How to Take Out a Tub When Installing a Shower

Remove the faucet and other bathtub components first.

Removing a bathtub from your bathroom to make room for a shower involves removing all of the tub’s components before you can finally lift the tub out of its spot. The tub is anchored to the drainpipes and oftentimes has screws or nails holding the top edge of the tub to the wall studs under the drywall or tub surround. You must also remove the tub’s faucet since it would sit in the way when you lift the tub out of its spot.

Things You'll Need

• Phillips screwdriver
• Drain key
• Adjustable wrench
• Pipe wrench
• Allen wrench
• Utility knife
• Hammer
• Tarp
• Sledge hammer
• Work gloves
• Pry bar

Instructions

1. Turn off the water in your house by closing the main water valve. Turn on a faucet at a level of the house that sits lower than the tub, to drain the leftover water out of the pipes.

2. Remove the screws holding the tub’s overflow drain cover in place and pull the cover, as well as any attached stopper linkage, away from the drain opening. Pull out the stopper in the tub’s main drain and twist the drain body counterclockwise using a drain key and a wrench, removing the drain body from the pipe opening below the tub.

3. Undo the drainpipe connections through the access panel on the wall directly behind the tub’s faucet. Pull the drainpipes out from under the tub using the access panel opening. Remove the tub’s spout either by undoing the screw on the underside of the spout and sliding it off, or by twisting the spout counterclockwise with a pipe wrench until it unthreads from the water pipe.

4. Remove the screws holding the faucet handles in place, using either an Allen wrench or a Phillips screwdriver. Pull the handles off the faucet and use a wrench to unscrew the nuts or metal sleeves off the faucet. Pull out the valve cartridges from the water pipes.

5. Cut through the caulk where the tub touches the bathroom floor, walls or the tub’s surround. Cut through the drywall at least 6 inches above the old tub and remove that section of drywall. If the tub has a surround, cut through the drywall about 1 inch above the top of the surround and away from the surround’s sides, and then remove the drywall and surround.

6. Remove any screws or nails that are holding the top of the tub to the wall studs. If the tub is made of cast iron, porcelain or another material that makes it too heavy to lift out, throw a tarp over the tub and break it apart with a sledge hammer. Put on heavy work gloves and remove the pieces of the tub.

7. Lift the tub out in one piece if it is made of acrylic, fiberglass or another lightweight material. Insert a pry bar under the lower end of the tub. Pull up on the higher end of the tub and lift the other end up with the pry bar before lifting the tub up and away from the wall.

References

• The Home Depot: Removing an Old Tub or Shower
• The Family Handyman: Install an Acrylic Tub and Tub Surround