Bathtub Installation Is Rarely About the Tub

What it was hiding usually is — the wall, the drain and overflow, and the subfloor underneath. And there is one number in the research that should shape any decision about a bathroom.

Quick answer

Most bathroom injuries happen while bathing or getting out of a tub rather than getting in — CDC puts it at 37.3 percent against 2.2 percent. That is the real argument for changing one, and what sits behind the tub decides what it costs.

Source: CDC, MMWR: Nonfatal Bathroom Injuries Among Persons Aged ≥15 Years, United States, 2008.

TubSet is a referral service, not a contractor. We connect homeowners with independent contractors. Contractors are required to hold whatever credential their state or municipality demands. Every state page sets out who licenses plumbers there and where to check, so you can confirm before work begins. We carry out no work, we sell no fixtures, we do not set prices, and we never charge homeowners anything — the contractors in our network pay us when we route them a call.

The number

37.3% vs 2.2%Share of bathroom injuries that happened bathing, showering or getting out of the tub or shower, against the share getting in. CDC, 2008 data.

CDC counted an estimated 234,094 nonfatal bathroom injuries among people aged 15 and over in US emergency departments, 68.3% of them in the tub or shower. The exit is where the risk is, which is not where people put the handrail.

Source: CDC, MMWR: Nonfatal Bathroom Injuries Among Persons Aged ≥15 Years, United States, 2008.

Replace it or refinish it

Refinishing is a coating on the tub you have. It addresses how the fixture looks and nothing behind it. Whether that is enough turns on one question: is the complaint about how it looks or how it behaves?

What is behind it

The wall, the drain and overflow assembly, and the subfloor. All three are exposed when a tub comes out, and the subfloor is the one nobody budgets for — because nobody can price it until the old fixture is out.

A failed overflow gasket runs water down the outside of the tub into the floor and never drips where you can see it. It is the commonest hidden leak in a bathroom.

And the dimensions, if you are changing anything

The ADA standards give exact heights, diameters and clearances for grab bars at bathtubs. They govern facilities covered by the ADA rather than private homes, so in a house they are a reference rather than a requirement — and a better one than guessing.

Source: US Access Board, ADA Standards, Chapter 6: Bathing Rooms.

Where we publish

We publish a page for each of the 38 states we route in, built on the Census count of housing units lacking complete plumbing facilities. There are no town pages, and the reason is a measurement.

Changing a tub is mostly about what is behind it.Tell us what you want done and we will route you to a contractor in your area, found from your ZIP code, who can look at the wall and the floor before quoting. No charge to you, and we will not ask you why. Anything else needing a plumber is fine to bring up while we have you.

Call (888) 764-3080