Category: Bathroom Safety

Most people who search for the cost to replace a bathtub are not unhappy with the tub. They are unhappy with climbing over it. The tub still holds water and the tile is fine, but a hip, a knee or a parent who now lives with them has turned the tub wall into a daily risk. This post lays out what a replacement really costs in Ontario, when it is the right call, and when a bathtub cutout fixes the actual problem for a fraction of the money and a few hours of your day.

What replacing a bathtub costs in Ontario

A bathtub replacement is a small renovation, not a swap. The tub is the cheapest part. These are the ranges homeowners in the Toronto area are typically quoted in 2026, and they add up faster than the first number suggests.

• The tub. A standard 60 inch alcove tub in steel or acrylic runs a few hundred to about 1,500 dollars. A soaker or a cast iron tub is more.
• Removing the old one. The old tub has to come out through the bathroom door, which often means cutting it up, and the surround comes with it. Expect 500 to 1,500 dollars for demolition and disposal.
• Plumbing. The drain and overflow rarely line up with the new tub. A plumber to reset them, and sometimes move the trap, is 800 to 2,500 dollars.
• The walls. Whatever surrounds the tub comes off with it. A new tile surround is 2,000 to 5,000 dollars installed; an acrylic surround is less, but it still needs the wall behind it made good.
• The rest. Fixtures, a new faucet set, the floor where the old tub sat, paint, and in a condo the building’s permit and insurance paperwork.

All in, a straightforward replacement in Ontario lands between 4,000 and 9,000 dollars, and a tile job with any surprise behind the wall goes past 10,000. If the goal was a safer entry and the answer becomes a walk-in tub, the installed price is usually 10,000 to 15,000 dollars, which we cover in bathtub cutout versus walk-in tub.

Then there is the time. A replacement takes three to ten days with the bathroom out of use, and in a condo it needs building approval before anyone starts. That matters more to a household with one bathroom and someone who cannot wait.

When replacing the tub is the right call

Sometimes it is. Replace the tub when:

• it is cracked, rusted through or leaking into the ceiling below
• the surround is failing and the wall behind it is wet
• you want a different size, shape or position for the tub
• you are renovating the whole bathroom anyway

In those cases the cutout is not the answer, and we will tell you so when we see your photos.

When the problem is the wall, not the tub

If the tub is sound and the only trouble is getting in and out, replacing it buys nothing a cutout does not. A bathtub cutout removes a section of the tub wall at the entry end, a few inches high instead of the full height, and finishes it with a moulded insert that matches the tub. You step in the way you would step into a walk-in shower. The tub, the tile, the plumbing and the floor stay exactly where they are.

The part people do not expect is the door cap. It latches over the opening and seals, so the tub still fills for a bath, and it lifts off when someone wants a shower. One tub, both uses, and the cutout itself is reversible with the cap in place.

What it takes:

• One visit, about three hours. Our installer arrives, cuts, fits the insert and the cap, cleans up and leaves. You can use the shower the same evening.
• No demolition. No tile comes off, no plumber, no disposal bin in the driveway, no building permit.
• Any tub we can see in a photo. Steel, fibreglass and acrylic tubs, one-piece tub and shower units and deck-mounted soakers can all be cut.
• A five-year parts and labour warranty, with a lifetime seal guarantee on the door cap.

The price is given on the phone from two or three photos of your tub, before anyone comes out, and it is a fraction of a replacement. For a handy homeowner there is also the DIY cutout kit, the same Canadian-made insert our installers use, starting at $299 for pickup in Ontario.

Replacement, liner or cutout, side by side

An acrylic liner deserves a mention because it is often sold to the same homeowner. It makes an old tub look new, but it leaves the wall at full height, so it does nothing for the person who cannot lift a leg over it. If the step is the problem, the liner is money spent on the wrong thing.

Common questions

Can I replace the tub later if I have a cutout now? Yes. A cutout changes nothing about the plumbing or the walls, so a future renovation starts from the same place it would have.

Does a cutout lower the value of the home? With the door cap fitted the tub still functions as a tub. Buyers who want a soaker get one; buyers who want a walk-in shower get that too. We have never had a customer report it as an issue at sale.

My tub is in a condo. Which option avoids the building office? The cutout. No plumbing, no demolition, no noise beyond a couple of hours of cutting, so most buildings treat it like any other service visit. We work weekdays in buildings.

What if the tub really is damaged? Send the photos anyway. If the tub needs replacing we say so, and a cutout can still be part of the new tub once it is in.

How do I get a number? Text two or three photos of your tub to 289-809-5379 or send them through the contact page, and we call you back with the price.

The short version

Replacing a tub in Ontario costs thousands and a week of your bathroom, and it only solves the entry problem if the replacement is a walk-in tub at twice the price again. If the tub is sound, a cutout gives the same safe entry in an afternoon, keeps the bath with the door cap, and costs a fraction. See how a cutout compares with every other option, or call 289-809-5379 for your free quote.

Ready to talk about a walk-in bathtub cutout conversion for your bathroom? I’d be happy to help. No pressure, no obligation.

Call or text: 905-436-5965
Website: BathCutter.ca

Yours in safety,
Robby & the Trenworks Team

By Robby Raay, Trenworks Tub Cutouts

If you have decided that a step cutout is the right way to make the tub safe, the next question is who should do it. In Ontario you have more choices than most people realise: a specialist installer, a do-it-yourself kit, a kit maker’s network of independent installers, a handyman, or a company that would rather sell you a new tub or a new bathroom. This page lays them out side by side. We are one of the options, so we have put ourselves first and said why, but every line about another company comes from that company’s own website, and we have kept our opinions out of their rows.

