Replacing a bathtub with a shower tray costs between 800 and 3,500 € in 2026, according to Acierto's price guide. With a standard tray, a simple shower screen and only the strip of tiles redone, the basic job comes to 800-1,200 €; with new tiling across the whole shower area, it goes over 2,000 €.
The interesting part is understanding why the same job can cost twice as much in the flat next door.
Octo Service is a repair service for Valencia and l'Horta: you write to us, we agree a fixed price before work starts, and the job is done by an independent professional who works with us. We see a lot of bathroom quotes, ours and other people's, and with this swap the pattern repeats itself: people ask about the tray and the screen, and the money goes on the tiling and on whatever turns up behind the bath.
All the figures below are market prices, with their source linked. They are not our rates.
How much does it cost to replace a bath with a shower in 2026?
It depends on how far the job goes. We've grouped the published ranges into three levels, because in practice almost every quote falls into one of them.
| Level of work | What it includes | 2026 market range |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Remove the bath, standard tray in the same space, drain left where it is, redo the strip of tiles, simple shower screen | 800-1,200 € |
| Mid-range | All of the above with an ultra-slim resin tray, tempered glass screen and new taps | 1,200-2,000 € |
| Full | New tiling across the whole shower area, thermostatic or built-in taps, made-to-measure screen | 2,000-3,500 € or more |
| Just swapping an old tray for a new one | No bath involved | 350-700 € |
| In Valencia city, on top | Planning fee for the works declaration + 4% construction tax (ICIO) | 140.90 € + 4% of the works budget |
Source: the first three levels come from cross-checking Acierto's overall range (800-3,500 €) against the scale from Solomamparas, which puts basic solutions at 900-1,200 €, full ones at 1,200-2,000 € and premium finishes above 2,000 €. The row for swapping one tray for another is from Acierto. The Valencia row is from the City Council, and we explain it further down.
Why such a wide range? Because “take out the bath and put in a shower” is really five different jobs: removal, plumbing, tray, tiling and screen. Each has its own spread of prices, and all five add up. If you also change the sanitaryware, the floor and all the tiles, it's no longer a shower swap but a full renovation: that's covered in how much a bathroom renovation costs.
Item by item: what you are paying for
This is how a healthy quote for this swap breaks down. If you're given a single figure with no breakdown, ask for one: it's the only way to compare two quotes.
| Item | Published reference | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Removing an acrylic bath with its taps, by hand | 77.45 € | CYPE, removal of sanitaryware |
| Bedding the tray on a brick and mortar base | 69.25 € | CYPE, bedding a shower tray |
| 80 × 80 cm resin tray fitted, with waste valve and trap | 500.77 € | CYPE, resin shower tray |
| Tray only, in a shop | porcelain from 50 €, resin from 120 €, artificial stone from 260 € | Acierto |
| Shower screen | 200-1,000 € or more: acrylic from 200 €, tempered glass from 400 € | Acierto |
| Wall tiling with basic tiles, laid | 34.85 €/m² | CYPE, tile cladding |
| Taps | basic mixer from 20 €, hydromassage shower columns up to 900 € | Acierto |
A word about CYPE. It's the construction price database architects and building surveyors use to price work, and its figures are execution prices, designed for work at volume. In a single-bathroom renovation the labour usually comes out dearer than in its table, because the professional travels, protects the flat and carries the rubble down the stairs for one job only. Use it as a floor, not as the final price.
What varies most is the tray. A 70 × 100 cm porcelain tray doesn't cost the same as an ultra-slim resin one cut to fit the space. Acierto gives a very clear example: the same artificial stone and resin model costs 112 € at 70 × 100 cm and about 170 € at 90 × 100 cm.
The shower screen is the second item that gets out of hand. A front screen with one fixed panel and one sliding panel, in a standard size, sits at the low end. As soon as the space is irregular and it has to be made to measure, the price goes up, and waiting for it to be made can hold up the job more than the building work itself. Types, glass and what you pay to have it fitted, on top of the screen itself, are in how much it costs to install a shower screen.
Can it be done in a day?
Sometimes, yes. Half the job, at least.
If the new tray fits in the space left by the bath and the drain stays where it is, a professional can take out the bath, bed the tray and connect it in one working day. Industry guides talk about timings from one working day up to a week, and three things make the difference:
- The tiling. If tiles have to be chipped off and laid again, the mortar and grout need their time. Then it's no longer one day.
- The drain. An ultra-slim tray leaves little height for the trap. If the bath's drain is far away or too high, pipework has to be moved or the floor lifted.
- The made-to-measure screen. If it isn't a standard size, it's measured on the day of the job and made afterwards. During those days the shower works, but it splashes.
If someone promises you “bath to shower in a day” with full tiling included, ask exactly what they're going to do with the tiles.
Tiling: where the bill shoots up
When the bath comes out, it leaves a strip of wall with no tiles: the height of the bath panel plus whatever was behind it. And on the floor, a gap that isn't always tiled.
If your tile is still made or you have spare pieces stored away, the strip gets patched and that's it. That's the basic level in the table.
