Tub and shower · same spot or a new layout
Bathtub and shower installation in Aurora
Replacing a tub or shower in the same place is a different job from moving the drain. The first is often a fixture and valve swap. The second opens the floor or the wall and can become a permitted remodel.
Stay in place, or move the plumbing
If the new tub or shower base sits on the same drain and the valve stays in the same bay, the work is access, a new valve, a watertight pan or base, and the finishes around it. Ask whether the existing drain arm is sound and whether the valve can be reached later through a panel. A valve buried behind tile with no access is a future wall opening.
Moving the drain, adding a second shower head that needs a larger pipe, or turning a tub into a curbless shower changes slope, the trap, and sometimes the joists. That is remodel plumbing, not a one-day swap. In Aurora, opening walls and changing drains is the kind of work the inspections page treats as permitted construction, with the permit card on site. Englewood's building page lists a change to a bath or shower valve, and a change to drains, among work that needs a permit. Do not assume a showroom quote includes that permit.
What the quote should separate
Fixture and valve. Drain work, if any. Wall and waterproofing, which may be a tile trade rather than the plumber. Who pulls the permit, and in which city. Haul-away. What is excluded if the subfloor is rotten once the old tub comes out. A single price that hides a rotten floor becomes a fight on demolition day.
A leak at the valve that has not soaked the ceiling can stay a fixture repair. Water under the floor, or a slow drain that also affects the sink, is not a new tub by itself. Check the drain before you buy the surround. Sewage from the lowest shower is a service line question in Aurora, where you maintain the line to the tap.
Questions to settle first
Is a new tub the same permit as a new layout?
Not always. A same-location replacement can still need a permit when the valve or the drain changes. Moving the drain or opening the structure is remodel work. Ask the building department for the address which of those this drawing is. Aurora, Englewood, and Centennial do not share one counter.
Who waterproofs the shower?
Say it in the quote. Some plumbers set the valve and the drain and leave the pan and tile to someone else. If nobody owns the waterproofing, the leak shows up after the walls are closed. Ask who tests the pan and who comes back if it fails.
The quote includes a new valve. Is that enough?
Only if you can reach that valve later. Ask for an access panel or a valve that can be serviced from the front. Also ask whether the old drain arm stays. A pretty surround on a cracked arm is a leak under the floor.
Should I replace the tub because the shower drains slowly?
Not first. One slow shower can be hair in the trap. If other fixtures are slow, or sewage comes back, stop and look at the building drain or the Aurora service line. A new tub does not repair a broken lateral.
