.
5. Move the mixer. A tub filler sits low on the wall; a shower mixer sits higher, so the pipes in the wall are rerouted before plastering.
6. Waterproof. Apply a membrane across the whole wet area, turned up the walls and detailed around the drain and pipes.
7. Ponding test. Flood the floor and leave it before any tile goes down, to prove the membrane holds.
8. Tile and fit out. Tile the floor and the walls that were behind the tub, then fit the mixer, the screen and any grab bar.

The old tub waste and the new drain

A built-in tub drains through a waste and overflow at one end, connected under the tub platform to the bathroom drainage. When the tub comes out, that pipe end is suddenly exposed. Left open, it brings sewer smells and insects into the bathroom; left half-capped under new screed, it becomes a hidden leak point.

There are two clean options. If the tub waste sits near where the new shower drain should be, it can often be reused, with a proper floor trap or linear drain fitted to it so there is a water seal. If not, it is capped and the shower drains to the existing floor trap or a new one. ClickBina's floor trap vs linear drain guide compares the two drain types for smell, flow and tiling.

Floor falls, the kerb and how level the shower can be

The tub platform usually sits on a raised base. Once it is gone, the shower area has to be built with a fall so water runs to the drain and not towards the bathroom door. How level you can make the new shower depends on how much screed depth there is above the slab.

In a landed house there is often room to build the fall properly, and on the ground floor the shower area can sometimes be set a little lower. In a condo the structural slab is common property and cannot be cut, so the fall has to be formed within the existing screed. ClickBina's walk-in shower guide explains when a kerb can go and when a small one has to stay. A low kerb with a glass panel is a perfectly good result if the floor depth will not allow a level entry.

Waterproofing the old tub area

This is the step that decides whether the conversion lasts. Under a tub, the floor only ever saw the odd splash; a shower floor is soaked every day. The membrane must run across the whole new wet area, be turned up the walls, be sealed around the drain and every pipe, and join the existing bathroom waterproofing without a gap.

Insist on a ponding test before tiling. It is the only time a membrane fault can be found cheaply; once the tiles are down, the first sign of a fault is often a stain on the ceiling below. ClickBina's bathroom waterproofing requirements guide sets out what a proper membrane and ponding test look like.

The walls behind the tub

Pull out a built-in tub and you often find the wall tiles stop just above the old tub rim, or carry on behind it as rough render. A shower sprays the full wall height, so those walls need membrane and tile up to at least the shower head zone. Matching old tiles is rarely possible, which is why most owners retile the whole shower wall or the whole bathroom.

While the wall is open, decide where the shower mixer, the shower head, a niche and a grab bar will go. Pipes and fixings are far easier to place before tiling than after.

Condos: the unit below and the building rules

In a strata building, a bathroom floor job affects the unit below if anything goes wrong. Most management offices ask for a renovation application, a deposit and permitted working hours before any hacking. Do not cut into the structural slab, and keep debris out of the common drains.

If the reason for removing the tub is a leak downstairs, find the cause first. ClickBina's upstairs bathroom leak guide explains how a leak through the floor is traced before anyone starts breaking tiles.

What a tub-to-shower conversion costs

Removing a tub and building a shower is effectively a bathroom floor hack-and-redo. These indicative Klang Valley figures (2026) are ClickBina's published ranges:

Rerouting the mixer pipes, a linear drain, a new floor trap and grab bars are priced on top, depending on what your bathroom needs. If you only want to keep the tub and stop the black silicone, resealing a bathtub perimeter is a much smaller job at RM100 – RM250.

What to send on WhatsApp for a quote

• Your area and whether it is a condo, apartment or landed house.
• The bathroom size, roughly in feet, and the size of the tub.
• Whether the tub is built-in with a tiled apron or a standalone tub.
• Which floor the bathroom is on, and whether there is a leak to the unit or room below.
• Whether you want the whole bathroom retiled or only the shower area.
• Who the shower is for: an elderly parent may need a lower kerb and grab bars.

How ClickBina can help

ClickBina is an experienced KL & Selangor contractor for bathroom renovation, whole-house refurbishment and trade coordination, and a tub-to-shower conversion brings together hacking, screeding, waterproofing, plumbing and tiling. WhatsApp us your job details for a quote. We reply within the hour, the price we agree is a flat price with no hidden charges, and a renovation site visit is free, and a repair inspection is RM180, deducted from the bill if you go ahead.

Sources & methodology

• ClickBina walk-in shower guide — step-by-step floor conversion and its cost table.
• ClickBina bathtub guide — keep, reseal or remove, and resealing price.
• ClickBina bathroom waterproofing requirements guide — membrane and ponding test.
• ClickBina floor trap vs linear drain guide — drain choice for a new shower.

How we estimated prices: every RM figure on this page is quoted unchanged from ClickBina's published guides, where they are indicative 2026 ranges for the Klang Valley. Your price depends on the bathroom size, tile choice and what is found once the tub is out.