What Walk-In Shower Remodeling in Iona Actually Takes and What You’ll Spend
A walk-in shower remodel in Iona typically replaces an old tub or cramped stall with a curbless, tiled shower that you step straight into - no tub lip to climb over. Most jobs here take between five and ten working days once we open the walls, and the full project, from first measurement to final grout seal, usually spans two to four weeks. The price range we see across Iona for a complete walk-in shower remodel lands between $9,000 and $28,000, with the most common mid-range jobs settling around $14,000-$18,000. Call (844) 638-7249 to talk through your space, and we’ll give you a line-item quote so you know exactly what goes into that number.
How We Build a Walk-In Shower - the Real Sequence
Most homeowners have never watched this job unfold, so knowing what happens each day makes the whole thing less abstract. Here is the process our crews follow on walk-in shower remodels in Iona, and roughly how long each stage runs.
Day 1-2: Demolition and Subfloor Exposure
We protect the path from your door to the bathroom with floor runners, then remove the existing tub or shower pan, wall surround, and any tile or drywall down to the studs. This is where we find what the original builder left behind - in Iona’s 1970s-1990s concrete-block homes, it is common to uncover water damage around the base plate from decades of slow weep-hole leaks at the shower pan. If the slab or subfloor shows rot or spalling, we stop and show you photos before we proceed, because a compromised base layer changes the price. Demolition usually takes a full day; exposing and assessing the substrate takes part of a second.
Day 2-4: Rough-In and Waterproofing
With the walls open, our plumber moves or upgrades the shower valve and drain location if your new layout requires it. In Iona, this is also the point where we check whether the existing vent stack is still code-compliant - Lee County inspectors want to see the vent before we close the wall. Once the plumbing is roughed in and pressure-tested, we hang cement backer board and apply a liquid-applied waterproofing membrane across the entire shower footprint, including the curb-to-floor transition. That membrane cures for 24 hours before tile work begins. This stage is the one that determines how long your shower actually lasts - skip a step here, and you get a tear-out in five years.
Day 4-7: Tile Installation
Your tile installer sets the shower floor first, sloping the mud bed toward the linear or center drain so water never pools. Wall tile goes up next, working bottom to top, with spacers keeping grout joints uniform. If you chose a niche, a bench, or a decorative accent band, those get framed and cut in during this window. Tile work is the longest single phase of a walk-in shower remodel in Iona - three to five days is typical, depending on tile size, pattern complexity, and whether we are tiling to the ceiling or stopping at a wainscot line.
Day 7-9: Grout, Glass, and Fixtures
Grout goes in after the tile adhesive has set for a full day. We use epoxy-based grout in shower floors as a standard - it resists the mildew that southwest Florida’s humidity constantly feeds - and cementitious grout on walls unless you choose otherwise. Once grout cures, we mount the showerhead, handheld sprayer, controls, and any grab bars or corner shelving. If your design includes frameless glass, the enclosure is measured earlier (right after tile is up) and fabricated off-site; it gets installed as the final step. In Iona, we order glass through local Fort Myers fabricators who can turn panels around in five to seven business days, so the timeline stays predictable.
Day 9-10: Final Inspection and Walkthrough
Lee County requires a final inspection on any shower remodel that involved plumbing rough-in - our project lead handles scheduling and meets the inspector on site. After the sign-off, we walk you through the finished shower, show you how the controls and any steam or digital features work, and go over care instructions for your specific tile and grout. The crew removes all debris, and your bathroom is left broom-clean and usable the same day.
The Choices That Shape Your Walk-In Shower - and What They Cost You
Every walk-in shower starts from the same functional blueprint, but the materials you pick and the configuration you go with drive where you land inside that $9,000-$28,000 range. Here are the decisions that move the number most.
- Curbless versus low-curb entry. A true curbless shower - floor flush with the bathroom tile, no step - looks clean and is easier to enter, but it often requires dropping the shower pan into the slab or building up the surrounding bathroom floor. That adds structural work and two to three extra days. A low-curb design (typically 2-3 inches) keeps the cost lower and works in most Iona slab-on-grade homes without modifying the concrete.
- Tile selection. Porcelain tile in standard 12×24 format keeps material costs predictable. Switching to a mosaic floor, a large-format 24×48 wall tile, or natural stone like marble or travertine raises both the material price and the labor hours, because cutting and setting those materials takes more time. Marble in a shower also requires annual sealing in Florida’s humidity - a maintenance reality worth knowing before you choose it.
- Shower glass configuration. A single fixed panel costs less than a full frameless enclosure with a hinged door. If your shower is over 60 inches wide, you are likely looking at a door-and-panel setup. Glass thickness (3/8-inch versus 1/2-inch) and any custom coatings that resist hard-water spotting both nudge the price up.
- Fixtures and valves. A standard pressure-balance valve with a single showerhead is the budget baseline. Adding a thermostatic valve, a rain head, a handheld sprayer on a slide bar, or body sprays means more rough-in plumbing and higher fixture cost. The valve itself is the one part you do not want to cheap out on - burying a low-grade valve behind a finished tile wall guarantees an expensive repair later.