At a glance

1. Trenworks professional install

We have been in business since 2004 and have specialised in bathroom safety since 2012, with thousands of bathtub cutouts and grab bar installations behind us across Ontario. Here is what you get when our technician does the job:

• A Canadian-made step cutout with reinforcement built into the tub wall around the opening. That reinforcement is why the installation lasts and never needs upgrading. The opening is 24 inches wide and the step in is about five to six inches from the bathroom floor.
• The patented removable door cap, if you want to keep bathing. It snaps on in about two seconds, seals the opening so the tub fills, and its waterproof seal is guaranteed for life. Read more in Can I still take a bath after a bathtub cutout?
• One visit, three to four hours. You can shower 24 hours later and use the door cap for a bath after 48 hours.
• Five years parts and labour on the installed cutout and on any stainless grab bar we install the same day.
• A free grab bar or a free anti-slip treatment comes with every professional cutout installation, your choice.
• Acrylic, fibreglass and steel-enamelled tubs are all done at the quoted price. Cast iron is assessed case by case, and we do not cut a cast iron tub that has an acrylic liner over it.
• Insured, with full liability and WSIB coverage. Three offices in Oshawa, Toronto and Etobicoke, and we install anywhere in Ontario. Since October 2026 we also install in Alberta between Lethbridge and Edmonton.
• We routinely replace other installers’ cutouts. Customers of other companies call us to fix, and usually to replace, cutouts that were fitted without proper reinforcement and that leak or cannot take a door cap. None of ours has ever had to be replaced, which is what the reinforcement and the five-year warranty are for.

We price from your photos, so there is no sales visit. See the bathtub cut out service page or call 905-436-5965.

2. The Trenworks DIY kit

Our tub to shower conversion kits are the same idea for people who are handy and want to do the work themselves. They start at $299 and go up to over $1,000 depending on the tub’s size, style and the features you choose. The box holds the cutout insert, the cutting template, the adhesive and the instructions. You pick it up from us, cut the tub with your own tools and fit the insert. Two honest limits: the reinforcement our technicians build into the tub wall is part of the professional install, not the kit, and there is no warranty on do-it-yourself work. We wrote a fuller comparison in professional installation vs. DIY bathtub cutouts.

3. Other cutout installers in Ontario

These companies cut existing tubs too. The notes come from their own websites as of October 2026.

• Bath Access Ontario (Toronto) offers step-in, deep step-in, ultra-low and convertible cutouts, says an installation “installs in just 2-3 hours” on steel, cast iron or acrylic tubs, and states a one-year warranty. It is a division of Dr. Tubs Reglazing.
• Bathway (in business since 2006, head office in Ontario, service listed in six provinces) cuts “a section out of the wall of your existing bathtub” and fits a threshold, and says the work takes “just over an hour”. No warranty is stated on its home page.
• Tub Gurus (GTA, with about 69 towns listed) offers “Handicap Walk in Tub Cut Out” and “Walk in Tub Conversion” alongside grab bars, raised toilets, ramps and walk-in tubs. No warranty or installation time is stated on its home page.
• GRAB-IT Bathrooms (Burlington, Oakville, Hamilton and “all of southern Ontario”) does cutouts with removable door caps, grab bars and comfort-height toilets, as a division of Safe Bathing Canada.

What to ask any installer, us included: what is cut into the wall of the tub to carry the new edge, what seals the cut, how long the warranty runs and whether it covers labour, and whether a door cap can be added later.

4. A kit maker with independent installers

Imperial Bathrooms sells the CleanCut kit in four versions (Step, Deep Step, Ultra-Low and Convertible, the last with a removable insert), ships it across Canada and refers you to “100+ independent installers” for the fitting, which it says takes “a few hours”. The quality of the finished job then depends on the local installer you are matched with rather than on the kit maker, so ask that installer the same questions as above.

5. A handyman or general contractor

A good handyman can cut a tub. The difference is in what goes on behind the cut: a general trade usually fits whatever kit is at hand without reinforcing the tub wall, and the seal is only as good as the product they chose. If you go this route, ask for the kit brand, the sealing method and the warranty terms before the saw comes out. Most of the leaky, unreinforced cutouts we are called to replace were fitted this way, and few of them can take a door cap afterwards.

6. A walk-in tub company

A walk-in tub is a different product: the old tub comes out, a new tub with a door goes in, and the plumbing and often the electrical are redone. It fills and drains with you sitting inside it. We compared the two honestly in bathtub cutout vs. walk-in tub. For a soak, many of our customers use a cutout with the door cap and a bath lift together.

7. A full tub-to-shower remodel

Removing the tub and building a tiled shower is a renovation: several days to two weeks, a plumber, waterproofing and tile. It is the right answer for some bathrooms. If the reason is safety rather than style, see the best alternative to a tub-to-shower conversion and our tub to shower conversion page, which gets the same walk-in shower result in an afternoon.

Common questions

Which option keeps the tub? Every cutout option does, ours included. A walk-in tub or a remodel replaces it.

Can I still have a bath afterwards? With our removable door cap, yes, after 48 hours. Imperial’s Convertible kit and Bath Access’s convertible option offer an insert as well; ask each company how its insert seals.

How do I compare warranties? Ask three things: how many years, whether labour is covered, and what happens to the seal. Ours is five years parts and labour on the cutout, with the door cap seal guaranteed for life.

What does Trenworks charge? We price every job from your photos and tell you on the phone. Text your tub photos to 365-654-9174 or call 905-436-5965.