Tub-to-shower conversions in Dublin
Most of Dublin was built between the early 1980s and the late 2000s, and that single fact decides nearly everything about a bathroom project here. Houses of that period were built around a fashion that has not aged well: the large corner garden tub in the primary bathroom, which in most Dublin households is now the least used fixture in the house. The year-built figures for every town are on the house styles page.
Last updated August 2026 · No prices on this page; the Estimate Builder carries those · Part of the knowledge base
The Dublin garden tub
A corner garden tub is a big triangular fixture set into a tiled deck, often with jets, usually under a window, and almost always adjacent to a shower stall that is smaller than it should be. It was the aspirational centerpiece of a primary bathroom for about twenty years and it is the fixture we are most often asked to remove in this town.
The reason is not fashion. It is that filling one takes a long time and most water heaters are not really sized for it, climbing over a wide tiled deck to get in becomes less appealing every year, and the shower beside it is the thing that actually gets used every day while being the smaller of the two.
Taking the tub out and building the shower into the space it occupied usually produces a shower dramatically larger than the original stall, out of a bathroom that did not change size. That is the whole appeal, and it is why this is the most common single project in Dublin.
What the second floor changes
Most Dublin housing of that era is two-story, and the primary bathroom is upstairs over a wood-framed floor. That matters for one specific ambition: a fully curbless, zero-threshold shower needs the slope and the drain built into the floor structure, which is straightforward over a basement slab and much more involved over joists.
It is not impossible upstairs, and it is not the only way to get an easy entry. A low-threshold pan gives most of the same benefit with a fraction of the structural work, and it is what most upstairs Dublin bathrooms end up with. If a genuinely curbless entry is the actual requirement rather than the preference, that is a conversation to have at the start rather than in the middle.
Historic Dublin is a different house
The older core around Historic Dublin has nothing in common with the subdivisions. The bathrooms there are small, often the only one, and built the way older bathrooms everywhere were built. The considerations are the ones on our Upper Arlington page rather than the ones on this one.
Getting there, and which county you are in
Dublin is on the opposite side of the metropolitan area from us, roughly a half hour from the Westerville shop depending on which part of town and which time of day. It makes no difference to a price. Dublin addresses fall across Franklin, Delaware and Union counties, which can change which building department a project answers to.
What a Dublin project looks like
- A conversion is one to two days on site. A full remodel is three to five. The wait to begin is separate and longer, because everything is ordered to your selections.
- The price is written line by line before demolition, and changes need your signature.
- Taped floor protection the whole way from your door, a barrier wall at the bathroom doorway, air scrubbers through demolition, and at least two full cleanings.
- Lifetime leak-free guarantee on the pan and walls we install, with five years on workmanship, finish and adjustment items.
Common questions
Do you work throughout Dublin, including Historic Dublin?
Yes, both, and they are genuinely different jobs. The subdivision housing is large, newer and built around a corner garden tub. The older core near Historic Dublin has small bathrooms with old plaster and old plumbing behind them. The same crew does both; the planning for each is not the same.
What replaces the corner garden tub in a Dublin primary bathroom?
Usually a shower much larger than the stall that was next to it, built into the space the tub occupied. That is the reason people do it: the room does not change size and the shower roughly doubles. Whether the drain has to move depends on how far the old stall sat from the tub, and that is the main thing that decides the amount of work.
Can we have a curbless shower in an upstairs Dublin bathroom?
Sometimes, and it is a structural question rather than a design one. A zero-threshold entry needs the fall and the drain built into the floor, which is far easier over a basement slab than over the wood joists of a second floor. A low-threshold pan gives most of the same ease of entry with much less structural work, and it is what most upstairs bathrooms here end up with. If genuinely no step is the requirement, say so at the start.
How far is your shop from Dublin?
Roughly a half hour, traffic depending. We are in Westerville, which is on the other side of the metropolitan area, and it makes no difference to what a project costs. Distance affects our morning, not your price.
Which county is a Dublin address in?
Dublin spans Franklin, Delaware and Union counties, so the answer depends on the address. It seldom changes the work, but it can change which building department the project answers to, which is worth establishing early rather than assuming.
See your actual price in about two minutes
Pick your shower, choose real products with real model numbers, and watch the number move. No phone number required, and nobody will call unless you ask.