If not, which is normal in a flat from the 70s to the 90s, there are three ways out:
- Use a deliberately contrasting tile only in the shower area, as if it were a decorative panel. It's the cheap option, and it looks good if it's done on purpose.
- Tile the whole shower wall, floor to ceiling. Using the CYPE reference, about 35 €/m² with basic tiles laid, which in a real bathroom goes higher as soon as you choose large-format tiles or the old ones have to be chipped off. The breakdown per metre, including what removing the old tiles adds, is in how much it costs to tile a bathroom.
- Cover with panels in PVC or resin over the existing tiles. No chipping, quicker, and a different look.
The second problem is what turns up behind the bath. In bathrooms thirty or forty years old it's not unusual to find old pipework, a wall that crumbles when you chip at it, or a drain that isn't where it should be. None of that shows up in any photo before work starts. The reasonable thing is that, if it appears, you're given a new proposal in writing and you decide whether it goes ahead. If the quote doesn't say what happens in that case, ask.
VAT: the 10% rate has small print
A bathroom renovation in a home can carry 10% VAT (IVA) instead of 21%. Eleven points on a 2,000 € job is 220 €, so it's worth understanding the condition.
Under article 91 of the VAT Act (Ley del IVA) and the Agencia Tributaria's FAQ, 10% applies to renovation and repair work when:
- the person commissioning it is a private individual who uses the home themselves, not a company;
- the home was finished being built or renovated at least two years earlier;
- the materials supplied by whoever does the work don't exceed 40% of the taxable base.
The third condition is the one that breaks on this kind of job. A resin tray, a glass screen and the tiles can outweigh the labour. If materials go over 40%, the whole invoice goes to 21%, not just the part above the limit.
The legal way round it is simple: you buy the tray, the screen or the taps yourself, and the professional invoices only for their labour and minor materials. That way the materials they supply stay under 40%.
Do you need a permit? Valencia city and l'Horta
In Valencia city, a bathroom renovation that doesn't touch the building's structure is processed with a works declaration (declaración responsable de obras), not a licence. It's filed through the City Council's online portal before work starts, and with it you pay two things:
| Item | Amount in Valencia city |
|---|---|
| Planning fee (tasa urbanística), work up to 6,010.12 € | 140.90 € |
| Planning fee, from 6,010.13 to 30,050.61 € | 253.54 € |
| ICIO | 4% of the material execution budget (presupuesto de ejecución material) |
Source: the works declaration procedure page on the València City Council online portal.
For a job with a material execution cost of 1,500 €, that's 140.90 € in fees plus 60 € of ICIO. It's not much, but it's worth including in your sums from the start, and worth knowing who files it: you, or whoever does the work.
In Torrent, Paterna, Mislata or any other l'Horta municipality the procedure is similar, but each town hall sets the fee and the ICIO rate in its tax bylaws (ordenanzas fiscales). Check your own town's before taking the Valencia figures as given.
Grants: the Renhata plan
The Generalitat (the regional government) has a line of subsidies for renovating bathrooms and kitchens inside homes, the Renhata plan. The conditions of the latest call are in the resolution published in the DOGV on 11 November 2025:
- the building has to be more than 20 years old, unless the work is to adapt the home for a person with a disability above 33% or someone over 60;
- the home is your main residence, and you prove it by being registered on the local census (empadronamiento);
- the eligible budget ranges from 2,000 to 12,000 €;
- the basic grant is 5% up to a maximum of 600 €, and depending on the score an additional 25 to 35% can be added, up to 4,200 €;
- the application is handled by a renovation manager or agent registered for the call.
The 2025 deadline was two months from publication, so it closed in January 2026. If your renovation is over 2,000 € and the building is more than 20 years old, keep an eye on the plan's page on the Generalitat website before you start: the rules set a minimum start date for the work in each call.
In Valencia, limescale counts too
A local detail you won't find in national guides. Valencia's water is hard, and the shower is where you notice it most: the screen gets covered in white spots and the tap cartridges seize up. You can check the hardness in your area in the water quality section of Global Omnium.
In practice, two decisions change because of this. Glass with an anti-limescale treatment and a simple frame is much easier to clean than a screen full of nooks and crannies. And taps with an easy-to-change cartridge save you a call-out a few years down the line.
Three questions before you accept a quote
- What happens with the strip of tiles? If the quote doesn't say, it isn't included.
- Who takes away the bath and the rubble? A cast-iron bath is very heavy and sometimes has to be broken up inside the bathroom. The skip or the trip to the recycling centre (punto limpio) has a cost.
- What happens if something turns up when it's opened? The good answer is “I'll send you a new proposal in writing and you decide”. The bad one is “we'll see”.
A fixed price before anyone picks up a chisel
If you're in Valencia or l'Horta, send us three photos: the bath from the front, the drain and the wall where the shower will go, with rough measurements. We come back with a fixed price, usually in less than 2 hours, with what's included and what isn't. For the tiling, see also the tiling in Valencia page, and for the drain and taps, the plumber in Valencia page. If you're using the job to change the floor in the hallway or the bedrooms as well, prices per metre are in how much it costs to lay laminate flooring.
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