Bath Fitter - Any good?

[Thomas L Carpenter]

Our 25 year old bathrooms are in need of a tub and shower refurbishing and I am wondering what the general opinions are of using the acrylic liners instead of a total redo. I have a shower in one bathroom and a shower/tub in the other. Haven't looked at pricing yet but am guessing the liners are cheaper. Both are fiberglass or some kind of plastic so I don't think re glazing is possible. Any thoughts?

[Bruce Volden]

I'll be following this thread as I too am a wondering skeptic.
I have spoke with a couple of salesmen for this company and they will not give a price.
It "seemed" to me a weird way of doing business as both sales people only "sold" and didn't install and had no idea of pricing.
I do understand it to be good business practice to see the tub/shower set-up before giving a ball park bid.

Bruce

[Frank Pratt]

The ones I've seen, don't know if they were the Bath Fitter brand, were about what you'd expect; a thin plastic shell covering up the old tub/tile. I suppose it is an improvement over a badly deteriorated tub, but they fairly scream 'cheap'.

If your tubs are acrylic or fiberglass I don't see why they can't be painted. It is an easier process than repainting a steel or cast iron tub. When they refinish steel or cast tubs, they aren't reglazed. They clean, etch, fill & paint them.

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

I had bath fitter do a cover in a rental almost 30 years ago. The plumber I had doing work, suggested them because it was cheaper than having him pull out the old tub and install new. (And back then it was cheaper.) The job lasted 25 years and through 4 sets of occupants. I had the bath fitter folks out again to update the bathroom. Geesh. they wanted $5,000 just to cover the tub with another shell. The bill for the entir bathroom was over 14,000.00. I called another contractor and had the entire bathroom ripped out, new subfloor, new plumbing and fixtures and the whole job was less than $5,000. Not fancy, but it is a tiny house and tiny bathroom. Heard other folks complain about how expensive bath fitter is. The first time around, they covered the old fibreglass tub for less than $300.00

[George Yetka]

I didnt realize they got so pricey I assumed they were still 1000 installed or so. at that price they are great to push the ball down the road. you can paint/new toilet/ new cheep vanity and put a bath fitter in for 2500 or less. As apposed to gutting the room and spending 10-20k. But if they're up to 5k Then you can get a new tub and re-tile for less. (Figure cost of tub/shower diverter and head + 1750 labor + tile job)

[Jim Becker]

Something to consider here...rather than cover up, consider completely replacing with just a shower which is more in keeping with many folks habits and needs. Safer for, um....more mature...folks, too. The job is relatively easy, too...same plumbing can generally be leveraged once the demolition is done and the pre-fabricated shower setups are pretty darn nice. Easy to clean, limited opportunity for leaking even on multi-panel versions like I used to renovate my daughter's bathroom, etc. The only tub in our home is a big old jacuzzi that would be more trouble to remove than to keep and our ultimate plan is to get that painted prior to our selling the property to cover up the mauve and make it match the white fixtures in the rest of that bath. Our master bath is a "walk in shoer". Our guest bath is a prefab shower in a similar space that a tub would have taken up.

[Jim Koepke]

I have spoke with a couple of salesmen for this company and they will not give a price.

When a potential client hears, "most jobs come in somewhere between $2,000 and $20,000," all the client remembers when they see the actual quote is, "you said $2,000."

jtk

[Thomas L Carpenter]

Thanks for the responses. FWIW, we doing this in preparation for putting the house on the market so changing the tub/shower into just a shower may not be the best thing to do. I guess my next step will be to contact a bunch of bath contractors and see what they can come up with.

[Bruce Wrenn]

IMHO, a liner is like putting clean socks on dirty feet.. Thru one of my vendors, I can buy shower kit (floor pan, and acrylic walls) for less than 1K. Floor pan is plumbed to match old tub drain. Available in either left or right. Slowest part of the job is wallboard. Big Box stores are more expensive, a lot more! If house is going on the market, only do necessary repairs, and a "Dupont Tune Up" (paint.) Watched my neighbors replace a thirty year old kitchen. First thing new owners was, rip out new kitchen, and install kitchen of THEIR CHOICE. Same went for carpeting which was new for sale. Money wasted

[Rich Engelhardt]

We have three of them installed in three of our rentals.
They aren't the "Bath Fitter" brand. They were installed by a company we've done business with for over 25 years.

Anyhow - they are very heavy and very thick acrylic & have a lifetime warranty (even in a rental).

The cost to install just one - was close to $7500 with all the frills. Since we had them do three basic ones, we paid roughly $5000 apiece for them.

I can't comment on Bath Fitter per say - but - these have held up just great.

A "good one" is going to cost you, but, if time is more of a priority than price, then they are worth a look - since they can go in in a single day & be ready for use the next day.

To tear out and redo a bath - you're looking at at least three days - if not four or five.

[Curt Harms]

When SWMBO became handicapped we removed a tub and replaced it with a 4 piece prefab shower. It's in like-new condition after about 15 years. I don't remember what it cost - around $1,000 I'd guess, maybe less. It took a little over a day, the biggest job was cutting up and removing the plywood and fiberglass tub. Kind of like this:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Sterling-Advantage-Biscuit-Vikrell-Wall-and-Floor-4-Piece-Alcove-Shower-Kit-Common-34-in-x-48-in-Actual-72-in-x-34-in-x-48-in/3689316
except ours came with a drain. The only plumbing we had to do was running a drain line from the center of the shower pan to join the tub drain on one end. The pan sat on a 2 X 6 platform so plenty of room to run the plumbing.

