Most Overland Park tub-to-shower conversions are removing a builder-installed fiberglass tub-shower unit rather than a cast iron tub in a tiled alcove, and that changes the job in both directions. The unit comes out faster and lighter, but it was set against bare studs before the drywall went up, so the alcove behind it has no finished surface and the framing is sized to the old unit rather than to the new pan. Overland Park reviews this work against the 2024 IRC, a newer edition than most neighboring cities are on, which is the edition that governs the shower compartment dimensions, the valve and the waterproofing method. The plumbing here is normally copper and normally fine, so the honest variables are the alcove framing and whether the drain sits where the new pan wants it.
What the work covers
- Removing the tub and the surround, which usually means opening the wet wall
- Re-piping the drain, including relocating and resizing the trap for a shower
- Building the pan, either a pre-formed base or a sloped mortar bed with a bonded membrane
- Waterproofing the curb, the corners and the wall planes as one continuous system
- Blocking for a bench, a niche, grab bars and the glass
What we find in Overland Park homes
- A fiberglass tub-shower unit installed against bare studs, leaving an unfinished alcove once it is removed.
- Framing sized to the old unit rather than to a new pan, which usually means a furred or rebuilt curb wall.
- A drain set for a tub waste and overflow, sitting where a shower pan does not want it.
- Valve and compartment requirements reviewed against the 2024 IRC, a newer edition than the neighboring cities enforce.
Working in Overland Park, KS
Overland Park is the largest city in Johnson County and the housing stock is what shapes almost every bid here. There are roughly 87,300 units with a median year built of 1989, the 1990s and 1980s are the two biggest cohorts at about eighteen thousand and sixteen thousand units, and another twenty thousand went up across the 1960s and 1970s. Only about 2.8 percent predates 1950. The practical consequence is that Overland Park work is postwar suburban retrofit rather than prewar restoration, and the surprises come from builder-grade assemblies reaching the end of a service life, not from balloon framing or knob-and-tube.
Permits come from the Planning and Development Services Department, Building Codes Division, filed electronically through ePLACE against the city's published drawing standards. Overland Park sits on a newer code cycle than most of its neighbors: OPMC 16.310.100 adopts the 2024 International Residential Code for remodels, additions and alterations, with the 2018 IRC kept alive in parallel at Chapter 16.110 as an alternative for certain small new houses, alongside the 2023 National Electrical Code. Licensing is county-level here rather than city-level, and MrImproveIt carries the Johnson County Class C residential license the city checks before a permit issues. Overland Park does not add its own occupational business license. Neighborhoods we get called into include Moody Hills, Southdale, Westbrooke South, Arrowhead Acres, Indian Heights Estates and Quail Ridge.
How this job goes wrong
- A shower run on the old tub drain and trap, which drains slowly and is not compliant
- A pan sloped the wrong way, or a membrane that stops short of the curb
- A curbless entry attempted without lowering the framing, so the slope has nowhere to go
Planning range
$9,000 to $26,000. A solid-surface base in the existing footprint with a standard framed door sits near the bottom. A tiled curbless pan with frameless glass and an accessibility package sits at the top. Plan on one to three weeks of active work.
What moves the price on a tub to shower conversion in Overland Park
An Overland Park conversion prices around three questions. Does the drain move, which is the difference between opening the floor and not. Does the alcove need reframing, which it often does because the original fiberglass unit set the dimensions and a new pan rarely matches them. And what is the wall finish, where tile is a labor number and a solid-surface or acrylic system is a material number with a shorter schedule. Overland Park does not exempt plumbing work from permit the way it exempts re-roofing or in-kind window replacement, so a conversion that relocates a drain is permitted work reviewed against the 2024 IRC.
Permits and inspections for this work in Overland Park
A tub-to-shower conversion is permitted work in Overland Park whenever it alters plumbing, and it is filed through ePLACE like any other residential alteration. The city's exception list covers exterior items such as re-roofing, siding and in-kind window replacement; it does not cover interior plumbing alterations. Review is against the 2024 IRC, which is a newer edition than most of Johnson County is enforcing, and that edition governs the shower compartment size, the valve type and the waterproofing. The Johnson County contractor license must be active and the permittee named in the county system before the city issues. We verify the current submittal standard with the division rather than assuming last quarter's checklist still applies.
Common questions about this work
Is a tub to shower conversion a permit job in Overland Park?
It changes the drain and usually the valve, so it generally is. Permit requirements are confirmed with the local building department before work starts.
Should I keep one tub in the house?
Worth considering at resale, particularly if this is the only one. If another full bath has a tub, the concern mostly goes away.
Can the shower be curbless?
Sometimes, and the answer depends on the floor framing below. It has to be decided before demolition, because it is a framing change rather than a finish change.
Tub to Shower Conversion questions from Overland Park homeowners
Is a tub-to-shower conversion exempt from permit in Overland Park?
No. The city's residential exception list covers exterior items like re-roofing, siding repair and in-kind window replacement. Interior plumbing alterations are not on it, so a conversion is permitted work filed through ePLACE and reviewed against the 2024 IRC.
Does the drain have to move?
Sometimes. The original fiberglass unit used a tub waste and overflow, and a shower pan wants its drain in a different place. If the new pan can be selected around the existing drain, the floor stays closed and the job gets shorter and cheaper. That is the first thing we check on site, because it decides the rest of the number.
Why does the alcove need framing work if the old unit fit?
Because the old unit set the dimensions and the drywall was hung to it. Once it comes out there is no finished surface behind it and the framing is sized to a product that is no longer there. A new pan and wall system rarely land on the same lines, so a furred or rebuilt curb wall is common here rather than exceptional.
Call (913) 395-8571 or request a written estimate before any work starts.