A tub-to-shower conversion in Prairie Village is a plumbing job on sixty-to-seventy-five-year-old plumbing, and the city's permit model means the plumbing permit is its own record pulled by the licensed plumbing contractor rather than a line on a general building permit. Nothing about the conversion changes the footprint or the front elevation, so the Neighborhood Design Standards review and its 200-foot certified-mail notice do not apply, and neither does the tree and construction-fence package the city attaches to additions of 600 square feet or more. What does apply is the reality of the assembly: a 1950s alcove, a cast iron drain, and a subfloor that has been under a tub for seven decades. Everything is filed on the OpenGov portal.
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 Prairie Village homes
- A plumbing permit that is its own record, pulled by the licensed trade contractor rather than rolled into a general permit.
- A drain layout built around the one bathroom the house was originally platted with.
- Fixture relocation far enough to extend the sanitary drain, waste and vent, which raises the backwater valve question on 1950s mains.
- A scope that reaches neither design review nor the site-fence and sign package, so the calendar is set by the trade rather than by a board.
Working in Prairie Village, KS
Prairie Village was platted and built out largely by the J.C. Nichols Company from the mid-1940s, and it has some of the oldest housing in Johnson County. The ACS median year built is 1959. Of 10,303 units, 4,759 went up between 1950 and 1959, another 1,718 in the 1960s and 1,055 in the 1940s, while only 124 have been built since 2020. The dominant form is the one-unit detached house at 8,696 units, and 7,523 of 10,054 occupied units are owner-occupied. That produces a city of modest mid-century ranches and Cape Cods on generous lots, where the common work is additions, pop-tops, basement finishes and gut remodels on systems that are sixty to seventy-five years old. Permits are issued by the Community Development Department's Building Codes Division at 7710 Mission Road and filed on the city's OpenGov portal. MrImproveIt carries the Johnson County Class C residential contractor licence Prairie Village requires. The city also requires its own contractor licence, $75 for a twelve-month term, which doubles as the city business licence.
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 Prairie Village
A conversion here is priced around two unknowns and one certainty. The certainty is the permit model: the plumbing permit is its own record pulled by the licensed plumbing contractor, which is coordination rather than cost. The first unknown is the cast iron drain, because transitioning to modern material is a different job from re-routing modern material. The second is the subfloor at the outside corner after seven decades under a tub. Both are quoted as their own lines so the number moves by a known amount rather than by negotiation. Nothing here triggers the city's design review or its construction-fence and site-sign package.
Permits and inspections for this work in Prairie Village
The conversion is filed on the OpenGov portal, and the plumbing permit is its own record pulled by the licensed plumbing contractor rather than a line on a general building permit. Review runs against the 2018 IRC adopted by Ordinance No. 2435, effective June 1, 2021, with amendments in PVMC Chapter 4, and the 2017 NEC under PVMC 4-701 for any circuit that moves. Because nothing about the scope adds footprint or changes the front elevation, the Neighborhood Design Standards review and its 200-foot certified-mail notice do not apply. We confirm current requirements with the division on every job.
Common questions about this work
Is a tub to shower conversion a permit job in Prairie Village?
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 Prairie Village homeowners
Who pulls the permit for a conversion here?
The licensed plumbing contractor pulls the plumbing permit on its own record. Prairie Village does not roll the trades into a general building permit the way several neighbouring cities do, so the permittee on the plumbing record is the plumbing contractor by name.
Does a conversion trigger the construction fence and site sign?
No. Those attach to a residential addition of 600 square feet or more, or a demolition removing 10 percent or more of the structure, under the city's 2021 tree protection ordinance and construction site rules. A fixture conversion is neither.
What makes a 1950s conversion different from a newer one?
Cast iron. Transitioning cast iron drain to modern material is a different job from re-routing modern material, and it sits under a subfloor that has had a tub on it for seven decades. Both are quoted as their own lines.
Call (913) 395-8571 or request a written estimate before any work starts.