[Brian Elfert]

I am about 70% done with a complete gut of a basement bathroom with shower. I think I will have $2,500 in it. I used UTile shower walls I got at Menards. They were an unopened clearance item that cost me about 40% of regular retail. (A returned special order) They are a pretty heavy fiberglass that is better than anything in stock at home improvement stores. My shower is 32" wide by 48" long. I couldn't find anything in stock that size and happened to find this item that was 32" by 48". The $2,500 also includes replacing all plumbing with PEX going to a manifold. I also replaced the supply plumbing to the bathroom directly above at the same time.

I fully understand why some will go for the cover as it can be done quickly and no labor. I have found all kinds of issues with my bathroom that including replacing a wall so I have done lots of labor.

[Doug Dawson]

Something to consider here...rather than cover up, consider completely replacing with just a shower which is more in keeping with many folks habits and needs. Safer for, um....more mature...folks, too.

Just make sure the shower has a bench in it, and hand rails (sell it as a towel rack.) We old folks tend to fall over a lot.

[Jim Becker]

Just make sure the shower has a bench in it, and hand rails (sell it as a towel rack.) We old folks tend to fall over a lot.

I designed the "walk in" shower in our master bath with an integral bench. It's a little hard to see in this photo, but it's full width (5') just under that window.

https://fvpqna.bn.files.1drv.com/y4mo19uCxZFrkdJVx01w1S8K5gpXAfGdwEydWRMGg2xxuG-iwEPi1KOGBKaK2YgUin2E0GVh7p7MMF0l_HM_kJnGCCat3R2gL Eo-xVg8ZQ0nh0_6oQWhsuO4nlEy5bEqmGkoTwtTa0dINoXRwphnfV 3U6JW1GuaAGUuJLpcw2zT-2COhv4InQlJAFapyn2k2sv8lV5qNWLv61AE89V0gULGUA?widt h=399&height=600&cropmode=none

I used a prefab kit for my older daughter's bathroom in 2016 when I did a little renovation to get rid of a "phone booth" sized shower in favor of something a normal human can fit in. I did this entire bathroom renovation for under $1.5K which included the shower, that wall to the right of it, some tile work, a new vanity top and toilet, paint, etc. The only thing that didn't get done then was getting the huge jacuzzi painted white, but that will eventually get done before we sell the property in a few years to downsize...this shower doesn't have a seat. The one in our guest suite does have small seats as well as bars.

https://ev9via.bn.files.1drv.com/y4m7DrMgCxoqw3q7FDRMNXRBobnAUnRSKidnW7mctIBGFP9XXt 3PhPJih8USi_yMh39VsU1C6mQFnB_1hf3USWOSRqPnm2h3lC_R 7e0ddem4umjx-_nEqQ9XrbLphHOwAot_AvLJ0ObiNdEUHOLe22x5XfVd7pHzW0z Va3uYTv3Uz_aFieFOR0UVfT--fAnlr3-q2pP33OX6Yxtnv2HYwDXGg?width=495&height=660&cropmode=none

[Tom M King]

In a house we're getting ready to rent, I turned the green fiberglass bathtub into the Handicap Accessible shower for less than the cost of the plastic wrap. Sorry, I didn't take a picture of the finished shower. We have two more to do, but we'll rent it through this season like it is, and I'll do the others next Winter.

The tile is just cheap tile from Lowes, but seems to be okay.

Block wall was torn into to put a 36" door where a 26" one was. It was some other type of building before it was converted into a house.

[Brian Elfert]

One of the things I absolutely didn't want in a shower was a bench or seat. It makes small showers even smaller. If you have a really large shower then a seat makes sense.

[Jim Becker]

One of the things I absolutely didn't want in a shower was a bench or seat. It makes small showers even smaller. If you have a really large shower then a seat makes sense.

I generally agree with you when the shower is small. A shower that replaces a standard tub, however, should be large enough to accomodate a small bench at one end which is good for older folks who have to sit occasionally or for folks who spend time in the shower removing body hair.

[Doug Dawson]

I generally agree with you when the shower is small. A shower that replaces a standard tub, however, should be large enough to accomodate a small bench at one end which is good for older folks who have to sit occasionally or for folks who spend time in the shower removing body hair.

Like shaving legs, etc. If anyone is into that sort of thing.

[Derek Meyer]

When I built my house in 2003, the plans in the master bath called for a 4 x 4 shower and a garden tub with jets and heater. I stole some space from the master closet to make the shower 4x5, which really helped. Now, if I had to do it again, I'd ax the tub and make a bigger shower, and a separate room for the toilet. I think I've used the tub less than 10 times in 17 years. That wasn't a great investment.

If my shower was bigger, say 4 x 8 or 5 x 8, I'd love to have a bench. Not so much for sitting, but for putting my feet up on so I don't have to bend over so far to reach them. It's tough to bend over in only 4' of space without banging your head on the wall or backing into the shower valve.

Good thing there is always the option to remodel, especially since I don't plan on selling the house anytime soon.

Derek

[Tom M King]

Today, I remembered to take some pictures of the finished shower, that I mentioned earlier in this thread. I don't know what I have in it, but I'm sure it's less than a grand, and probably 4 half days work. One of the larger expenses was around $150 worth of the little Dremel diamond wheels for cutting the old tile where the new tile would meet it. I didn't want to make a mess in the house, since there is still furniture in there that we are leaving for the rentals. A ShopVac can catch the dust from the Dremel.

I didn't take pains to do a perfect transition from the old tile, to the new, around the top like I would have done if it was going to be a house for sale. Plinth block at the new jamb is because I broke the tile there that I would have cut beside the casing, and no replacements.

This will still be good decades after a plastic wrapped one.

[Jim Becker]

You did a very nice job on that Tom.

[Tom M King]

Thanks, but it's pretty basic, and Far from my best work. I did every part in building new houses with my own hands, for a living, for 33 years, so I had all the tools already. Working just for myself for that time, I learned not to waste much time. It's mostly all just cheap Lowes materials.