The honest answer is a question: who bathes in your house, and who buys it next? Everything else is tile selection.
| Walk-in shower | Tub | |
|---|---|---|
| Daily use | Wins for almost everyone | Wins for small kids & soakers |
| Safety | Low/no threshold, bench, bars | The 15-inch step is the hazard |
| Space feel | Opens small bathrooms dramatically | Fixed 60-inch footprint |
| Water use | Lower (matters in AZ) | 40–60 gallons a fill |
| Family resale | Neutral if one tub remains | Insurance for family buyers |
| Retiree resale | The selling feature | Often removed by the next owner |
The one-tub rule: keep a tub somewhere in the house — usually the hall bath — and convert everything else with a clear conscience. It satisfies family buyers, bathes the grandkids, and lets the primary bath become the shower you actually want.
Going shower: the conversion cost guide has your numbers. Full remodel either way: bathroom remodel costs. Or skip to a free estimate from a licensed remodeler in your area.
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The conventional realtor wisdom — keep one tub if any likely buyer has small children — holds in family neighborhoods. In Arizona's retirement communities it inverts: the walk-in shower is the feature and the tub is the liability.
Substantially. Stepping over a 15-inch tub wall is a leading source of bathroom falls; a low or curbless shower entry with a bench and blocking for grab bars is the aging-in-place standard for good reason.
Converting a tub to a walk-in shower runs $8,000–$20,000 in Arizona. Replacing a tub with a new tub runs $4,000–$8,000. Adding a freestanding soaker to a primary bath during a full remodel: $2,500–$6,000 on top of the remodel.
Neither choice 'adds' value in isolation — coherence does. A primary bath with a beautiful walk-in shower reads as remodeled; a house with zero tubs reads as a question mark to family buyers. Hence the one-tub rule.
A midrange Arizona bathroom remodel runs $15,000–$35,000 in 2026; tub-to-shower conversions $8,000–$20,000.
Read the guide →Minor kitchen remodels run $20,000–$40,000 in Arizona in 2026; full guts $50,000–$100,000+.
Read the guide →Tub-to-shower conversions run $8,000–$20,000 in Arizona in 2026 — acrylic systems at the low end, custom tile with frameless glass at the top.
Read the guide →