- Built-in storage and seating. A tiled corner bench or a floating teak fold-down seat adds labor and material. Recessed niches are more affordable and nearly always worth doing - you want two, one at shampoo height and one lower for soap and razors.
What Walk-In Shower Remodeling Costs in Iona, FL
Walk-in shower remodels in Iona run from about $9,000 on the entry-level end - think a standard 48-inch alcove, porcelain tile, a single showerhead with a pressure-balance valve, and a low-curb entry - up to roughly $28,000 for a spacious custom layout with a curbless entry, frameless glass enclosure, natural stone tile to the ceiling, a built-in bench, multiple showerheads, and a thermostatic valve system. Most of our Iona projects land between $14,000 and $18,000.
The four variables that push a job toward the high end are: moving the drain or water lines (plumbing relocation is almost always the biggest single upcharge), upgrading to full frameless glass, choosing natural stone or intricate tile patterns that slow the installer down, and adding structural work to sink a curbless pan into an existing slab. A written estimate from us breaks out every one of those line items - you see the tile labor separate from the plumbing rough-in, the glass separate from the waterproofing, so nothing gets bundled into a vague lump sum. Permits, debris removal, and the final Lee County inspection are included. What is not included: changing the bathroom layout beyond the shower footprint (that crosses into a full Bathroom Remodeling in Iona), upgrading the home’s main water lines, or repairing concealed damage we cannot see until the walls are open.
What Iona Homes Specifically Do to a Shower Remodel
The homes we work on in Iona share a few traits that directly shape a walk-in shower remodel. Most were built between the 1970s and 1990s as concrete-block-on-slab construction, and the original bathrooms were often tub-and-shower combos with a standard 60-inch alcove. The slab elevation on many of these lots - especially the finger-canal properties feeding toward the Caloosahatchee - sits low enough that moisture wicks up through the concrete over decades. When we demo an original shower pan in Iona, we more often than not find the slab underneath has absorbed enough ambient moisture that the bottom plate of the framing is darkened or soft. That is not a catastrophic failure, but it means we budget for replacing the bottom 12 inches of wall framing and treating the slab surface before waterproofing begins.
Permitting runs through Lee County Building Department, not a municipal office, because Iona is unincorporated. Any shower remodel that touches the plumbing drain or valve requires a plumbing permit, and the county inspector will check both the rough-in (open-wall stage) and the final. Since Hurricane Ian, the department has been processing a heavy volume of substantial-improvement reviews, so we pull permits early and build a week or two of buffer into the schedule - something an out-of-town crew unfamiliar with the local timeline often misses. If your home is one of the many Iona properties that had a seawall rebuilt or certified post-Ian, that does not directly delay a shower remodel, but it is a good reminder that Lee County is paying close attention to anything involving the slab or foundation. We coordinate the permit, the inspection, and the final sign-off so you never have to chase a county office yourself.
Serving Iona, FL - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Iona area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
Frequently Asked - Walk-In Showers & Shower Remodeling in Iona
Most walk-in shower remodels in Iona take five to ten working days of on-site labor, spread across two to four calendar weeks when you factor in material curing times, glass fabrication, and Lee County inspection scheduling. The single biggest variable in timing is whether we are moving plumbing - a drain or valve relocation adds one to two days of rough-in work.
Yes, if the remodel involves plumbing changes - which nearly every walk-in shower remodel does - Lee County requires a plumbing permit and a final inspection. Our project lead pulls the permit, schedules the inspection, and handles any re-inspection if needed. Swapping out tile or replacing a showerhead with no plumbing work typically does not require a permit.
In most Iona homes with a standard 60-inch tub alcove, yes - we can build a walk-in shower in the same footprint without relocating the drain. Keeping the drain in its original position saves on plumbing labor and keeps the project closer to the lower end of the price range. If you want the shower wider than the old tub alcove or positioned on a different wall, the drain will need to move, and that adds cost and time.
Walk-in shower remodels in Iona run between $9,000 and $28,000, with most projects falling between $14,000 and $18,000. The range depends on tile choice, glass configuration, whether the drain or valves are relocated, and whether the shower is curbless - which usually requires modifying the concrete slab. Call (844) 638-7249 for a free, line-item estimate on your specific bathroom.
Every walk-in shower remodel we build in Iona is covered by our 730-Day Done Right Promise - if something is not right, we make it right, for two full years after completion. That covers workmanship across the entire shower assembly: waterproofing, tile installation, grout, fixture mounting, and glass enclosure hardware. Fixture manufacturers carry their own warranties, typically one to five years for valves and showerheads, and we walk you through registering those at project close-out.
Let’s Price Your Walk-In Shower in Iona - Free Estimate
A new walk-in shower changes how you start every morning, and the cost should never be a mystery. Call (844) 638-7249 to schedule a free, on-site estimate in Iona. We will take measurements, talk through the tile and glass options that fit your budget, and hand you a written quote with every line item spelled out - no lump sums, no change-order surprises. A live person answers the phone, any hour, any day.
Written by Derek Hollenbeck, Owner at Groundwork Construction Co., serving Iona with upfront pricing and the 730-Day Done Right Promise.